Indonesia's Jewish Micro-Minority (Mungkin 2024)
Sinagoga, juga dieja sinagog, dalam Yudaisme, sebuah rumah ibadah komunitas yang berfungsi sebagai tempat tidak hanya untuk layanan liturgi tetapi juga untuk pertemuan dan belajar. Fungsi tradisionalnya tercermin dalam tiga sinonim Ibrani untuk sinagoga: bertaruh ha-tefilla ("rumah doa"), bertaruh ha-kneset ("rumah majelis"), dan bertaruh ha-midrash ("rumah studi"). Istilah sinagoge berasal dari bahasa Yunani (synagein, "untuk menyatukan") dan berarti "tempat berkumpul." Kata Yiddish shul (dari Schule Jerman, “sekolah”) juga digunakan untuk merujuk ke sinagoge, dan di zaman modern kata temple adalah umum di antara beberapa jemaat Reformasi dan Konservatif.
Yudaisme: Pola tradisional praktik sinagoge
Fokus ketaatan lainnya adalah sinagoge. Asal usul lembaga ini tidak jelas, dan sejumlah hipotesis telah diajukan
Bukti tertua tentang sinagoge berasal dari abad ke-3 sM, tetapi sinagog tidak diragukan memiliki sejarah yang lebih tua. Beberapa ahli berpendapat bahwa penghancuran Kuil Salomo di Yerusalem pada tahun 586 sM menimbulkan sinagoga setelah rumah-rumah pribadi digunakan sementara untuk ibadah umum dan pengajaran agama.
Para cendekiawan lain melacak asal-usul sinagoge dengan adat Yahudi yaitu meminta perwakilan komunitas di luar Yerusalem berdoa bersama selama periode dua minggu ketika perwakilan imam dari komunitas mereka menghadiri pengorbanan ritual di Kuil Yerusalem.
Whatever their origin, synagogues flourished side by side with the ancient Temple cult and existed long before Jewish sacrifice and the established priesthood were terminated with the destruction of the Second Temple by the Roman emperor Titus in 70 ce. Thereafter synagogues took on an even greater importance as the unchallenged focal point of Jewish religious life.
Literature of the 1st century ce refers to numerous synagogues not only in Palestine but also in Rome, Greece, Egypt, Babylonia, and Asia Minor. By the middle of that century, all sizable Jewish communities had a synagogue where regular morning, afternoon, and evening services were held, with special liturgies on the Sabbath and on religious festivals.
Modern synagogues carry on the same basic functions associated with ancient synagogues but have added social, recreational, and philanthropic programs as the times demand. They are essentially democratic institutions established by a community of Jews who seek God through prayer and sacred studies. Since the liturgy has no sacrifice, no priesthood is required for public worship. Because each synagogue is autonomous, its erection, its maintenance, and its rabbi and officials reflect the desires of the local community.
There is no standard synagogue architecture. A typical synagogue contains an ark (where the scrolls of the Law are kept), an “eternal light” burning before the ark, two candelabra, pews, and a raised platform (bimah), from which scriptural passages are read and from which, often, services are conducted. The segregation of men and women, a practice that is still observed in Orthodox synagogues, has been abandoned by Reform and Conservative congregations. A ritual bath (mikvah) is sometimes located on the premises.
