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87-468: The early usage of Moyse's Hall is often said to have been as a 'Jew's house'; more recent opinion tends towards this view, but it cannot be confirmed. The tradition that it was a synagogue however seems unlikely. The earliest known usage of the name is in 1328, when it is noted by scribes in the phrase ad aulam Moysii (at the Hall of Moyse). Subsequent uses in records and locally carried this tradition into

174-739: A minyan ( Hebrew : מניין \ מִנְיָן mīnyān [minˈjan] , lit. (noun) count, number ; pl. מניינים \ מִנְיָנִים ‎ mīnyānīm [minjaˈnim] ) is the quorum of ten Jewish adults required for certain religious obligations . In more traditional streams of Judaism, only men 13 and older may constitute a minyan; the minimum of 10 Jews needed for a meeting has its origin in Abraham's prayer to God in Genesis 18:23 . The minyan also has its origin in judicial structure of ancient Israel as Moses first established it in Exodus 18:25 (i.e.,

261-576: A minor in Jewish law and is not obligated in the performance of religious precepts. However, if a child is over six years of age and has adequate comprehension of the significance of the precepts, his status may change. His inclusion in minyan is thus subject of Talmudic dispute. Based on the Talmudic passage in Berachot, Rabbeinu Tam states that a minor can act as the tenth person and according to

348-534: A minyan has been noted in early works, the matter has only come to the fore in the past few decades, a reaction to an enhanced role of women in modern society and to the demand for their inclusion in all areas of religious life. The Talmud itself does not directly address the question of whether women may count as part of a minyan for devarim shebkdusha. Since the Talmud uses the same gezerah shavah for Kiddush Hashem as it uses for devarim shebkdusha , one may expect

435-474: A third or fourth century inscription uses a similar term, εὑκτήριον euktērion . The oldest Samaritan synagogue discovered so far is from Delos in the Aegean Islands , with an inscription dated between 250 and 175 BCE, while most Samaritan synagogues excavated in the wider Land of Israel and ancient Samaria in particular, were built in the fourth to seventh centuries at the very end of

522-641: A choir to accompany the hazzan, and vestments for the synagogue rabbi to wear. In following decades, the central reader's table, the Bimah , was moved to the front of the Reform sanctuary—previously unheard-of in Orthodox synagogues. Gender separation was also removed. Synagogues often take on a broader role in modern Jewish communities and may include additional facilities such as a catering hall, kosher kitchen, religious school , library , day care center and

609-471: A contemporary Jew with this name or similar in Bury St Edmunds and pointed to concurrent gentile families in the area bearing the name of Moys, Moises, Mose and Moyse. Overall, a panel of academics concluded that the evidence in favour of it being Jewish owned were not strong and found Haes' evidence about local names convincing. In 1973, however, Edgar Samuel argued that its size and location near

696-587: A continually lit lamp or lantern, usually electric in contemporary synagogues, called the ner tamid ( נר תמיד ‎), the "Eternal Light", used as a way to honor the Divine Presence. A synagogue may be decorated with artwork, but in the Rabbinic and Orthodox tradition, three-dimensional sculptures and depictions of the human body are not allowed as these are considered akin to idolatry. Originally, synagogues were made devoid of much furniture,

783-578: A dozen Second Temple period synagogues in use by Jews and Samaritans have been identified by archaeologists in Israel and other countries of the Hellenistic world . Following the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai , who is often credited with reformulating Judaism for the post-Temple era, advocated for the establishment of individual houses of worship since

870-524: A formalization of a customary Reform practice dating back to 1811. In 1973, the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards of Conservative Judaism voted to count men and women equally as members of a minyan. In 2002, the Committee adapted a responsum by Rabbi David Fine which provides an official religious-law foundation for women counting in a minyan and explains the current Conservative approach to

957-707: A large number of synagogues across the Roman - Byzantine and Sasanian Empires . Archaeological evidence indicates the presence of synagogues in at least thirteen places across the diaspora, spanning from Dura-Europos in Syria to Elche in Hispania (modern-day Spain ). An especially sizable and monumental synagogue dating from this period is the Sardis Synagogue . Additionally, many inscriptions pertaining to synagogues and their officials have been discovered. In

