The Synagogue in London Around 1819

The bema stands in the centre of (Ashkenazi) synagogues. The Torah ark with the Torah scrolls is at the east end. Above the ark is the eternal flame, which is a reminder of the column of fire which led the Israelites through the desert. In orthodox Jewish congregations, the area for the women is always separated from the rest of the synagogue. A seven-branched candle holder (menorah) is stored in many synagogues, as it was in the Temple of Jerusalem.

Thomas Rowlandson (1756–1827) and Augustus Charles Pugin (1762–1832), Synagogue, Dukes Place. Houndsditch; source: Ackermann, Rudolph: The Microcosm of London or London in Miniature, London 1904, vol. 3, p, 166, http://archive.org/stream/microcosmoflondo03pyneuoft#page/200/mode/1up.