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9 - The synagogue

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 March 2008

By
Hanswulf Bloedhorn  and
Gil Hüttenmeister
Edited by
William Horbury ,
W. D. Davies  and
John Sturdy
Hanswulf Bloedhorn
Affiliation:
Institut für Antikes Judentum, Universität Tübingen
Gil Hüttenmeister
Affiliation:
Institut für Antikes Judentum, Universität Tübingen
William Horbury
Affiliation:
University of Cambridge
W. D. Davies
Affiliation:
Duke University, North Carolina
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Summary

The synagogue has been and is one of the most important Jewish institutions, the spiritual, cultural and religious centre of any Jewish community. It fulfilled a multitude of functions in antiquity, of which the most important, besides those of prayer and worship, was the teaching of the Law. It was where the Jews assembled to pray and to hear on the Sabbath the weekly reading and interpretation of the Torah; it was where their children gathered to receive instruction from their teachers; it was where they could get advice on everyday questions concerning the observance of the commandments; it was where problems of the Halakah were discussed and resolved, and so on.

In addition to these religious functions, the synagogue also had an entirely secular role. It was where announcements were made that concerned the community; it acted as a kind of ‘lost property office’; it was the place where legal witnesses could be found. In other words, the synagogue fulfilled the functions of a secular as well as a religious centre, and of a civil administration. In addition, there was its role of providing accommodation for visitors, especially in the synagogues of minority Jewish communities (Landsmannschaften), and in the Diaspora.

We find numerous references to synagogues and their functions in Philo, Josephus, the New Testament and rabbinic literature. Archaeological finds have also substantially enriched our knowledge of synagogues. Above all, in the last eighty years a wide-ranging literature has dealt with the different aspects of synagogues, from the explanation of individual words in synagogue inscriptions to monographs treating their origin and all the problems related to their study.

Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge History of Judaism , pp. 267 - 297
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 1999

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