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1044-483: A market make it unlikely to be a synagogue, but concluded that it is "highly probable" that it was owned by a Jewish merchant family. Firstly, he points out that there are simply no records of the Jewish community in which to look for a "Mosheh" or "Mosse". Secondly, stone houses are rare in England except among the Jewish community at the time, who were used to stone houses from France, and found them more secure. Thirdly,

1131-417: A minor over six years old holding a chumash or Sefer Torah to complete a minyan . Rabbi Moshe Feinstein says that we can rely on this because most of the laws of Minyan are Rabbinical in nature, so one can conclude that when dealing with a Biblical law of Minyan (such as Sanctifying God's name in public) one would not be able to count a child. Although the issue of whether women are permitted to make up

1218-722: A place for communal prayer and reading and studying the Torah . Alexandrian Jews also made a Koine Greek translation of the Torah, the Septuagint . The earliest archaeological evidence for the existence of synagogues is stone dedication inscriptions from the third century BCE prove that proseukhái existed by that date. Philo and Josephus mention lavishly-adorned synagogues in Alexandria and in Antioch , respectively. More than

1305-615: A push for increased participation and recognition of the role of women. While many are simply referred to as independent minyanim , the term used by the Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance for those groups that consider themselves part of the Modern Orthodox community is partnership minyan . Many of these groups have adopted the custom initially instituted by Shira Hadasha in Jerusalem to wait for

1392-413: A sinner can be counted for a minyan has become much more pertinent in recent generations, where a general malaise in religious observance among the majority of Jews has occurred. The Shulchan Aruch states that though a person may be a notorious and habitual sinner and has even committed a capital offense unless a person has been placed under a religious ban due to his sinful behavior, he is counted among

1479-673: A smaller chapel for daily services. Since many Orthodox and some non-Orthodox Jews prefer to collect a minyan (a quorum of ten) rather than pray alone, they commonly assemble at pre-arranged times in offices, living rooms, or other spaces when these are more convenient than formal synagogue buildings. A room or building that is used this way can become a dedicated small synagogue or prayer room. Among Ashkenazi Jews they are traditionally called shtiebel ( שטיבל , pl. shtiebelekh or shtiebels , Yiddish for "little house"), and are found in Orthodox communities worldwide. Another type of communal prayer group, favored by some contemporary Jews,

1566-604: A special chair placed on the wall facing Jerusalem and next to the Torah Shrine was reserved for the prominent members of the congregation and for important guests. Such a stone-carved and inscribed seat was discovered at archaeological excavations in the synagogue at Chorazin in Galilee and dates from the 4th–6th century; another one was discovered at the Delos Synagogue , complete with a footstool. In Yemen ,

1653-419: Is mute but can hear the prayers — someone who is deaf but has the ability and knows when to respond can also be included. There is however a dispute regarding someone who is asleep or intoxicated. Such a person has sufficient intelligence, but at present can neither hear or respond. Ideally he should be woken to the extent that he is dozing, but in extraneous circumstances where it impossible to arouse him, it

1740-415: Is based on the term "children of Israel" which appears in the following two verses: And I shall be sanctified in the midst of the children of Israel ( Leviticus 22:32 ) And the children of Israel came to buy among those that came ( Genesis 42:5 ) Just as the "children of Israel" in the later verse refers to the ten sons of Jacob who descended to Egypt to obtain food during the famine, so too

1827-731: Is commonly used in English , with its earliest mention in the 1st century Theodotos inscription in Jerusalem. Ashkenazi Jews have traditionally used the Yiddish term shul (from the Greek schola , which is also the source of the English "school") in everyday speech, and many continue to do so in English. Sephardi Jews and Romaniote Jews generally use the term kal (from the Hebrew qahal "community"). Spanish and Portuguese Jews call

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1914-668: Is no longer practiced in Israel, the United Kingdom, or the United States, and which custom, as in former times, was dependent upon whether or not the wearer considered it a thing of contempt to stand before God while wearing shoes. In Christian countries, where it was thought not offensive to stand before a king while wearing shoes, it was likewise permitted to do so in a house of prayer. However, in Karaite Judaism,

