Synagogue

synagogue (sĭn`əgŏg) [Gr.,=assembly], in Judaism, a place of assembly for worship, education, and communal affairs. The origins of the institution are unclear. One tradition dates it to the Babylonian exile of the 6th cent. B.C. The returnees may have brought back with them the basic structure that was to be developed by the 1st cent. A.D. into a well-defined institution around which Jewish religious, intellectual, and communal life was to be centered from this earliest period into the present. Other scholars believe the synagogue arose after the Hasmonean revolt (167–164 B.C.) as a Pharisaic alternative to the Temple cult. The destruction of the Temple (A.D. 70) and the Diaspora over the following centuries increased the synagogue's importance. Services in the synagogue were conducted in a simpler manner than in the Temple. There was no officially appointed priest, the services being conducted by a chazan (reader). The role the synagogue played in preserving Judaism intact through the centuries cannot be overestimated, nor can its influence as an intellectual and cultural force. In the modern period, the reform movement restricted its scope to almost purely religious purposes, although among the Orthodox Jews its purview did not diminish. In more recent times the synagogue has again taken on its former functions as a social and communal center. The architectural appearance of the synagogue has usually not differed from that of local non-Jewish forms. The interior includes an ark in which the Torah scrolls are held and a platform from which they are read. In modern times, a pulpit from which to preach has also become common, and in many synagogues the three are combined on one platform. In the United States, the national synagogue associations, the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations, the United Synagogue of America (Conservative), and the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (Reform) are organized in the Synagogue Council of America.

Bibliography

See U. Kaploun, ed., The Synagogue (1973); A. Eisenberg, The Synagogue through the Ages (1974); C. H. Krinsky, Synagogues of Europe (1987).

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synagogue

In Judaism, a community house of worship that also serves as a place for assembly and study. Though their exact origins are uncertain, synagogues flourished side by side with the ancient Temple cult; they existed long before Jewish sacrifice and the established priesthood were terminated with Titus's destruction of the Second Temple (AD 70). Thereafter, synagogues took on even greater importance as the unchallenged focal point of Jewish life. There is no standard synagogue architecture. A typical synagogue contains an ark (where the scrolls of the Law are kept), an “eternal light” burning before the ark, two candelabra, pews, a bimah (see bema), and sometimes a ritual bath (mikvah).

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synagogue

1. 

a. a building for Jewish religious services and usually also for religious instruction

b. (as modifier): synagogue services

2. a congregation of Jews who assemble for worship or religious study

3. the religion of Judaism as organized in such congregations

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synagogue

A place of assembly for Jewish worship.

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Synagogue 

in Judaism, a community of believers and a house of worship. Synagogues originated in Palestine in the fourth century B.C. and in Egypt in the third century B.C. After the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem by the Romans in A.D. 70 and the expansion of the Diaspora, synagogues were established wherever Jews lived. The first synagogues were instrumental in the growth of monotheism.

Religious services take place in the synagogue, and the Bible and Talmud are read and discussed. In the Middle Ages, deviation from the dogmas of Judaism resulted in excommunication from the synagogue. Both Uriel Acosta and Spinoza were excommunicated.

The architecture of synagogues varies greatly. The common features are a rectangular shape, three or five aisles, an ark of the law at the eastern wall in which the scrolls of the Torah are kept and, in front of the ark, a raised platform for the reading of sacred texts.

REFERENCE

Wischnitzer, R. The Architecture of the European Synagogue. Philadelphia, Pa., 1964.