Читать книгу Judaism I - Группа авторов - Страница 66

The beginnings of the synagogue are unclear. Some theorize that in the Babylonian Exile, far from the (destroyed) temple of Jerusalem, a sacrifice-less service developed which was held at certain localities or buildings, which were later called synagogues. The returnees from the Babylonian Exile would have returned to the old order after the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem and the associated sacrificial service. The »synagogue« would have been a sort of stand-in for the temple and would therefore have had religious significance. However, there is no literary or archaeological evidence for such assumptions.

Rather, first-century witnesses lead us to believe that synagogues served community purposes in the broadest sense, including religious ones. These are functions of the ancient city gate. According to Neh 8:1–4, Ezra reads the Torah, which is then explained (Neh 8.7f.), in the square in front of the Water Gate. Even if various functions of the city gate were transferred to the synagogue, the religious aspect certainly gained more importance as time went on. It was unique in its religious form of expression.

Neither sacrifices nor cultic images or ritual processions took place there, but rather the reading and study of Scripture. The synagogue may have been first and foremost a communal institution, but its religious component was uniquely Jewish.¹⁰⁵