2001-499: Is permitted for the ten to be distributed in two adjoining rooms. Later authorities limit the extent of this opinion and rule that even if there is an opening between the two rooms, the two groups are still considered separate entities. Only in unusual circumstances is it permitted, as long as some of the men in each room can see each other. Over the last decade or so , some very liberal Modern Orthodox communities have formed an attempt to combine commitment to traditional Jewish law with

2088-402: Is permitted to include the maximum of one sleeping person in the minyan . In the case of a drunkard, the accepted view is that even if he has not reached the “drunkenness of Lot ”, he still cannot be included. A minimum of six of those gathered in the minyan have a duty to listen attentively and respond appropriately to the additional prayers and that at least nine are required to respond for

2175-405: Is referring to the ten spies, a congregation comprising Jewish adult males. It is understood from this that a minyan must likewise comprise ten Jewish adult males. Other classical sources base their rulings on discussions brought in the Talmud. Contemporary rabbinical authorities deal with a plethora of questions relating to qualification for minyan . Before a boy turns thirteen , he is considered

2262-633: Is related to the Aramaic word mene , numbered, appearing in the writing on the wall in Daniel 5:25 . Babylonian Talmud The Babylonian Talmud ( Megillah 23b) derives the requirement of a minyan of ten shomer Shabbat for Kiddush Hashem and Devarim she-Bikdusha , "matters of sanctity", by combining three scriptural verses using the rule of [[[Talmudical Hermeneutics#Gezerah Shavah (גזירה שוה)|gezerah shavah]]] Error: {{Lang}}: Non-latn text/Latn script subtag mismatch ( help ) : The word "midst" in

2349-409: Is required to travel the distance of 4 mil to pray with a minyan (contemporary authorities differ as to whether this is a distance or a time that it would have taken to travel this distance and with modern technology one would need to travel a lot further). The Mishnah Berurah writes that one who is sitting at home must travel up to one mil . There is much discussion in rabbinic literature on

2436-439: Is required. A possible reason why it is men who were obligated to form a congregation in order to convene the Divine Presence is that women were individually considered sufficiently holy and did not require the combination of a group and special prayers to achieve added holiness deficient in men. Due to the righteousness of the women in the wilderness, they did not suffer the same deadly fate as their male counterparts, and despite

2523-502: Is the chavurah ( חבורה , pl. chavurot , חבורות ), or prayer fellowship. These groups meet at a regular place and time, either in a private home or in a synagogue or other institutional space. In antiquity , the Pharisees lived near each other in chavurot and dined together to ensure that none of the food was unfit for consumption. Some synagogues bear the title " Great Synagogue ". Ukraine Minyan In Judaism ,

2610-538: The Baal Ha-Maor , up to four minors would be permitted. Rosh explains that those who permit the inclusion of a minor maintain that it is the Divine Presence which actually constitutes the tenth member, thereby validating the minyan — this may explain why some of these authorities require that the minor represent this fact by holding a chumash . However the majority of poskim follow the conclusion of

2697-651: The Gospel of John ( John 9:22; 18:20 ) and the Book of Revelation ( Rev. 2:9; 3:9 ). It is used in the sense of 'assembly' in the Epistle of James ( James 2:2 ). Alternatively, the epistle of James (in Greek, clearly Ἰάκωβος or יעקב, anglicized to Jacob) refers to a place of assembly that was indeed Jewish, with Jacob ben Joseph perhaps an elder there. The specific word in James (Jacob) 2:2 could easily be rendered "synagogue", from

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2784-706: The Heliopolite Nome . The first synagogues emerged in the Jewish diaspora , several centuries before their introduction to the Land of Israel . Evidence points to their existence as early as the Hellenistic period , notably in Alexandria , Ptolemaic Egypt , the world's foremost Greek-speaking city at the time. There, the first proseukhái ( Koinē Greek : προσευχαί , lit.   'places of prayer'; singular προσευχή proseukhē ) were built to provide

2871-485: The Mishnah – the "Oral Torah") states that communal Jewish worship can be carried out wherever a minyan , a group of at least 10 Jewish adults, is assembled, often (but not necessarily) led by a rabbi . Worship can also happen alone or with fewer than ten people, but certain prayers are considered by halakha as solely communal; these can be recited only by a minyan. In terms of its specific ritual and liturgical functions,

