Synagogue

The special building where Jewish people meet together for prayer, to study the Torah and to hear it being read, and to meet fellow members of the community is called a synagogue. The word synagogue comes from the Greek word for "coming together", but in Hebrew it is called "Beth HaKnesset", which means "House of Assembly."

In an Orthodox synagogue, men and women sit separately. The men sit in the main part of the building around a central platform and reading desk known as the Bimah. Women and young children will sit apart, often in an upper gallery. They do not take part in the synagogue services (except on some special occasions such as Purim or Simchat Torah).

At the very front of the synagogue is a large cupboard called the Holy Ark (Hebrew="Aron HaQodesh") in which the scrolls of the Torah are kept. On the sabbath day, the Torah scroll will be brought to the Bimah for the allocated reading for that particular sabbath. Men wear their prayer shawls for the sabbath day service and, of course, have their heads covered.

The first sabbath day service is on Friday evening when men are expected to attend. Generally speaking women will be at home preparing for the arrival of sabbath and the evening meal. For the Saturday morning service, the whole family is likely to attend. At our local Westcliff synagogue, the Saturday morning service can last up to three hours.

In Reform synagogues, men and women sit together, women can take part and might even be rabbis, services might be shorter, and the congregation is more likely to sit facing the front. Whereas most of the service is in Hebrew in an Orthodox synagogue, in a Reform synagogue much more is in English.