(JEWISH GROUP) This northern Norway city has adopted a one-of-a-kind approach to observing Shabbat
TRONDHEIM, Norway — If ever there was a synagogue that’s earned the right to throw itself a birthday shindig, it’s this elegant and intriguing house of worship in central Norway only 220 miles south of the Arctic Circle.
Over the past century, the Trondheim Synagogue has weathered isolation from the rest of the Jewish world; the Holocaust, which wiped out half its community; challenges related to Shabbat observance because of its far northern latitude, and persistent antisemitism that has only grown worse since the war in Gaza began in 2023.
This fall, the synagogue will be observing its 100-year anniversary with a three-day celebration, culminating with an Oct. 26 event which members of Norway’s royal family, the country’s prime minister, the mayor of Trondheim and other dignitaries are scheduled to attend.
“There will be speeches, songs and, of course, we will tell the history of the community,” says John Arne Moen, president of the Trondheim Jewish Community. “We are on the outskirts of the Jewish world, living close to the polar circle. You will probably not find a community like ours any other place in the world.”
With a population of about 200,000, Trondheim is Norway’s third-largest city, behind Oslo and Bergen. Located on the shores of a fjord that’s an inlet in the Norwegian Sea, the city was founded in the year 997 and was Norway’s capital during the Viking Age.
The river Nid offers picturesque views in Trondheim, Norway, home to one of the northernmost Jewish communities in the world. (Getty Images)
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