2958-523: The Ri who holds that a minor can never be counted in a minyan under any circumstances. This is the stance taken by the Shulchan Aruch , who, although acknowledging some authorities do permit the inclusion of an astute six-year-old, writes that consensus rejects this view and only males over the age of thirteen may constitute a minyan . However, in extraordinary circumstances some are lenient and permit

3045-536: The Sephardic , Yemenite , Romaniote or Persian Jews of a town), style of religious observance (e.g., Reform or Orthodox synagogue), or by the followers of a particular rabbi , such as the shtiebelekh ( Yiddish : שטיבעלעך , romanized :  shtibelekh , singular שטיבל shtibl ) of Hasidic Judaism . The Hebrew term is bet knesset (בית כנסת) or "house of assembly". The Koine Greek -derived word synagogue (συναγωγή) also means "assembly" and

3132-418: The congregation of the children of Israel, and say to them: You shall be holy ( Leviticus 19:2 ) is also used in another verse: How long shall I bear with this evil congregation which murmur against me? ( Numbers 14:27 ) Since the term "congregation" in the later verse refers to the ten spies , so too in the former verse: "You shall be holy" refers to a "congregation" of ten. The second source

3219-531: The destruction of the Jerusalem Temple in 70 CE, including in Magdala, Gamla, Masada, Herodium, Modi‘in (Kh. Umm el-‘Umdan), Qiryat Sepher (Kh. Bad ‘Issa), and Kh. Diab. Aviam concluded that he thought almost every Jewish settlement at the time, whether it was a polis or a village, had a synagogue. During Late antiquity (third to seventh century CE), literary sources attest to the existence of

3306-617: The heikhal — היכל ‎ or 'temple' by Sephardic Jews , is a cabinet in which the Torah scrolls are kept. The ark in a synagogue is almost always positioned in such a way such that those who face it are facing towards Jerusalem . Thus, sanctuary seating plans in the Western world generally face east , while those east of Israel face west. Sanctuaries in Israel face towards Jerusalem. Occasionally synagogues face other directions for structural reasons; in such cases, some individuals might turn to face Jerusalem when standing for prayers, but

3393-401: The minyan , even if he is unable to respond to the prayers which make the presence of ten a necessity. According to some sources, this is because as long as ten are gathered the Divine Presence descends and it is feasible to pronounce a Dvar she'bekedusha . This includes someone who is in the middle of his prayers but is precluded from responding to the hazzan ’s incantations and someone who

3480-569: The "rule of the 10s"). This we find reiterated in Cyrus Adler’s and Lewis N. Dembitz’s “Minyan,” Jewish Encyclopedia , stating: "The minimum of ten is evidently a survival in the Synagogue from the much older institution in which ten heads of families made up the smallest political subdivision. In Ex. xviii. Moses, on the advice of Jethro, appoints chiefs of tens, as well as chiefs of fifties, of hundreds, and of thousands. In like manner there were

3567-471: The 1800s, but the origin of the building and its name became a topic of controversy among Jewish scholars and the Anglo-Jewish community in 1895-6, when the building was for sale, just before it became a museum. Hermann Gollancz suggested that it was likely to be a Jewish building on the basis of the architectural style and the name evidence and tradition. Frank Haes however objected that no records show

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3654-459: The 19th century and early 20th century heyday of historicist architecture, however, most historicist synagogues, even the most magnificent ones, did not attempt a pure style, or even any particular style, and are best described as eclectic. In the post-war era, synagogue architecture abandoned historicist styles for modernism. All synagogues contain a Bimah , a large, raised, reader's platform (called teḇah (reading dais) by Sephardim), where

3741-524: The 19th century, in an Ashkenazi synagogue, all seats most often faced the Torah Ark. In a Sephardic synagogue, seats were usually arranged around the perimeter of the sanctuary, but when the worshipers stood up to pray, everyone faced the Ark. Many current synagogues have an elaborate chair named for the prophet Elijah , which is only sat upon during the ceremony of Brit milah . In ancient synagogues,

