In the old Jewish culture, the Jews used to worship and perform rites in a temple. The Jerusalem Temple built by King Solomon as an abode for the Ark of the Covenant was the primary place of veneration to God by the Jews. Unfortunately, the magnificent Jerusalem Temple was demolished by the Babylonians. It was reconstructed by Herod though smaller but was destroyed again by the Romans and never been rebuilt since. The Ark of the Covenant, which was lost in the destruction of Solomon’s temple, has never been recovered to date.
After the destruction of the two temples, the Synagogue became the Jews’ place of worship (beit tefilah). A Synagogue is defined as a house of worship for the Jews. It is a building where the Jews go to worship and study their religion. The Jewish religion is called Judaism. Although Synagogues in the United States of America are generally referred to as temples, the conventional name for Synagogues, as referred to by traditional Jews, is “shul” which is a Yiddish terminology, the equivalent of a Synagogue. The ancient temple was used as a place of offering sacrifice to God but the synagogue substitutes this rite with reading of the Torah, praying and learning.
The Ark is the most common trait of a Synagogue. It is a wooden cabinet in which Torah scrolls are kept. Torah scrolls hold the texts of the Hebrew Bible. The Ten Commandments are inscribed above the ark. This Ark signifies the ancient Ark of the Covenant, stolen from the Temple of Jerusalem, which held the Ten Commandments that Moses received from God on Mt. Sinai. Over the Ark there hangs an eternal light which is always flaming to signify the presence of God and the pillar of flames that God used to direct the Jews on their journey to the Promised Land. This hanging light is referred to as the Ner Tamid.
Another common feature observed in the Synagogue is a platform and a reading stand on which the Torah is read known as the Bimah. In ancient Synagogues the Bimah is centrally placed in the Temple but in modern Synagogues it is placed closer to the Ark. When time for reading the scripture comes the Ark is unlocked ceremoniously, at which point everyone stands, the Torah scrolls is taken out and brought to the Bimah in procession. It is then unrolled to the days reading and placed on the desk for whoever is leading the service to read. The service can be led by a Rabbi, cantor or a volunteer from the congregation.
Different people perform different tasks in the Jewish community. These people include; Rabbi, Chazzan, Gabbai, Kohein, Levi, Rebbe and Tzaddik. A Rabbi isn’t a priest; a priest is someone with particular power to execute certain holy rites. A rabbi, in contrast, has equal rights to carry out rituals as any other mature male affiliate of the Jewish community. A rabbi is just but a teacher, one with sufficient edification in Jewish law (also referred to as halakhah in Hebrew) and customs to teach the community and to resolve queries and arguments concerning these laws. A certificate is awarded to any person who successfully concludes the recommended curriculum in halakhah, which attests his power to lead. This certificate is called a semikhah. With the Temples having been demolished, and with the emergence of the Synagogue, the Rabbis assumed the mantle of spiritual guidance to the Jewish community. However, religious services can still go on with or without a Rabbi.
A chazzan, or cantor, is a person who guides the people attending worship in prayer. This might be any one with distinguished moral character who has comprehensive knowledge of the prayers and songs. Similarly, a Chazzan can be a professional who has been ordained as clergy. A Chazzan’s most important role is to tutor the young on how to lead a Shabbat service and chant the Torah or reading the Haftarah which is the focal point of the bar mitzvah celebrations. The Chazzan can also execute most of the pastoral tasks such as presiding over weddings and memorial services, visiting the sick members of congregation and conducting adult education lessons. The Chazzan works hand in hand with the Rabbi to teach and inspire their members.
A Gabbai is a volunteer whose job is to do different tasks in connection to the Torah reading during the service. His duties include; choosing the person who will recite a blessing over the Torah reading (aliyah), they also do the Torah reading and accompany the person who is reading in order to correct them when they make a mistake while reading. A Gabbai is not necessarily a trained person like a Rabbi, but any person with vast knowledge of the Torah and its readings.
Kohanim (plural for Kohein) are offspring of Aaron, who was God chosen to perform certain sanctified duties related to animal sacrifice and other Temple rites but with the destruction of the Temple and the emergence of Synagogues, the role of the Kohein has reduced considerably, none the less the Kohanim still keep track of their lineage. DNA research conducted on three Kohanim from different countries bare evidence to this claim. Nowadays, the role of a Kohein is to recite the first aliyah on the Shabbat, which is a great honor, and to recite a blessing on the congregants at specific times in a year.
A Levi is a progeny of the Biblical Levi, who’s entire clan was selected by God to undertake particular roles in the Temple. Similar to the Kohanim, their role significantly lessened with the annihilation of the Temple but, like the Kohanim, they still hold onto their lineage. The Levites get the honor of reciting the second aliyah on Shabbat. Jewish surnames such as Levine and Levin are derived from the tribal name Levi although the holder of the name doesn’t necessarily have to be a Levite.
A Rebbe is the name given to the spiritual head of a Chasidic community. Rebbe is translated to mean “my teacher” or my Rabbi. This post is habitually inherited and is an influential position since a Rebbe has the final say on every decision in a Chasid’s life. In his community, a Rebbe is like a Tzaddik. A Tzaddik is a very righteous person who has spiritual power. The name Tzaddik is translated to mean “righteous one.” A Tzaddik is not automatically a Ribbi or Rebbe although a Rebbe is like a Tzaddik to his people.
In ancient Synagogues, men and women could not sit together during service and each one had to cover up their heads, with the exception of little girls, during service. In modern reformed Synagogues, men and women can intermingle but they still uphold the head covering practices while in service. The hats used to cover their heads are called yarmulke in Yiddish terminology or kippah in Hebrew terminology, although regular street hats are tolerable. Unmarried women under a certain age limit are exempted from wearing a hat. Vigilant Jewish men will wear a kippah, more or less, at all times.
Another common ware for mature Jewish men (those aged over thirteen years) is a Tallit. This is a prayer shawl used by men for morning prayers. It has fringes on its ends called tzitzit that serve as a reminder to its wearer to observe God's commandments. Severally, men will kiss these fringes while in the service, in most cases, at the mention of the tzitzit.
Customary, in order for a service to be held in a Synagogue, there must be a minyan. This is a quorum limit of at least ten mature males. Traditionally, services in a synagogue are conducted in ancient Hebrew but in reformed Synagogues the service is partially conducted in English. In ancient Synagogues songs are not accompanied by instruments but in modern Synagogues, especially in Britain and in America, there are choirs and music is accompanied by instruments.
In conclusion, like all other houses of worship of any other religion, the synagogue regularly acts as a place for community assembly, a town hall used for social activities, a headquarter for social and charitable activities as well as house of prayer. The principle function of a synagogue is being used as a prayer house (beit tefilah), in spite the fact that most of the prayers are said outside of the synagogue. Judaism strongly advocates for group prayers. Some specific prayers can only be said where there is a quorum (minyan) of at least ten grown up men. As the Orthodox term “shul” may suggest, the second major function of the Synagogue is to be used as beit midrash (house of study) since this is where spiritual education is given to Jewish children. Majority of Synagogues also have vast libraries of Holy books so as to support adult study.
Works Cited
Telushkin, Rabbi Joseph. Jewish Literacy. Los Angeles: William Morrow, 1991.
