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A synagogue is a place of worship and the center of the Jewish community. Outside of prayer, it is used for social events, social work, and education. In Hebrew, "synagogue" is beit k'nesset, or House of Assembly. In Yiddish, shul, means school.  While many synagogues use a rabbi, or a religious leader who offers guidance to the community, they can also be conducted without one by using nonordained people to lead prayers. The most significant item in a synagogue is the Ark, a cabinet containing a Torah scroll, which consists of the five books of the Hebrew Bible.

https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/synagogue-background-and-overview

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Upon arrival at the concentration camps, prisoners are stripped of their clothing and personal belongings, including any items that may have been culturally or religiously significant. This demonstrates how clothing, fashion, and appearance are used to strip individuals of their identity and humanity, reducing them to mere numbers and objects. In addition, prisoners are given uniforms that are often ill-fitting and dirty, with a prisoner identification number. These uniforms dehumanize them and erase any sense of individuality or personality. This further reinforces the idea that prisoners are not individuals but faceless and interchangeable objects.

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While gender is not a highlighted theme in Night, Elie Wiesel mentions that his parents work in a store and that his father is a prominent figure in the Jewish community of Sighet. It can be inferred that his mother has a lesser role in the Jewish community, reflecting the culture's emphasis on spirituality in men in particular.

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In the book, Wiesel describes the military marches played by the orchestra in Auschwitz during his time there. While this music played, tens of thousands of prisoners were forced to stand in rows for hours at a time while their numbers were checked. The music adds to the surreal and dehumanizing atmosphere of the concentration camp.

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This woman holding a mandolin is posed, however, looking at the ground, one can tell she is outside with a backdrop placed behind her, not a studio. This photo is probably taken somewhere in Southern Europe, Turkey. In pre-war Jewish communities, the instrument offered one of the few methods for women to express themselves musically.

https://www.kulturacollective.com/event/tremoloing-before-god-the-mandolin-in-jewish-life-with-eric-stein/#:~:text=Mandolin%20clubs%20and%20orchestras%20were,in%20pre%2Dwar%20Jewish%20communities.

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Many songs written pre-Holocaust were low-spirited. The majority sang about topics such as starvation, suffering, and longing.

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Grodno, Poland, The mandolin orchestra of a Jewish school, 1932, Taken from: https://www.yadvashem.org/yv/en/exhibitions/music/prewar.asp

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This image depicts the mandolin orchestra of a Jewish school in Grodno, Poland. Early musical education at Jewish schools revolved around the instrument. Furthermore, despite not being commonly linked to the professional musical traditions of pre-war Jewish life, Jewish mandolin players have emerged as some of the most skilled and impactful instrument practitioners in various musical genres over the past century.

https://www.kulturacollective.com/event/tremoloing-before-god-the-mandolin-in-jewish-life-with-eric-stein/

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This is an image of a synagogue in Sighet, the town in Romania where Elie Wiesel grew up. The wooden structure and lack of ornate designs on the exterior might reflect the contrast between a city and a town synagogue. Wiesel writes, " By day I studied Talmud and by night I would run to the synagogue to weep over the destruction of the temple." While Wiesel may have been especially unique in his emotional bond with religion, it highlights the fundemental connection that Jewish communities had with synagogues.

https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/photo/group-portrait-in-front-of-a-synagogue-in-sighet

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While every synagogue includes the bimah, or altar, and an Ark, the styles of each are very diverse. They ranged drastically depending on the general social status, political view, and level of observance of each community. For instance, the Great Synagogue in Warsaw, which was created around 1859 displays extravagant elements of Russian architecture and indicates wealth among attendees.

https://yivoencyclopedia.org/article.aspx/synagogue_architecture

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The artwork of Maurycy Gottlieb, especially the painting above, depicts Jewish life before the war. His works' were an example of Jewish life, art, and culture at the time. This painting shows a group of Jewish worshippers in the synagogue, a core part of Jewish life. Many are dressed in prayer shawls, and one man holds the Torah, positioned centrally in the foreground of the painting. The women are placed in a separate section, reflecting the Jewish culture of the time. This separation prevented men from concentrating on a pretty girl next to them during prayer. However, women are typically placed on a second-floor balcony and can see men during prayer. This is based on the belief that women can focus better on prayer than men when seeing an appealing individual of the opposite gender.