3828-579: The Conservative movement as sinning. By adopting this responsum, the CJLS found itself in a position to provide a considered Jewish-law justification for its egalitarian practices, without having to rely on potentially unconvincing arguments, undermine the religious importance of community and clergy, ask individual women intrusive questions, repudiate the halakhic tradition, or label women following traditional practices as sinners. The question of whether

3915-567: The Greek συναγωγὴν. During the first Christian centuries, Jewish Christians are hypothesized to have used houses of worship known in academic literature as synagogue-churches. Scholars have claimed to have identified such houses of worship of the Jews who had accepted Jesus as the Messiah in Jerusalem and Nazareth . There is no set blueprint for synagogues and the architectural shapes and interior designs of synagogues vary greatly. In fact,

4002-520: The Jewish congregants in Spain , the Maghreb (North Africa), Babylonia , the Land of Israel and Yemen having a custom to sit upon the floor, which had been strewn with mats and cushions, rather than upon chairs or benches. In other European towns and cities, however, Jewish congregants would sit upon chairs and benches. Today, the custom has spread in all places to sit upon chairs and benches. Until

4089-553: The Jewish custom was to remove one's shoes immediately prior to entering the synagogue, a custom that had been observed by Jews in other places in earlier times. The same practice of removing one's shoes before entering the synagogue was also largely observed among Jews in Morocco in the early 20th century. On the island of Djerba in Tunisia , Jews still remove their shoes when entering a synagogue. The custom of removing one's shoes

4176-495: The Land of Israel, late antiquity witnessed a significant increase in synagogue construction, in Galilee and Golan in the north and the southern hills of Judea , in the south. Each synagogue was constructed according to the means and religious customs of the local community. Notable examples include Capernaum , Bar'am , Beth Alpha , Maoz Haim , Meroth and Nabratein in the north, and Eshtemoa , Susya , Anim , and Maon in

4263-772: The Roman Empire and throughout the Byzantine period. The elements which distinguish Samaritan synagogues from contemporary Jewish ones are: Ancient Samaritan synagogues are mentioned by literary sources or have been found by archaeologists in the Diaspora, in the wider Holy Land, and specifically in Samaria. In the New Testament , the word appears 56 times, mostly in the Synoptic Gospels , but also in

4350-603: The Second Temple in 70 CE had prepared the Jews for life in the diaspora, where prayer would serve as the focus of Jewish worship. Despite the certain existence of synagogue-like spaces prior to the First Jewish–Roman War, the synagogue emerged as a focal point for Jewish worship upon the destruction of the Temple. For Jews living in the wake of the Revolt, the synagogue functioned as a "portable system of worship". Within

4437-488: The Shabbat, such a person is prohibited from constituting a minyan. Nevertheless, many contemporary authorities have been driven to adopt a lenient view in the face of widespread public non-observance of the Shabbat, on the presumption that it does not indicate a deliberate denial of faith, but is rather a result of ignorance and succumbing to the pressure of social and economic conditions. Even though Tosafot deduce from

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4524-410: The Talmud concludes that "sanctification" should occur in the "midst" of a "congregation" of ten. Jerusalem Talmud The Jerusalem Talmud (Megillah 4:4) offers two sources for the requirement, also using a [[[Talmudical Hermeneutics#Gezerah Shavah (גזירה שוה)|gezerah shavah]]] Error: {{Lang}}: Non-latn text/Latn script subtag mismatch ( help ) : The word "congregation" in the verse: Speak to all

4611-501: The Talmud in Sukkah 38b that wherever the verse states “children of Israel” it comes to exclude a proselyte unless there is specific clause for inclusion, here with regard to minyan the sources state that there is no reasoning to exclude a full-fledged proselyte. Since such a person is permitted to act as a prayer leader, obviously they can count towards a minyan . As long as a person is of sufficient intelligence, he can be included in

4698-529: The Temple was no longer accessible. It has been theorized that the synagogue became a place of worship in the region upon the destruction of the Second Temple during the First Jewish–Roman War ; however, others speculate that there had been places of prayer, apart from the Temple, during the Hellenistic period. The popularization of prayer over sacrifice during the years prior to the destruction of

