The Ashkenazi Synagogue
The Ehal made from ebony tree was donated by the Austrian businessman Carl Carlsmann in the memory of his late wife Rachel Carlsmann in 1904. The Ehal was made by the Austrian craftsman Fogel. As mentioned before, the synagogues of Istanbul have two domes. One round dome representing their peaceful life on Ottoman soil and one rectangular one representing the 40 years their ancestors spent in the desert. The roof of the Ehal represents the rectangular dome.
In the 19th century the Ashkenazi community refused the authority of a Sepharad Chief Rabbi. The cultural differences were the main reason of this refusal. The growing population of the Ashkenazi community and the separation of the Italian congregation played also an important role. With the arrival of the Ashkenazi Jewish businessmen, the community became richer and this gave the strength to separate from the Chief Rabbinate.

The synagogue was constructed by the Ashkenazi Jews who came to Istanbul from Austria. The architect of the synagogue was Gabriel Tedoschi. The biggest financial support to the construction of the temple was given by Herman Goldenberg. The synagogue was opened to service 23 September 1900. The opened prayers were told by the Hazan Valdovski.

This temple was one of the three Ashkenazi synagogues in Istanbul. During the opening ceremony, according to European tradition, some champagne was served to those attending to the service. The Ambassador of the Austrian Empire, Baron de Kalaci also attended to the opening ceremony of the temple. The synagogue's construction coasted 60 thousands Francs. The exterior facade of the building is very European It almost looks like a church. The second floor of the exterior facade has a big arch in the middle and two smaller arches on the sides. There are rectangular windows below the arches. There is a dome on the roof very visible from the outside of the temple, in the middle of the roof.

The Ehal made from ebony tree was donated by the Austrian businessman Carl Carlsmann in the memory of his late wife Rachel Carlsmann in 1904. The Ehal was made by the Austrian craftsman Fogel. As mentioned before, the synagogues of Istanbul have two domes. One round dome representing their peaceful life on Ottoman soil and one rectangular one representing the 40 years their ancestors spent in the desert. The roof of the Ehal represents the rectangular dome.

Built on seven floors, the upper two floors of the temple were used as Azara. The entrance floor is used as the main praying floor of the temple. There are four more floor under the entrance floor. The first floor below the entrance floor was used as the dining room. Now days this floor is used as an alternative praying room. If the main praying room is closed for any reason, the daily prayers are held in this room. There is a small closet in this room used as an Ehal, a desk used as a Tevah.

The last two floors were used as the morgue of the synagogue. As the cemeteries were far away from the Jewish neighborhoods, every synagogue had a morgue and the burial ceremonies were held in the cemeteries were held in the synagogues. After the attacks of 2003, for security reasons, this tradition of the Turkish Jews was abandoned and the burial ceremonies were held in the cemeteries. The roots of the word Ashkenazi go back to the Jewish communities living in the northern and middle Europe. Those communities were kicked out of their countries because of the growing influence of the Catholic Church. Jew living in France, England and Germany started to move towards the eastern European countries. For example they formed over 60 different congregations in Poland. The first Ashkenazi migration to the Ottoman Empire was in the middle of the 19th centuries. They were before that Ashkenazi Jews living in the occupied areas. Until the beginning of the 20th century, the Ashkenazi Jews continued to migrate to Istanbul. In 1542 the Ashkenazi kicked out from Bohemia, in 1650 those exiled from Macedonia, and those running away from the Crimean War settled to Istanbul.

In the 19th century the Ashkenazi community refused the authority of a Sepharad Chief Rabbi. The cultural differences were the main reason of this refusal. The growing population of the Ashkenazi community and the separation of the Italian congregation played also an important role. With the arrival of the Ashkenazi Jewish businessmen, the community became richer and this gave the strength to separate from the Chief Rabbinate. As a result a treaty of ten articles was signed on 19 June 1890 between Leon Rosental, the leader of the Ashkenazi community and the Chief Rabbi of the period. According to this treaty the Ashkenazi congregation was separated from the Chief Rabbinate but they could not have their own administration or their own Chief Rabbi. This means, even inside the community they were separated from the Sepharad Chief Rabbinate, they could not have any official representation.

In 1912, the Ashkenazi congregation pushed the Chief Rabbinate to sign a new treaty allowing them to have their own administration. But the congregation would depend to the Chief Rabbinate for official matters. The treaty was signed at the end of the same year between Dr. Markus and the Chief Rabbi. The congregation was called in 1954 Ashkenazi Jewish Community; in 1957 the name was changed to Jewish Ashkenazi Committee. Today there are only 700 Ashkenazi Jews in Istanbul.

At the entrance of the temple, on top of the stairs, a marble tag in the memory of Austrian King Joseph 1st's visit in 1900. The stairs were restored and the metal doors added after the attacks of 2003. At the entrance of the main praying room, there are several tags for those who contributed to the synagogue. The first one is in the memory of Izidor Schnitter; one of the leaders of the Ashkenazi congregation who died in 1953.The second tag is in the memory of Carl Carlsman who donated the Ehal to the temple