Israelis use the Hebrew term beyt knesset "house of assembly". Ultra-Orthodox Hasidic Jews have traditionally used the Western Yiddish (German-Yiddish) term shul (cognate with the German Schule, 'school') in everyday … See more

Name and history
The Samaritan house of worship is also called a synagogue. During the 3rd and 2nd centuries BCE, during the Hellenistic period, the Greek … See more

There is no set blueprint for synagogues and the architectural shapes and interior designs of synagogues vary greatly. In fact, the influence … See more

Removing one's shoes
In Yemen, the Jewish custom was to remove one's shoes immediately prior to entering the synagogue, a custom that had been observed by … See more

Although synagogues existed a long time before the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, communal worship in the time while the Temple still stood focussed mostly on korbanot brought by the Kohanim (Aaronic priesthood line of Rabbinical succession) in the See more

In the New Testament, the word appears 56 times, mostly in the Synoptic Gospels, but also in the Gospel of John (John 9:22; 18:20) and the Book of Revelation (Rev. 2:9; 3:9). … See more

Bimah (platform)
All synagogues contain a Bimah, a large, raised, reader's platform (called teḇah (reading dais) by Sephardim), where the Torah scroll is placed to be read. In Sephardi synagogues it is also used as the prayer leader's … See more