Marranos, also called
crypto-Jews, held their services in their basements to avoid detection from the
Church. Kabbalists ventured out into the
fields as dusk on Friday evenings. Samaritans
burnt animals on an altar, worshipping in biblical style.
For mainstream Jews synagogue
architecture and decorum differs from place to place. From Singapore to Hackensack sanctuaries are distinct. Some have stained glass; others have marble
floors and frescoed walls. Torahs are
positioned on wooded handles as in our synagogue, while Sephardic Torahs are
encased in an adorned wooden case. In Muslim
countries they have woven rugs on the floor while on the islands they have
sand. Traveling through the Jewish world
is like viewing a panoramic sweep of diverse cultures.
Despite the wide variety all synagogues
contain the same five basic elements:
1.
A Torah to read and
learn from.
2.
An Aron HaKodesh
in which to keep the holy scroll(s).
3.
A shulchan or reader’s
desk, from which the prayer leader acts as the focus for the community’s prayers
and where the Torah is read.
4.
They face
Israel. In the west sanctuaries face
east; in the east the face west; in Haifa it is oriented toward Jerusalem while
in Beersheba they face north.
5.
Al synagogue must
have windows. Our tradition demands that
we not pray in a sealed environment, apart from the outer world.
