Jewish Traditions: A JPS Guide

Synagogue

Synagogue Overview The synagogue is considered by many Jews to be the most important institution in Judaism. The three Hebrew designations for the synagogue indicate its major functions—beit knesset (house of assembly), beit tefillah (house of prayer), and beit midrash (house of study). The Yiddish term for a synagogue is “shul” (school), reflecting the fact that Jewish worship and learning most often take place in the same building. Early Reform Jews chose the term “temple” for their synagogues, indicating that in the post-Enlightenment age they no longer yearned for a return to the Land of Israel and the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem, instead considering the country of their citizenship to be their everlasting homeland.1 Historically, the synagogue represents the site of the first communal worship divorced from sacrifice. Unlike the Temple, which could only be in Jerusalem and was run by a specifically sanctified clergy born to the task (Kohanim assisted by Levites), the synagogue could be housed anywhere (not necessarily in a spot with some sacred connotation); did not have to adhere to a rigid architectural pattern; and had prayer leaders and teachers whose roles were not determined by birth, ancestry, or socioeconomic level.2 By the end of the Second Temple period (first century C.E.), the synagogue as a house of prayer and study was a firmly established institution, though its origin is recorded neither in the Bible nor in postbiblical records.3 Early History The initial sites of worship in ancient Israel were shrines established by Abraham, who erected altars to God at a site between Beit El and Ai 313 (Gen. 12:7–8) and at Hebron (Gen. 13:18), and by Jacob, who set up an altar at Beth El, the site of his dream of angels ascending and descending on ladders extending from the earth to Heaven (Gen. 28:18–19). Following the conquest of the Land of Israel under Joshua, there apparently were numerous regional shrines in addition to the central one, which housed the ark containing the tablets of the Ten Commandments , the most sacred object of Israel. The principal feature in each of these shrines was a sacrificial system under the control of a cadre of priests (Kohanim). The major limitation was that no Israelite shrine could be erected outside the Land of Israel, for even though God was viewed as the universal deity of the entire world, sacrifices to the God of Israel were permitted only on the land that had been divinely chosen for His people. The dramatic religious reformation of King Josiah (609 B.C.E.) solidified the exclusive position of the Temple in Jerusalem. Henceforth, no altar could be built beyond the boundaries of the Land of Israel; the only permissible site for an altar or sacrifice to God within Israel was the shrine in Jerusalem (2 Kings 22–23; Deut. 12:5–6). This caused several major problems for the Israelites. As a practical matter, the slaughtering of animals and the eating of meat, which had always been connected with sacrificial worship, became extremely difficult for those who lived far from Jerusalem. The solution was to permit “profane” slaughter, solely for eating and not as part of worship (Deut. 12:15–16). A more serious problem was the requirement that communal worship with sacrifices could now take place only in Jerusalem, where all males were required to appear before the Lord on the three pilgrimage festivals of Passover, Shavuot, and Sukkot (Deut. 16:16). Those who were unable to come to Jerusalem were effectively precluded from participating in organized Jewish worship.4 Virtually all scholars agree that the synagogue as an institution originated during the Babylonian exile following the destruction of the Kingdom of Judah in 586 B.C.E. With the Temple destroyed, the Israelites were suddenly cut off from traditional methods of seeking divine assistance, gaining forgiveness from sin, thanking God for merciful salvation, and celebrating the holy days.5 Not only were the exiles deprived of their Temple but they were also forbidden to build an altar and offer sacrifices outside the Land of Israel. Had this prohibition not been in effect, the exiles would probably have returned to the previous situation of erecting multiple sacrificial shrines throughout the 314 The JPS Guide to Jewish Traditions Diaspora. Indeed, this actually occurred at about that time, when a small group of Jewish mercenary soldiers settled on...