Each faith and religion has its own special terms, concepts, rituals. And it is sometimes difficult for a person who does not know all this to understand. In this article, I want to focus on Judaism and try to explain what a synagogue is.
On the origin of the word
First of all, you need to understand the concept itself. In Greek, synagogue means assembly. However, in Hebrew, this word sounds like "Beit Knesset", which literally translates as "house of assembly." It will be interesting that in the Talmud (Jewish scripture) the name of the synagogue is found only once as “beit tefilah”, which means “house of prayer”. This suggests that for the Jews the synagogue is something more than a prayer house.
A bit of history
So, having understood and understood that the synagogue is the church of the Jews, it is worth looking a little into the history of its origin. As for the time period, no one can say exactly when they began to appear, no data has been preserved about this. However, there is an opinion that the first synagogues began to appear at the time whenthe First Temple was destroyed and the Jews were taken captive to Babylon (6th century BC). At first they gathered in houses for joint study of the Torah and later began to build separate buildings for prayers and meetings. After returning to their homeland, the Second Temple was erected, but at this time, believers also began to build synagogues throughout their country. After the Second Temple was also destroyed by the Romans, the synagogues became a real refuge for the Jews - often not only in the psychological sense of the word, but also literally. These were places where people could hide from danger.
Main value
So, a synagogue is a place where Jews can gather to pray, study the Torah, and communicate. It is worth saying that it also has special functions.
- Place of prayer. Of course, the synagogue is the first place where believers can turn to God with prayer. It will be interesting that for the Jews not single, but public prayer is of great importance, for which this building is perfect.
- Studying the Holy Scriptures. It is also customary to study the Torah in synagogues. For this, there are special schools that can be located either nearby or in the same building. Not surprisingly, the beit midrash (house of learning) is closely associated with the beit knesset (synagogue). In these schools, children and teenagers study the Torah every day, and various lectures and teachings for adults can be held here on weekends.
- Library. Also in synagogues there is always a hall where variousreligious books. They can be read both in the temple itself and taken home (warning the shames, the servant of the synagogue, about this).
- Public life. In addition, the synagogue is a place where members of the community can gather for various celebrations and festivities. So, within the walls of this temple, both collective and personal festivities can be held. They can celebrate circumcision, the ransom of a baby, a bar mitzvah, etc. Quite often, a rabbinic court, a bet-dina, sits in synagogues. Previously, temples also had guest rooms where traveling Jews could stay without any problems, and there could also be small stables for a couple of horses.
Architecture
It should be said that there are no special rules for what a Jewish synagogue should look like. It can be magnificently rebuilt, or it can be just a room. However, it must have windows. The Talmud says that one should not pray in a room from which the sky cannot be seen. It is also desirable that there be a vestibule at the entrance, where a person can leave all his worldly thoughts and torments. It will be interesting that all the synagogues face Jerusalem, in Jerusalem itself - the Temple Mount. If possible, buildings should be erected on the highest mountain in the city so that they can rise above other buildings. And since this was not always possible, a pole with a star was installed on the roof of the house of prayer so that the synagogue seemed higher than the rest of the buildings.
Synagogue from inside
What does the inside of the synagogue look like? Photos suggest that there are separate places for women and men (ezrat-ours is a separate place for women). Often the fair sex was placed on a balcony, but if this was not possible, the prayer room was divided into two parts by a curtain or partition, which was called "mekhitsa". This was necessary so that no one and nothing would distract men from communion with God.
The most important place in the synagogue is the Aron ha-Kodesh - a special niche or locker, covered with a curtain, where the Torah scrolls are collected. The faces of people are turned there during prayer. It is worth mentioning that on one side of the Aron HaKodesh there is a place for a rabbi, on the other - a place for a lecturer. Also in the synagogues there will definitely be a ner tamid, a lamp or a candle, and a bima - a place from where the Holy Scripture will be read. Here, perhaps, are all the nuances that are important for the synagogue. Otherwise, houses of prayer can differ from each other and be unique in their own way.
Positions
Having understood what the meaning of the word "synagogue" is, it is worth paying a little attention to those positions that are at these houses of prayer. Thus, it will be important that each community independently chooses its leadership and officials.
- Rabbi (Rav) - spiritual leader. This is a person who knows the Torah perfectly and, before taking up his post, passes the most difficult exam. Today, the rabbi also has administrative duties that he must perform.
- Hazan (or shliakh-tsibur - the messenger of the community) - a person who leads a public prayer and thus introduces people toGod. This person must also be highly educated, know Hebrew, and in parallel he can perform other functions.
- Shamash is a servant who performs many duties: keeps order in the house of prayer, takes care of the safety of property, keeps track of the schedule. Can sometimes replace chazan.
- Gabay (parnassus) - the so-called administrative director of the community. Often there are several. They mainly deal with financial issues and solve administrative problems.
Views of synagogues
It is also worth mentioning that for centuries two socio-cultural communities have developed that lead somewhat different lives - Ashkenazim and Sephardim. The differences here are in the special order of prayers and the arrangement of synagogues. Most modern Jews are Ashkenazim (central and northern Europe, South Africa, Australia, America, etc.), their homes are more European-style, while Sephardim like to decorate their synagogues with carpets and other oriental paraphernalia. Most of the famous houses of prayer are Ashkenazi, including the synagogue in St. Petersburg.
Maintaining service
It is also important that there are differences in the order of the service in the synagogue. So, there are Ashkenazi Hasidim and non-Hasidim. Interestingly, the Hasidim borrowed the style of prayer from the Sephardim. Otherwise, the differences are almost imperceptible and insignificant. After all, in order to remake a synagogue from one to another, it is enough just to changeprayer books. The Torah scrolls themselves remain the same for everyone. In addition, for people who do not know how to conduct rituals and various celebrations, “different” Jews will seem almost identical, since the differences lie in the smallest details, which are sometimes simply invisible.
