A synagogue (from Greek: συναγωγή transliterated synagogē, meaning "assembly") is a Jewish or Samaritan house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, קהל kahal. In modern Hebrew a synagogue is called either a בית כנסת beyt knesset, meaning "house of assembly"; בית תפילה or beyt t'fila, meaning "house of prayer", in Yiddish שול shul, from the German for "school," and in Ladino אסנוגה esnoga.
Synagogues have a large hall for prayer (the main sanctuary), and can also have smaller rooms for study and sometimes a social hall and offices. Some have a separate room for Torah study, called the beit midrash (Sfard) "beis midrash (Ashkenaz)—בית מדרש ("House of Study").
Synagogues are consecrated spaces that can be used only for the purpose of prayer[citation needed]; however, a synagogue is not necessary for worship. Communal Jewish worship can be carried out wherever ten Jews (a minyan) assemble. Worship can also be carried out alone or with fewer than ten people assembled together. However, there are certain prayers that are communal prayers and therefore can be recited only by a minyan. Except in Reform Judaism, a synagogue is not viewed as replacing the long-since destroyed Temple in Jerusalem.
A synagogue (from Greek: συναγωγή transliterated synagogē, meaning "assembly") is a Jewish or Samaritan house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, קהל kahal. In modern Hebrew a synagogue is called either a בית כנסת beyt knesset, meaning "house of assembly"; בית תפילה or beyt t'fila, meaning "house of prayer", in Yiddish שול shul, from the German for "school," and in Ladino אסנוגה esnoga.
Synagogues have a large hall for prayer (the main sanctuary), and can also have smaller rooms for study and sometimes a social hall and offices. Some have a separate room for Torah study, called the beit midrash (Sfard) "beis midrash (Ashkenaz)—בית מדרש ("House of Study").
Synagogues are consecrated spaces that can be used only for the purpose of prayer[citation needed]; however, a synagogue is not necessary for worship. Communal Jewish worship can be carried out wherever ten Jews (a minyan) assemble. Worship can also be carried out alone or with fewer than ten people assembled together. However, there are certain prayers that are communal prayers and therefore can be recited only by a minyan. Except in Reform Judaism, a synagogue is not viewed as replacing the long-since destroyed Temple in Jerusalem.