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Unlike other types of religious architecture where worship buildings often conform to consistent rules for a given architectural period such as the cruciform plan of Gothic churches, or beehive-shaped shikaras of Hindu temple architecture, dominant styles and periods are not present in the history of synagogue architecture. Instead, synagogues have followed styles in vogue at the place and time of construction. Even ancient synagogues show this variation — the ruined synagogue of Merom is in severe Doric style while that of Kafr Bir’im employs a Græco-Roman modification of Corinthian architectural style. Synagogues do incorporate some common features in the interior, but even that is subject to variation.
It is a myth that synagogues are based on the destroyed Temple in Jerusalem. There is no set blueprint for synagogues and the architectural shapes and interior designs of synagogues vary greatly. Other local religious buildings and national culture usually influence synagogue architecture.
A synagogue may contain any (or none) of these features: an ark where the Torah scrolls are kept (the ark is often closed with an ornate curtain (parokhet) outside or inside the ark doors); a large elevated reader's platform where the Torah is read (and from where the services are conducted in Sephardi synagogues); a ner tamid, a constantly lit light as a reminder of the constantly lit menorah of the Temple in Jerusalem; and, mainly in Ashkenazi synagogues, a pulpit facing the congregation to preach from and a pulpit or amud (Hebrew for "post" or "column") facing the Ark for the Hazzan (reader) to lead the prayers from. A synagogue may have artworks — especially ornamentation of the main interior features; but normally not three-dimensional artwork (sculpture) depicting naturally occurring objects, as these are considered to be like idolatry. Rabbis have suggested that a synagogue should have twelve windows, plain or depicting the Twelve Tribes of Israel, to remind participants that their prayers are not individual but communal, i.e., for all the people of Israel, present or not. This particular suggestion, however, is honored far more in the breach than in the observance.
The synagogue, or if it is a multi-purpose building, prayer sanctuaries within the synagogue, should face towards Jerusalem. Thus sanctuaries in the Western world generally face east, while those east of Israel face west. Sanctuaries in Israel face towards Jerusalem. But this orientation need not be exact, and occasionally synagogues face other directions for structural reasons, in which case the community may face Jerusalem when standing for prayers.
Though there are a few Talmudic restrictions on how synagogues could be built, namely that they had to have windows and that they had to be taller than other buildings in town, synagogue plans were generally unrestricted, and even these few rules were often disregarded (especially as Jews were often not allowed to build tall buildings). For much of history, the constraints of anti-semitism, the poverty of many Jews, and the laws of host countries on how and when synagogues could be built made synagogues relatively modest. Given these restrictions, the synagogue was almost always in the style of architecture that prevailed in the country in which it was built.
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