Hobart Synagogue

{{Short description|Synagogue in Tasmania, Australia}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2015}}

{{Use Australian English|date=February 2015}}

{{Infobox religious building

| name = Hobart Synagogue

| native_name =

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| image = Hobart_Synagogue5.jpg

| image_upright = 1.3

| alt =

| caption = The Hobart Synagogue

| map_type = Australia Hobart

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| map_relief = 1

| map_caption = Location in Hobart

| coordinates = {{coord|-42.879628|147.327939|type:landmark_region:AU-TAS|display=title,inline|format=dms}}

| coordinates_footnotes =

| religious_affiliation = Judaism

| locale =

| location = 59 Argyle Street, Hobart, Tasmania

| rite = Orthodox and Progressive

| tradition =

| country = Australia

| administration =

| consecration_year = {{start date|1845}}

| organisational_status = Synagogue

| functional_status = Active

| heritage_designation =

| ownership = Hobart Hebrew Congregation

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| architect = James Thomson

| architecture_type = Synagogue

| architecture_style = Egyptian Revival

| founded_by = {{bulleted list|Louis Nathan|{{nowrap|Samuel Moses{{cite web |author=Wright, Virginia |title=THE SAMUEL MOSES FAMILY IN VAN DIEMEN'S LAND |url=http://www.deutscherandhackett.com/samuel-moses-family-van-diemen’s-land |publisher=deutscher and hackett |date=n.d. |accessdate=2 April 2019 }}}}}}

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| year_completed = {{start date and age|1845}}

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| designation1 = Tasmanian Heritage Register

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| designation1_number = 2,150

| designation1_free1name = Type

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| designation1_free2name = Category

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| designation1_free3name = Builders

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| website = {{URL|www.hobartsynagogue.org}}

}}

The Hobart Synagogue is a heritage-listed synagogue located in 59 Argyle Street, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. The synagogue is the oldest synagogue building in Australia and is a rare example of Egyptian Revival style of synagogue architecture.{{cite journal |author=Meek, H. A. |title=The Synagogue |url=https://archive.org/details/synagogue0000meek |url-access=registration |journal=Phaidon |year=1995 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/synagogue0000meek/page/175 175], 183–4 }} The Egyptian Revival building was constructed in 1845.{{cite web|last=Franklin |first=Mark |title=Hobart's historic shul |work=Australian Jewish News |date=5 July 2005 |url=http://www.ajn.com.au/news/news.asp?pgID=143 |accessdate=2008-05-11 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080801021416/http://ajn.com.au/news/news.asp?pgID=143 |archivedate=1 August 2008 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}{{cite web |last=Cox |first=Tim |title=Redeeming values of Hobart's Synagogue |work=ABC Tasmania | date=30 March 2008 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080330073819/http://www.abc.net.au/tasmania/stories/s1516795.htm|url=http://www.abc.net.au/tasmania/stories/s1516795.htm | accessdate=11 May 2008 |archive-date=2008-03-30 }} The trapezoidal shape of the windows and the columns with lotus capitals are characteristic of the Egyptian Revival style.{{cite journal |author=Muir Appelbaum, Diana |author-link=Diana Muir |title=Jewish Identity and Egyptian Revival Architecture |journal=Journal of Jewish Identities |year=2012 |volume=5 |number=2 |page=7 }}{{cite journal |author=Wischnitzer, Rachel |authorlink=Rachel Wischnitzer |title=Thomas U. Walter's Crown Street Synagogue, 1848-49 |journal=The Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians |volume=13 |number=4 |date=December 1954 |pages=29–31 |doi=10.2307/987638|jstor=987638 }} Currently the Hobart Synagogue has regular Orthodox and Progressive services.{{cite web |author=Elias, Peter |title=Jewish faith |url=http://www.utas.edu.au/library/companion_to_tasmanian_history/J/Jewish%20faith%202.htm |work=The Companion to Tasmanian History |publisher=Centre for Tasmanian Historical Studies, University of Tasmania |date=2006 |accessdate=2 April 2019 }}

The land on which the synagogue stands was originally part of the garden of former convict Judah Solomon.{{cite news |last1=Dunlevie |first1=James |title=Banished to Van Diemen's Land, two convicts named Solomon shaped Hobart's Jewish history |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-05-07/ikey-and-judah-solomon-key-figures-in-jewish-history-of-hobart/11949796 |access-date=4 August 2021 |work=ABC News (Australia) |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |date=7 May 2020}} It has a seating capacity of 150 and features hard benches at the back of the building for the Jewish convicts who in the early days were marched in under armed guard.[http://www.oztorah.com/2012/09/hobart-high-on-the-list-down-under/ Hobart - high on the list Down Under] The synagogue is listed on the Tasmanian Heritage Register.

==History==

The building of a synagogue was raised as the Hobart Jewish community began to emerge in the 1830s. The Hobart Hebrew Congregation Synagogue was consecrated on 4 July 1845.{{cite web |url=https://librariestas.ent.sirsidynix.net.au/client/en_AU/library/search/detailnonmodal/ent:$002f$002fSD_ILS$002f0$002fSD_ILS:569009/one |title=Order of service at the dedication of the synagogue, Argyle Street, Hobart Town, Van Diemen's Land, on Friday, the 4th July, A.M., 5605-1845 |publisher=Hobart Hebrew Congregation |location=Hobart Town |date=1845 |accessdate=2 April 2019 |via=Libraries Tasmania }} The building was designed by Hobart Town architect James Thomson, who was a Scottish convict who was pardoned in 1829.{{cite web |title=JUDAH SOLOMON AND THE BUILDING OF THE HOBART SYNAGOGUE |publisher=Tasmanian Geographic |date=4 April 2012 |url=http://www.tasmaniangeographic.com/judah-solomon-and-building-of-the-hobart-synagogue/ |accessdate=11 September 2014 }}

Although several synagogues and churches were built in the Egyptian Revival style in the early nineteenth century, only a few are known to survive, they include the Downtown Presbyterian Church, Nashville, the First Presbyterian Church, New York, the Old Synagogue at Canterbury, England and the Launceston Synagogue.