https://www.jewfaq.org/role_of_women

http://yaelmaly.blogspot.com/2016/10/jews-praying-in-synagogue-on-yom-kippur.html

https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.yadvashem.org/articles/general/teaching-about-jewish-life-before-the-holocaust.html&sa=D&source=docs&ust=1677471756636776&usg=AOvVaw1KGt-aFZ1rIHIdclX4Nzk2

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The Leipzig Synagogue in Germany shows the Moorish style of architecture. Moorish synagogues are influenced by Islamic buildings in the Middle East. It was popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries for its connection to the origins of Judaism.

https://www.eldridgestreet.org/art-architecture/moorish-revival-synagogues/

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The Subotica Synagogue in present day Serbia (previously Hungary) displays the folk style of synagogue that was popular during the early 20th century.
https://yivoencyclopedia.org/article.aspx/synagogue_architecture

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Jews were incredibly prominent in the fashion industry in the early 1900s. This was especially evident in the Hausvogteiplatz district in Berlin, Germany. As fashion began to boom during the roaring 20s, clothing reflected a sense of freedom, particularly for women. Jewish artists and designers, who often headed large fashion companies in Germany, propelled this movement. In the 20s, about 100,000 people were employed under Jewish-run fashion companies based in Berlin alone.

https://www.eldridgestreet.org/blog/jewish-designers-used-to-set-the-fashion-trends-in-berlin/

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This painting by Gela Seksztajn was likely done in Warsaw, where she painted many Jews. This young Jewish girl seems unposed, as if the artist had just caught her sleeping. She seems very commonplace, and the painting depicts a common life in Warsaw.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gela_Seksztajn

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The images shown were taken at the USHMM, and depict the rich culture of Jews through their clothing and fashion styles. In the victims' shoes exhibit at the USHMM, a variety of shoes indicated social status. In the same way, the images display the wide range of class and socioeconomic status in Jewish communities in Eastern Europe in the early twentieth century.

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The image depicts two young girls posing for a portrait and dressed in high end attire with bows and pleated skirts, again depicting wealth.

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In this painting by Jewish artist Gela Seksztaign, these two boys are likely Jewish and possibly were drawn in Warsaw.

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The image features a group of lumberjacks. It is likely that they are part of the photographer's quest to document Jewish life, and they seem proud to be doing so. They wear protective jackets and work boots and pose with their tools.

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It is evident from these remains that this used to be a stained glass window. Stained glass windows in the synagogue are significant, as they contain images and symbols important to the Jewish faith.

http://www.tmpf.staffs.sch.uk/media/4100/stw-y2-r-e-wk4.pdf

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This image indicates wealth, and potentially features two Jewish college students or young models.

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Although it can be misunderstood, women have historically been given significant respect in Jewish culture. It has been said that the role of women is seen as "separate but equal". Unlike Christianity, the divine power in Judaism possesses both male and female characteristics. Relatedly, a biblical passage known as the Ten Commandments, or Aseret ha-Dibrot, discusses respect for the mother and father.  Women in traditional Judaism were given many rights long before American women.  For example, women could own property for centuries before American women in the 19th century.
However, in Jewish culture, women were often not encouraged to receive an education or be especially religious, as their role is seen in the household.

https://www.jewfaq.org/role_of_women

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Unemployed seamstress at her sewing machine, Bialystok, Poland, 1926. Photograph by Alter Kacyzne. (RG 1270 Papers of Alter Kacyzne) Taken from: https://yivo.o 

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In addition to the conventional responsibilities of managing the household and looking after the children, Jewish women had a somewhat unconventional role. Many Jewish women also played an economically significant part in supporting their husband's scholarly pursuits and worked to create extra income. Hence, even though they were expected to abide by their husband's choices, Jewish women held a more substantial position within the family compared to women from other ethnicities.

https://macaulay.cuny.edu/seminars/friedlander09/index-3649.html#:~:text=Therefore%2C%20while%20Jewish%20women%20were,took%20care%20of%20the%20children.