ABSTRACT
The 19th century saw a profound change in the religious practice of European Jews. This was accompanied by a complete redefinition of the synagogue space, its function, its appearance and its religious furniture. This chapter examines the ‘modernization’ of Balkan Jewish religious practice and the modelling of the architecture of new Balkan synagogues on Western European trends. It focuses on the introduction of choirs and organs during services, and on the relevant changes in the design of the synagogue space to fit a Reform service and these musical novelties. The majority of Jews living in the formerly European territories of the Ottoman Empire were, in fact, of Sephardic origin. The enormous influence that the Viennese Sephardic community had on Balkan Sephardic Jewry is most obvious in the example of Sofia, Bulgaria. The Sofia Jewish community at that time consisted of many small, diverse groups, which upheld their individual traditions and customs.
