CCAR RESPONSA
Contemporary American Reform Responsa
141. The Rooms Behind a Synagogue
Ark
QUESTION: The synagogue ark is now in the eastern wall of the
synagogue, as is the general custom. The synagogue needs to expand. It has been suggested
that a series of offices and classrooms be built on the other side of the ark. Is this appropriate, or
should the ark be on the exterior wall with nothing behind it? (Rabbi N. Hirsh, Seattle,
WA)ANSWER: There is a good deal of discussion on the location of the ark (W.
Jacob, American Reform Responsa, #18), but virtually nothing about the space behind
the wall of the ark. In much of our history, synagogues were part of rather crowded ghettos or
tightly packed cities, in which the wall of one structure also formed the wall of the adjacent
building, unlike the spacious setting of North America. It was, therefore, unlikely that control over
the space on the other side of the wall could be effectively exercised. A brief review of
pictures and plans of more modern synagogues in my possession show that some were
freestanding with nothing on the other side of the ark. On the other hand, there were also a large
number of synagogues which had rooms for different purposes on the other side of the ark.
Some Polish and Hungarian synagogues had schoolrooms located there. Some of the German
synagogues show offices, a social hall or robing rooms for rabbi and cantor there (Randolph L.
Braham and Ervin Farkas, The Synagogues of Hungary; Harold Hammer-Schenk,
Synagogen in Deutschland; Maria and Kaimierz Piechotka, Wooden Synagogues;
Rachel Wischnitzer, The Architecture of the European Synagogue; Avram Kampf,
Contemporary Synagogue Art; Richard Krautheimer, Mittelalterliche Synagogen;
David Davidowitz, Batei Keneset Bepolin Vehurbanam). In American
synagogues, both nineteenth and twentieth century, a similar pattern may be found. So, for
example, the historic mid nineteenth synagogue of Savannah, Georgia, has a school wing
behind it. The synagogue of Rodef Shalom in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, (1907), had a classroom
behind the ark and now has a weekday chapel behind it. Temple Shalom in Chicago, Illinois, has
an entire school wing behind its ark. The traditional Poale Zedek, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,
has a school wing behind the ark. The same pattern may be seen among other Reform,
Orthodox and Conservative synagogue buildings. There is, then, no restriction about what may
be built behind the ark in a synagogue, especially if that section of the building is completely
separated from the synagogue itself.December 1984
If needed, please consult Abbreviations used in CCAR Responsa.