4785-410: The Torah (reading dais) was commonly placed at the opposite side of the room from the Torah Ark, leaving the center of the floor empty for the use of a ceremonial procession carrying the Torah between the Ark and the reading table. Most contemporary synagogues feature a lectern for the rabbi. The Torah Ark , called in Hebrew ארון קודש ‎ Aron Kodesh or 'holy chest' , and alternatively called

4872-407: The Torah scroll is placed to be read. In Sephardi synagogues and traditional Ashkenazi synagogues it is also used as the prayer leader's reading desk. In Ashkenazi synagogues, the Torah was read on a reader's table located in the center of the room, while the leader of the prayer service, the hazzan , stood at his own lectern or table, facing the Ark. In Sephardic synagogues, the table for reading

4959-636: The assembly, ten for the congregation, and ten for Israel.) According to some Talmudic authorities, women counted in the quorum of 30 for offering the Korban Pesach (e.g. Rav, Rav Kahana, Pesachim 79b). It was the firm belief of the sages that wherever ten Israelites are assembled, either for worship or for the study of the Law, the Divine Presence dwells among them. In rabbinical literature, those who meet for study or prayer in smaller groups, even one who meditates or prays alone, are to be praised. However,

5046-585: The building's date of c. 1180 corresponds to the period when the Jews of Bury St Edmunds were at the height of their prosperity. Fourthly, the 'ii' of the Latin rendering ad aulam Moysii strongly suggests "Mosheh" or Angevin "Mosse" rather than the monosyllabic English "Mose" or "Moys". After the early mentions by chronicles, there is limited evidence to suggest that the building was in use as an inn and tavern from 1300 up to 1600. The building has undergone several restorations including one in 1858, funded in part by

5133-666: The collection. Synagogue A synagogue , also called a shul or a temple , is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans . It has a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as weddings , bar and bat mitzvahs , choir performances, and children's plays. They also have rooms for study , social halls, administrative and charitable offices, classrooms for religious and Hebrew studies , and many places to sit and congregate. They often display commemorative, historic, or modern artwork alongside items of Jewish historical significance or history about

5220-619: The congregation as a whole does not. The Ark is reminiscent of the Ark of the Covenant , which held the tablets inscribed with the Ten Commandments . This is the holiest spot in a synagogue, equivalent to the Holy of Holies . The Ark is often closed with an ornate curtain, the parochet פרוכת ‎, which hangs outside or inside the ark doors. Other traditional features include

5307-404: The custom of removing one's shoes prior to entering a synagogue is still observed worldwide. In Orthodox synagogues, men and women do not sit together. The synagogue features a partition ( mechitza ) dividing the men's and women's seating areas, or a separate women's section located on a balcony. The German–Jewish Reform movement, which arose in the early 19th century, made many changes to

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5394-565: The decurio among the Romans and the tithingman among the early English." The most common activity requiring a minyan is public prayer . Accordingly, the term minyan in contemporary Judaism has taken on the secondary meaning of referring to a prayer service . The source for the requirement of minyan is recorded in the Talmud. The word minyan itself comes from the Hebrew root maneh מנה ‎ meaning to count or to number. The word

5481-409: The former verse refers to sanctification among the “children of Israel” in the presence of ten. Some rituals require a minyan; the presence of a rabbi (a teacher, not a priest ) is not essential—it is said that "nine rabbis do not constitute a minyan, but ten cobblers can". The following instances which require a minyan are listed in the Mishnah in Megillah (4:3): Other instances which require

5568-432: The influence from other local religious buildings can often be seen in synagogue arches, domes and towers. Historically, synagogues were built in the prevailing architectural style of their time and place. Thus, the synagogue in Kaifeng, China , looked very like Chinese temples of that region and era, with its outer wall and open garden in which several buildings were arranged. The styles of the earliest synagogues resembled

5655-410: The laws for those two cases to be the same. Many authorities are of the opinion that women are included in the minyan for Kiddush Hashem and Hillul Hashem. However, traditional codifiers generally do not include women in the minyan for devarim shebkdusha . The Talmud ( Arakhin 3a) relates that women are required to recite zimmun of three participants, and Berakhot 45 says that women may recite

5742-453: The matter of who is eligible to be counted in a minyan . Some discussions revolve around whether or not a minyan should consist of individuals who are obligated in performance of that particular precept. Some authorities deduce who may constitute a minyan by drawing on the verses which are brought as the basis for minyan and their implication. For example, the verse, "How long shall I bear with this evil congregation which murmur against me?"

