Ancient Synagogues

The public reading of the Torah is an ancient custom. Ancient Jewish and non-Jewish descriptions of synagogues almost always describe the Torah as being read in the synagogue. The Talmudim variously attribute this custom to Moses, to the prophets or to Ezra. From an early period the Torah was read on Shabbat and holidays at Shacharit as well as at Minhah on Shabbat, and on Monday and Thursday at Shacharit.

They may not sell [something] belonging to a community because this lowers its sanctity, the words of Rabbi Meir. They said to him: if so, it should not be allowed to sell from a larger town to a smaller one. According to Rabbi Meir there is an additional restriction when it comes to selling holy items. The community cannot sell an item that belongs to the community to an individual. So if the members of the synagogue own scrolls and they wish to sell them to buy a Torah, they may not sell the scrolls to an individual. This means that according to Rabbi Meir there seems to be holiness in the community. The item is more holy because it is owned by a community, an entity which has greater holiness than an individual. Alternatively, an item is holier if it is used by more people. The other sages respond that it is problematic to quantify holiness based on the number of people within an entity. If a community is holier than an individual, than a large community is holier than a small community. Since this doesn’t make sense, the sages reject Rabbi Meir’s halakhah altogether.

Rabbi Judah said further: a synagogue that has fallen into ruins, they may not eulogize in it, nor twist ropes, nor to spread nets [to trap animals], nor to lay out produce on its roof [to dry], nor to use it as a short cut, as it says, “And I will desolate your holy places” (Leviticus 26:3 their holiness remains even when they are desolate. One may not use a synagogue that lays in ruins for a profane, every day purpose. One cannot deliver eulogies in it because eulogies are not delivered in synagogues, even when they have been destroyed. [As an aside, the custom to deliver eulogies and conduct funerals inside synagogues is a modern custom, probably borrowed from the Christians. Jews used to deliver eulogies either at the cemetery on the path on the way there.] One can’t use it as a place of work. The mishnah uses the example of “twisting rope” because twisting rope requires space, but it means that no work should be done there. It should not be used to trap animals nor should its roof be used to dry out fruit. One shouldn’t use it as a short cut. In summary, it should only be entered for its intended purpose as a place of worship and Torah study. The mishnah uses a midrash, exegesis of a biblical verse, to prove this point. In a section in which God rebukes Israel, He threatens that He will “desolate your holy places.” The fact that the verse calls these places holy implies that they retain their holiness even when they have been destroyed.