Architecture

The Reform Temple Oheb Sholom relocated to its newly renovated facilities in the Summer of 1998. The facility was originally constructed to serve as a church and became available when a new and larger church was constructed on Van Reed Road. The Temple’s renovations were extensive. Although there are very few rules on how a synagogue should be built, a Jewish house of worship should contain three things: the Aron HaKodesh, the Bimah and the Ner Tamid. The sanctuary of a synagogue should also have windows. Otherwise, everything else is left up to the congregation and the architect. The Aron HaKodesh (Holy Ark) is the modern, permanent equivalent to the portable Ark that Moses and the Israelites carried with them in the desert. The original golden ark held the tablets of the Ten Commandments. In synagogues today, the Ark holds the scrolls of the Torah. The Bimah (pulpit) is the elevated platform from which the Torah is read. In most modern synagogues, the entire service is led from the Bimah. The Ner Tamid (Eternal Light) is a light fixture above the Ark that is always on. This refers to the verse about the Menorah in the Tabernacle: to cause a lamp to burn continually. (Exodus 27:2021) This eternal light is meant to be a reminder of God¹s continual presence in our lives. The Talmud, an ancient collection of Jewish law, advises that prayer be recited in a house that has windows. This has been interpreted symbolically as meaning that the prayers should not be narrowly confined to the house, but should move outward in concern for others and their needs. Our stained-glass windows were originally designed and installed in our building on Perkiomen Avenue in 1921. However, when the congregation decided to move from downtown Reading to Wyomissing, they insisted that the sanctuary windows be brought to their new home. Each window was carefully removed, cleaned, fixed, re-leaded and installed into our new building. As can be seen on the Pictorial Tour, the results of the building’s renovations were completely successful.

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