5829-403: The medieval commentators on whether prayer with a minyan is preferable or obligatory. Rashi is of the view that an individual is obligated to pray with a minyan , while Nahmanides holds that only if ten adult males are present are they obliged to recite their prayer together, but an individual is not required to seek out a minyan . Rashi and the Tosafot are both of the opinion that one

5916-414: The possibility of one woman's joining with nine men to form a minyan for prayer. This isolated opinion is rejected by the codifiers. There are a number of cases, including reading of the megillah , where a limited number of authorities count women towards the minyan. However, in these cases the reason why women are counted is not because they constitute a "congregation," but rather because a public audience

6003-401: The presence of a minyan include: While the required quorum for most activities requiring a quorum is usually ten, it is not always so. For example, the Passover sacrifice or Korban Pesach (from the days of the Temple in Jerusalem ) must be offered before a quorum of 30. (It must be performed in front of kahal adat yisrael , the assembly of the congregation of Israel. Ten are needed for

6090-408: The repetition of the Amidah . It is not just the status of the individual which dictates eligibility; the physical arrangement of the minyan is also a factor. Maimonides delineates the confines which are placed on the arrangement of the people making up a minyan . Ideally all the members of the minyan should be gathered in one room. However, if they are within hearing distance of one another, it

6177-622: The right to build synagogues without needing special permissions—synagogue architecture blossomed. Large Jewish communities wished to show not only their wealth but also their newly acquired status as citizens by constructing magnificent synagogues. These were built across Western Europe and in the United States in all of the historicist or revival styles then in fashion. Thus there were Neoclassical , Renaissance Revival architecture , Neo-Byzantine , Romanesque Revival , Moorish Revival , Gothic Revival , and Greek Revival . There are Egyptian Revival synagogues and even one Mayan Revival synagogue. In

6264-537: The role of women in prayer. This responsum holds that, although Jewish women do not traditionally have the same obligations as men, Conservative women have, as a collective whole, voluntarily undertaken them. Because of this collective undertaking, the Fine responsum holds that Conservative women are eligible to serve as agents and decision-makers for others. The responsum also holds that traditionally-minded communities and individual women can opt out without being regarded by

6351-531: The south. Rabbi and philosopher Maimonides (1138–1204) described the various customs in his day with respect to local synagogues: Synagogues and houses of study must be treated with respect. They are swept and sprinkled [with water] to lay the dust. In Spain and the Maghreb , in Babylonia and in the Holy Land , it is customary to kindle lamps in the synagogues and to spread mats on the floor upon which

6438-469: The spies’ negative report about the holy land, wished to enter it. Others point to the sociological reality that women were traditionally expected to care for the house and children. The Jewish tradition did not require women to leave their social role to engage in public prayer. In 1845, rabbis attending the Frankfort Synod of the emerging Reform Judaism declared that women count in a minyan,

6525-462: The stress is put upon the merits and sacredness of the minyan of ten. The codifiers, such as Maimonides , his annotators, and the author of the Shulkhan Arukh , have unitedly given strength to this sentiment, and have thus, for more than a thousand years, made the daily attendance at public worship, morning and evening, to be conducted with a quorum of ten. There is a disagreement between

6612-480: The synagogue an esnoga and Portuguese Jews may call it a sinagoga . Persian Jews and some Karaite Jews also use the term kenesa , which is derived from Aramaic , and some Mizrahi Jews use kenis or qnis . In the earliest period, Jewish communal worship primarily revolved around the Temple in Jerusalem , serving as a central focal point and significant symbol for the entire Jewish nation. As such, it

6699-491: The synagogue does not replace the symbol of the long-destroyed Temple in Jerusalem . Any Jew or group of Jews can build a synagogue. Synagogues have been constructed by ancient Jewish leaders, by wealthy patrons, as part of a wide range of human institutions including secular educational institutions, governments, and hotels, by the entire Jewish community of living in a particular village or region, or by sub-groups of Jewish people arrayed according to occupation, ethnicity (e.g.,

