Bursa Geruş Synagogue
The Hebrew word Gerush means "expelled, exiled". Built in the early 16th century, during the reign of Selim II, by Sephardic immigrants from Spain, this synagogue is located on Sakarya Street. It has an arched door and another door with a porch on the side street. The floor is covered with marble and the seats are arranged in a circle around the bottom of the walls and around the Teva (prayer lectern) in the center. Except for the traditional Ehal (cabinet where the Torah rolls are kept), which was brought from the Etz Ahayim Synagogue in Bursa in the 1950s, the upper Tevah in the form of a balcony is reached by two spiral staircases positioned in the wall on either side of the entrance door. According to some, this type of double Tevah position originates from Spain, and according to others from the Roman and Byzantine tradition. The 60-70-seat azara [women's gallery] is upstairs on the right and enters from the outer courtyard. It is possible that the 100-150-seat Gerush Synagogue, which has a Baghdadi dome, was repaired by the French architect Parville, who repaired all the mosques in the city after the 1855 earthquake that destroyed Bursa. One of the two inscriptions next to the ehal carries the date 5632 (1872) and probably commemorates this repair. The synagogue is open in summer and on holidays.
