The Ancient Synagogue

The synagogue's primary importance throughout antiquity lay in its role as a community center. By the first century C.E., the synagogue had become the dominant institution on the local Jewish scene throughout the Diaspora and Judea, with the sole exception of pre-70 Jerusalem. No other communal institution that might conceivably have competed with the synagogue for communal prominence is ever mentioned in our sources. Within the confines of the synagogue the Jewish community seems to have not only worshipped regularly, but also studied, held court, administered punishment, organized sacred meals, collected charitable donations, housed the communal archives and library, and assembled for political and social purposes.

As a communal institution, the synagogue was fundamentally controlled and operated by the local community. Running such an institution may have been the concern of the community as a whole, as was most likely the case in villages and towns, or of the local urban aristocracy, which often assumed responsibility for the building and maintenance of such structures. In contrast to pagan temples and Christian churches, for which models used throughout the Roman and Byzantine Empires were the norm, local synagogues were generally autonomous. As a result, we can see a broad range of styles and practices associated with this institution throughout antiquity. All these features--from architectural patterns, artistic expression, and inscriptions to prayer, Torah-reading, sermons,

(translation and interpretation of Scriptures), and

(synagogue poetry)--characterized the synagogue of antiquity, constructing what Peter Brown has called in another context an "exuberant diversity."

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