Synagogue - Origins

Origins

There is a wide variety of speculative theories about the origins of the synagogue (in the sense of purpose-built spaces for worship, or rooms originally constructed for some other purpose but reserved for formal, communal prayer), some of which date the origins as early as the eighth century BCE or the time of the Babylonian captivity (sixth century BCE). The earliest archeological remains of a synagogue building on the island of Delos in the Aegean indicate a late second-century or possibly mid-first century BCE date of construction, while earlier inscriptions and papyri have been discovered in Egypt, commencing with the third century BCE.

A number of very early Palestinian synagogues date from the 1st-century CE. A synagogue dating from between 75 and 50 BCE has been uncovered at a Hasmonean-era winter palace near Jericho. More than a dozen Second Temple era synagogues have been identified by archaeologists.

Although synagogues existed a long time before the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, communal worship during the time the Temple still stood centered around the korbanot ("sacrificial offerings") brought by the kohanim ("priests") in the Holy Temple. The all-day Yom Kippur service, in fact, was an event in which the congregation both observed the movements of the kohen gadol ("the high priest") as he offered the day's sacrifices and prayed for his success.

At the end of the Second Temple era, Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai, promulgated the idea of creating individual houses of worship in whatever locale Jews found themselves. This contributed to the continuity of the Jewish people by maintaining a unique identity and a portable way of worship despite the destruction of the Temple, according to many historians.