When the Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE, the synagogue became more vitally central to the establishment of Jewish communities all over the world. Synagogues were also called batei tefila , or Houses of Prayer, and batei midrash , or Houses of Study. In Eastern and Central Europe, this led to the synagogue being called a shul , the Yiddish word for school. It was a statement about the traditional belief in the restoration of the ancient Temple in messianic times.
Would it be a contradiction to the essence of their newly acquired status as emancipated Jews with rights of citizenship? The establishment of the Hamburg Temple was thus a statement that Hamburg was their Jerusalem, and that their temple was a replacement for the ancient Temple that had stood there before. This trend continued for well over a hundred years. The Sefer Torah is a scroll kept inside the aron hakodesh.
Handwritten by a scribe, it is covered with a mantle or cloth that is ornately decorated. The ner tamid is a light above the aron hakodesh that never goes out. Keep the lamps burning before the Lord. Exodus The bimah is a raised platform with a reading desk. From here the Sefer Torah is read. If you plan to worship at a synagogue regularly and you have the financial means, you should certainly pay your dues to cover your fair share of the synagogue's costs, but no synagogue checks membership cards at the door except possibly on the High Holidays mentioned above, if there aren't enough seats for everyone.
The portion of the synagogue where prayer services are performed is commonly called the sanctuary. Synagogues in the United States are generally designed so that the front of the sanctuary is on the side towards Jerusalem, which is the direction that we are supposed to face when reciting certain prayers.
Probably the most important feature of the sanctuary is the Ark, a cabinet or recession in the wall that holds the Torah scrolls. The Ark is called in Hebrew the Aron Kodesh "holy cabinet" , and I was once told that the term "ark" is an acrostic of "aron kodesh," although someone else told me that "ark" is just an old word for a chest.
In any case, the word has no relation to Noah's Ark, or the ark that Moses was placed in on the river as a child, which are the word "teyvah" in Hebrew. The Hebrew word "aron" is the word that is used for the ark of the covenant first described in Exodus The Ark is generally placed in the front of the room; that is, on the side towards Jerusalem.
The Ark has doors as well as an inner curtain called a parokhet. This curtain is in imitation of the curtain in the Sanctuary in The Temple, and is named for it. Opening or closing the doors or curtain is performed by a member of the congregation, and is considered an honor.
All congregants stand when the Ark is open. In front of and slightly above the Ark, you will find the ner tamid, the Eternal Lamp. This lamp symbolizes the commandment to keep a light burning in the Tabernacle outside of the curtain surrounding the Ark of the Covenant.
In addition to the ner tamid, you may find a menorah candelabrum in many synagogues, symbolizing the menorah in the Temple. The menorah in the synagogue will generally have six or eight branches instead of the Temple menorah's seven, because exact duplication of the Temple's ritual items is improper.
In the center of the room or in the front you will find a pedestal called the bimah. The Torah scrolls are placed on the bimah when they are read. The bimah is also sometimes used as a podium for leading services. There is an additional, lower lectern in some synagogues called an amud.
Most synagogues have memorial plaques honoring deceased members or members of their families. These tablets may appear within the sanctuary, outside of it, or in the synagogue lobby.
The tablets and individual plaques are purchased with donations to the synagogue. Plaques are often purchased in advance to reserve a spot, keeping family members together. The plaques commonly give the decedent's name and date of death in both English and Hebrew, though sometimes it is only in one language or without the date.
The plaques are surrounded by small light bulbs, most of which are usually loosened and unlit. On the Friday afternoon before the decedent's yahrzeit anniversary of death , bulbs to the left and right of the plaque sometimes only on one side are tightened to light them up and they remain lit until the following Friday afternoon. For days when Yizkor a memorial service is recited, all of the lights are on they are tightened before the beginning of the holiday and loosened after the holiday is over.
Many synagogues also have a "Holocaust Torah ," a scroll of Torah that survived the Holocaust. Many of them were kept in warehouses in Czechoslovakia or other places for decades after the Holocaust, unused, piled up and rotting.
An outgrowth of a publication for synagogue Brotherhoods, Reform Judaism originated as a black and white newspaper published eight times a year. It was not the first publication of the Union for temple leaders and members, however. Rabbi Alexander M. Among the hallmarks of his year tenure as president was his stance in favor of patrilineal descent, and his call for synagogues to integrate into Jewish life intermarried couples and their children, as well as unaffiliated Jews and non-Jews interested in converting.
Learn more. The new siddur included more Hebrew, gender neutral language, and a variety of worship options. Reform rabbis adopted the San Francisco Platform. These organizations work to strengthen and enrich the connections North American Jews have with Eretz Yisrael. Rabbi Eric H. Yoffie was selected as the third president of the UAHC. During his year tenure he encouraged Torah study, Jewish literacy, and observance of Shabbat among Reform Jews. In recognition of the centenary of the first World Zionist Congress, the platform is dedicated to the relationship between Reform Judaism and Zionism.
It is largely the work of Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch b. It is largely the work of Richard N.
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