6786-553: The synagogue itself. Synagogues are consecrated spaces used for Jewish prayer , study, assembly, and reading of the Torah (read in its entirety once a year, or in some synagogues on a triennial cycle, in weekly Torah portions during religious services). However, a synagogue is not always necessary for Jewish worship, due to adaptations during times of Jewish persecution in countries and regions that banned Judaism, frequently destroying and/or reappropriating synagogues into churches or even government buildings. Halakha (Jewish law from

6873-616: The synagogue, Jews worshipped by way of prayer rather than sacrifices, which had previously served as the main form of worship within the Second Temple. In 1995, Howard Clark Kee argued that synagogues were not a developed feature of Jewish life prior to the First Jewish–Roman War (66–73 CE). Kee interpreted his findings as evidence that the mentions of synagogues in the New Testament , including Jesus's visitations of synagogues in various Jewish settlements in Israel, were anachronistic. However, by 2018, Mordechai Aviam reported that there were now at least nine synagogues excavated known to pre-date

6960-623: The temples of other cults of the Eastern Roman Empire . The surviving synagogues of medieval Spain are embellished with mudéjar plasterwork. The surviving medieval synagogues in Budapest and Prague are typical Gothic structures. With the emancipation of Jews in Western European countries in the 19th century—which not only enabled Jews to enter fields of enterprise from which they were formerly barred, but gave them

7047-480: The ten. The source provided for this sentiment is from the incident with Achan who, despite having been put to death for his transgression, was still referred to as a Jew. However, the Pri Megadim explains that this is only true if he sins for self-satisfaction, but if a person sins to spite God or has openly severed their connection with the Jewish people by professing a hostile creed or by publicly desecrating

7134-778: The town municipality, 36 years before the building came into the care of the town. A tower clock was installed in the 1860s. A refurbishment extending the museum into rundown buildings at the rear was carried out in 2000-2002. On 31 May 1899 Lord John Hervey opened the building as Moyse's Hall Museum. The museum is home to the Gershom-Parkington clock collection, and artefacts concerning the Red Barn Murder of 1827, as well as important finds such as an aestel found in Drinkstone . Works by artists such as Mary Beale , Sybil Andrews and Angelica Kauffman are also in

7221-472: The traditional look of the synagogue, keeping with its desire to simultaneously stay Jewish yet be accepted by the surrounding culture. The first Reform synagogue , which opened in Hamburg in 1811, introduced changes that made the synagogue look more like a church. These included: the installation of an organ to accompany the prayers (even on Shabbat , when musical instruments are proscribed by halakha ),

7308-510: The verse: And I shall be sanctified in the midst of the children of Israel ( Leviticus 22:32 ) also appears in the verse: Separate yourselves from the midst of the congregation ( Numbers 16:21 ) The term "congregation" is also used in another verse that describes the ten spies (of a total of twelve) who brought back a negative report of the Land of Israel : How long shall I bear with this evil congregation which murmur against me? ( Numbers 14:27 ) From this combination,

7395-487: The worshippers sit. In the lands of Edom ( Christendom ), they sit in synagogues upon chairs [or benches]. The Samaritan house of worship is also called a synagogue. During the third and second centuries BCE, the Hellenistic period , the Greek word used in the Diaspora by Samaritans and Jews was the same, proseukhē Koinē Greek : προσευχή , lit.   'place of prayer', plural προσευχαί prosukhái );

7482-440: The zimmun. However, the majority of scholars are of the opinion that ten women may not recite the additional form of zimun be-Shem , which is obligatory when ten men are present. The few authorities who do permit ten women to use the zimmun be-Shem formulation explain that the necessity for ten in this case is unique and cannot be compared to other instances requiring minyan . Only Rabbeinu Simcha among these authorities mentions

7569-602: Was the destination for Jews making pilgrimages during the three major annual festivals commanded by the Torah : Passover , Shavuot and Sukkot . There are several known cases of Jewish communities in Egypt with their own temples, such as the Temple at Elephantine established by refugees from the Kingdom of Judah during the Twenty-seventh Dynasty of Egypt , and a few centuries later, the Temple of Onias in

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