While you could point to the "Great Synagogue in Jerusalem" most people say that on the outside it looks like a bunker & the interior like a Las Vegas Casino.The once beautiful Great Synagogue of Tel Aviv has has all kinds of ugly additions to it. There seems to be a different mind set here in Israel when it comes to synagogues Almost all are small "shoe boxes" very crowded architecturally bland and based on ethnic i.d.THe majority of Israelis no longer fit into i ethnic group and feel uncomfortable in them.I truley believe if there were large and esthetically beautiful houses of worship in our neighorhoods more would attend especially our youth and Israeli society would better cohese as you are part of a community with positive values but first you have to get them in the door.I once saw a kibbutz leader with a group of teenagers visiting a church in the Galilee & heard him ask "if you had a beautiful place like this to come to pray once a week would you ?"all in the group answered with a resounding yes.Judaism is much more than architecture of course but it is inspiring to many and should not be dismissed as it seems to be here in Israel.Maybey we could bring some of the many beautifulempty synagogues in Europe over and not just the interiors but the entire building today it is not impossible.If Judaism is to become more than the property of just the Hassidim more of an effort needs to be made to bring the general public back to the faith of their ancestors that many of the founders of the modern state of Israel deliberatly hoped would dissapear this would be one way of undoing the damage.

Only for the Jewish population. The money will be used for building big beautiful sinagogues like in Europe. Our youth will visit them and more respect the Jewish traditions and our moral values. There will be less crime and the families will be stronger in Israel.

I suggest transforming synagogues into secular cultural centers .

Why churches and mosques are more prominent in Jerusalem, the capital of the Jewish state, than synagogues? It's absurd! Why the synagogues in the galut are rich and magnificent and here, the Jewish homeland, they look more like slums? More money should be invested. That's the question of the Jewish pride. As for the cultural centers, we, the Jews, have only one real culture. It is the Torah. We are called the people of the Book, of the Torah.

If you want nice batei Knesseth , find people ready to pay for them . In Galut it are the Jews themselve who are paying to build them . Can you name one Einstein , Freud , Landsteiner , Funk who was a Torah follower ? That's culture that contribute to the World and gives us the Pride to belong to the Jewish people , and not those blackclothed torah students . And why churches and mosques are more prominent in our capital [ liberated by mostly seculars !!! ] than synagogues ? They probably invested more money than Jews did . But i have'nt visited then , so i can't judge .

We are more than people who have history with a set of myths. We are a scholarly, intelligent people who strive to improve ourselves. You may wave Torah around but you don't speak for all of us. The rest of us are continuing to be the light of the world, leading us in progress towards what humanity will be and away from brutal tribal things that have long held us back. Better to be a people of books than of some particular book. Better to be a people that create and lead and inspire than those who just daven and reminisce and follow.

J am the leader of the Franck gerry project synagogue in israël . We think it must be built in eilat but we need a strong opinion for réalize this project. Daniel