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- A Synagogue Is a Place for Prayer. The primary function of the synagogue is to serve as a place for prayer. Although you can speak to G‑d in private, praying in the synagogue is considered preferable, and prayers said as part of a congregation are more readily heard on high.
- It is Also Known as a Beit Knesset, Shul, or Shtiebel. Art by Zalman Kleinman | Courtesy Rosa Kleinman | Via Zev Markowitz / Chai Art Gallery. The original Hebrew term for synagogue is beit knesset, which means“house of gathering.”
- They Are Open on Shabbat—and Throughout the Week. Three daily prayers are held in the synagogue. On Shabbat and festivals, a fourth prayer is added, while on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year, the number is hiked up to five.
- They Are Centers of Jewish Life. A first-grader displays his project after learning how and where a Torah is kept. In addition to housing a sanctuary for services, synagogues (most notably Chabad centers) serve as a centerpoint of Jewish life.
- Beth Sholom Synagogue
- Congregation Sherith Israel
- Congregation Emanu-El
- Central Synagogue
- Adas Israel Synagogue
- Wilshire Boulevard Temple
- Congregation Mikveh Israel
- Congregation Mickve Israel
- Temple Beth Israel
- Temple Emanuel
Elkins Park, Pennsylvania (built 1954) Web: www.bethsholomcongregation.org The Beth Sholom Synagogue in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania is the only synagogue designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. It is one of the relatively few projects of his in Pennsylvania, and one of the last that he personally worked on. In a portfolio of unique designs this was one of th...
San Francisco, California (1905) Web: www.sherithisrael.org Congregation Sherith Israel is one of two Jewish congregations in San Francisco that were born out of the California Gold Rush. In 1849, small groups of Jewish immigrants, mostly from Germany, began arriving in the San Francisco area. These groups found each other, and formed a pre-congreg...
San Francisco, California (1926) Web: www.emanuelsf.org Congregation Emanu-El is the fraternal twin of nearby Congregation Sherith Israel. It was formed out of the same original group of Jews that came together to worship for the first time in 1849. Depending on who you ask, it may technically be the older of the two (did the congregation split dow...
New York, New York (built 1872) Web: www.centralsynagogue.org The Central Synagogue in Manhattan is one of New York City’s religious architectural masterpieces. Somewhat overshadowed by the more historic Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue and the immense Temple Emanu-El, the Central Synagogue is the oldest active synagogue in the city. It is consider...
Washington, DC (built 1876) Web: www.jhsgw.org The Adas Israel Synagogue is the oldest synagogue standing in the nation’s capital and one of the oldest in the United States. The building has an interesting history. Completed in 1876, it was only in used for three decades before the congregation moved to a larger space. The building was moved on a s...
Los Angeles, California (1928) Web: www.wbtla.org The Wilshire Boulevard Temple is the oldest synagogue in Los Angeles. Its congregation is also the oldest in Los Angeles, and can trace its roots to the first Jews how arrived in the area in 1851. The congregation was formally established in 1862, and they occupied several synagogues for over half a...
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (chartered 1773) Web: www.mikvehisrael.org Congregation Mikveh Israel has one of the most colorful histories of any Jewish congregation in the United States. The congregation traces its roots back to the 1740s, and many of its members were actively involved in the independence movement of the mid-18th century. At least a ...
Savannah, Georgia (built 1878) Web: www.mickveisrael.org Congregation Mickve Israel is one of the oldest Jewish congregations in the United States and the first to be established in the South. It was founded in 1735 by Jewish immigrants from England, many of whom were refugees from the Inquisition in Southwest Europe. The congregation struggled dur...
San Diego, California (1889) Web: http://www.sandiegocounty.gov(San Diego Heritage Park) Congregation Beth Israel is the oldest Jewish congregation in San Diego; and it’s first synagogue, Temple Beth Israel, is the oldest synagogue still standing west of the Mississippi River. The first Jews arrived in San Diego in 1850, a year after a number of co...
New York, New York (built 1929) Web: www.emanuelnyc.org Temple Emanuel is the largest synagogue in New York City and, until recent years, the largest in the world. Its congregation is one of the great Jewish institutions that grew out of the massive influx of Jewish immigrants from Central Europe in the late 19th century. Temple Emanuel is consider...
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A synagogue is where Jews pray. The term “synagogue” is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew beit knesset, which means “house of gathering.”. It is also referred to as a shul, Yiddish for “school,” as Torah study also takes place there. Read: The Synagogue (Shul)
Jul 5, 2022 · Ask them to explain which features they like most and why. For example, a reader, Jo, offered this advice: "The Life Application Study Bible, New Living Translation (NLT) rather than New International Version (which I also own), is the best Bible I've ever owned. Even my ministers have liked the translation.
Mar 24, 2019 · Chumash. A chumash is a copy of the Torah in Hebrew. It usually contains an English translation of the Torah, as well as the Hebrew and English text of the Haftarot read after the weekly Torah portion. Congregants use the chumash to follow along with the Torah and Haftarah readings during the prayer service. Learn more about the Jewish house of ...
Feb 11, 2014 · Night 2: They are invited to the rabbi’s house for dinner, so they get to know him and his family — and vice versa. Night 3: They meet up at a Friday night service and have dinner afterward ...
The earliest overt scriptural mention of the synagogue is in the Book of Jeremiah, circa 500 BCE.: “…And the houses of the people the Chaldeans burnt with fire.” 1 Rashi explains that the “houses of the people” were synagogues. 2. Known as a bet knesset (gathering place) in Hebrew, synagogue in Greek, and shul (school) in Yiddish, it ...
