PURELY COMMENTARY
NOBLIA
5732—Synagogue Paths nnvn
To Peoplehood And Nationhood
PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
Editor Emeritus
T
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50
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 1991
he global assembly of
millions of our people
in many thousands of
houses of worship
throughout the world is a
symbol of great seriousness
in welcoming Tashnav —
5752.
The occasions for exchang-
ing greetings as well as
prayers also call for con-
templation. Many questions
arise. Are we succeeding
with the desired consti-
tuents in our commitments
as Jews? Are there sound
and undeniable loyalties?
Are we endangered by indif-
ference?
Everything that is
challenging is caused by
most recent studies that
suggest limitations in
whatever is vital and aimed
for in what is suggested as
"continuity." Demographic
tests recently introduced
some discouragements that
have created more concern
in the past few years than
ever before. They involve
mixed marriages, cultural
declines, population reduc-
tions, even threats to philan-
thropic duties in some areas.
There is one sphere in
which we are triumphing.
We are the world's most
remarkable rescuers of the
oppressed. We are in the
process of completing the
total transfer of all the op-
pressed Ethiopian Jews to
Israel. After 40 years of suf-
fering from continual
humiliations, some 300
Albanian Jews are
reassembled as a community
in Israel. Non-Jewish Alba-
nians who attempted escape
to Italy had to resort to riots
or were driven back to their
homeland because there was
no one to save them.
The Ethiopian Jews, the
Albanian Jews, the Soviet
Jews are provided for in the
ancient dictum, "Zion
Redeemed!" Hundreds of
thousands are provided
homes and dignity in this
redemption. These are the
achievements unparalleled
in historic records and we
are immeasurably proud of
them.
In the social service ac-
tivities, in charities in sup-
port of fellow Jews every-
where, we remain the active
and the committed. Never-
theless, the question raised
remains on the agenda. It is
on the larger, the global
scale affecting continuity
that we must retain the pro-
posed seriousness.
It is on this latest, all-
embracing goal that we need
historic inspiration that can
never be interrupted. We
always heed it and it now
commands and influences us
as we assemble in our houses
of worship worldwide — in
the synagogue.
This powerful weapon of
retention of all that is Jew-
ishly embracing is movingly
and convincingly defined in
Jewish Concepts by Rabbi
Philip Birnbaum. Here is
how he guides us into
faithful indestructibility and
creates the instrument for
the Jewish way of life:
The synagogue has been
the spiritual home of the
Jew; hence the various
titles by which it has been
known: house of prayer,
house of study, assembly
house, people's house, little
sanctuary. The synagogue
has been the spiritual
home of the Jew in view of
its many functions. Not on-
ly was it a place for divine
service, but also a center
for study, for tzedakah and
social work.
In the olden days,
strangers were fed there,
hence the custom of re-
citing the Kiddush in the
synagogue as part of the
Sabbath and festival even-
ing services, except the
first two nights of Pesach
when strangers used to be
given hospitality in private
homes instead. Synagog-
ues came to be schools of
every kind of virtue; hence
the name Shul (school) in
the Yiddish vernacular.
The talmudic sages prais-
ed congregational worship
in the most elaborate
terms: "A man's prayer is
heard only in the
synagogue . . . If a man is
accustomed to attend syna-
gogue and fails to come
one day, God makes in-
quiry about him . . . When
a man leaves the syna-
gogue, he should not
march with hasty steps;
but when he goes to the
synagogue, it is right to
run" (Berakhoth 6a-b). The
verse, "I offer my prayer to
thee, 0 Lord, at a time of
grace" (Psalm 69:14) is in-
terpreted to mean the time
of public worship (Berak-
hoth 8b).
Since the synagogue ful-
fills an educational pur-
pose, as well as a devo-
tional function, instruction
in the Torah forms a major
part of congregational
worship. The reading from
the Torah, accompanied by
interpretation of passages
read, has come to be as
much a part of worship as
the prayers and medita-
tions. The synagogal litur-
gy has developed in a way
that enables every devout
worshiper to become fa-
miliar with the various
forms of Jewish learning
and religious expression.
It has been pointed out
that no human institution
has a longer continuous
history than the syna-
gogue, and none has done
The synagogal
liturgy has
developed in a way
that enables every
devout worshiper
to become familiar
with the various
forms of Jewish
learning and
expression.
more for the uplifting of
the human race. With the
synagogue began a new
type of worship in the
history of humanity, the
type of congregational
worship. In all their long
history the Jewish people
have done scarcely any-
thing more wonderful than
to create the synagogue.
Here we have a combina-
tion of ideals that lead us
into the synagogue, and
from it into our homes and
communities. It creates the
high standards that we and
mankind know and under-
stand as synagogue. Even
christologically, the ideals
have been embraced in
definitive concept.
Dr. Birnbaum drew upon
twp great scholars who ap-
parently were influenced by
it theologically — George
Foot Moore (1851-1931) and
Robert Travers Herford
(1860-1950). In his syn-
agogue definition, Dr. Birn-
baum quotes Moore:
Judaism gave to the
world not only the fun-
damental ideas of the great
monotheistic religions but
the institutional forms in
which they have perpetu-
ated and propagated them-
selves.
An historic record of the
synagogue is provided by
Rabbi Birnbaum. It has very