Search This Blog

Wednesday 11 July 2018

Synagogue

The synagogue is a Greek word meaning simply a place of meeting. For the Jews it was at once the local place of worship, a court of law and a day school.

Princes Road synagogue, Liverpool

The first Temple at Jerusalem was built by Solomon c950BC. Public worship by the Jews was performed there until it was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586BC.

A form of worship grew up during the Jews' exile in Babylon, when it was not possible to sacrifice at the Temple, consisting of readings from the sacred Scriptures, a sermon, prayers and psalms. Instead, these services took place at the synagogue - a room and the Scrolls of the Law are all that is needed  At first a temporary solution, the synagogue proved in the long term a crucial element in the Jewish ability to worship anywhere.

From about the age of 6, Jesus Christ would have received some education from a teacher paid for by the Nazareth synagogue, using used what we now know as the Old Testament as his textbook.

The Bevis Marks synagogue is the oldest surviving synagogue in Britain. Built in 1701 for Spanish and Portuguese Sephardic Jews, it is located off Bevis Marks, in the City of London. With much carved woodwork and with galleries supported on columns, it was built in a style very similar to Christopher Wren's contemporary London churches.

Bevis Marks Synagogue. By Deror avi - 

The Congregation Shearith Israel often called The Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue – is the oldest Jewish congregation in the United States. It was established in 1654, but it wasn't until the next century that the Congregation was able to build a synagogue of its own; It was built on Mill, now William, Street in lower Manhattan and was dedicated on April 8, 1730. 

Congregation Shearith Israel at Central Park West. By Gryffindor

The Beth Yaacov Synagogue, located in Madrid, Spain, holds historical significance as the first new synagogue to be built in the country since the Jews were expelled by Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon, in 1492. It opened its doors in 1968 and has since served as a symbol of the revival of Jewish life and culture in Spain after centuries of absence.

The right to name Congregation Albert, a synagogue in Albuquerque, New Mexico, was auctioned off for $250.

The largest synagogue in the world is probably the Belz Great Synagogue, in Jerusalem, whose main sanctuary seats up to 10,000. Construction on the edifice lasted for over 15 years and the synagogue was dedicated in 2000.

No comments:

Post a Comment