Among the various motives that impel us to seek communion with our Father, is the desire for certain things which we have not, and the conviction that it is solely in His hand to fulfil our wishes.[114] A genuine prayer of this kind—for the fulfilment of certain wishes of ours—is impossible without the belief in the efficacy of prayer. We cannot with certainty expect that our petition will be granted, but we hope that it will; we submit our wishes to the Will of the Almighty. The Hebrew name for prayer תפלה implied the idea of judgment, as if we judged whether the concession of our petition might fairly be anticipated. Such judgment, however, is not to be considered as decisive; and if our request is to be granted, it will be as an act of mercy and grace (רחמים ותחנונים), and not because it is a claim fully proved (קבע).[115] We hope that our prayer will be granted, but never lose sight of the condition “if it please God.” There are a few exceptional cases. Prophets like Moses (Exod. viii. 6), Samuel (1 Sam. [[423]]xii. 17), Elijah (1 Kings xviii.), Elisha (2 Kings iv. 33 sqq.), and others, men inspired by the Almighty, were, on certain occasions, sure of the effect of their prayer. In the Mishnah (Taanith iii. 8) the case of Choni (חוני המעגל) is mentioned, who spoke with certainty of the result of his prayer. It must, however, in the latter case be added that the head of the Sanhedrin, Shimeon ben Shatach, blamed him for his conduct.
This we know for certain, that whenever and wherever we respond to an inner impulse by the utterance of a prayer, God is near us, for “He is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth” (Ps. cxlv. 18); that we and the place on which we stand are hallowed by the Divine Presence. Places once hallowed by such devotion, whether of our own or of our fellow-men, we like to visit again and again for the same purpose. The spot of Jacob’s first communion with God thus became “the house of God;” and even during the period when there was one central Sanctuary for the Sacrificial Service in Israel, at Gilgal, Mizpah, Shiloh, and later in Jerusalem, there were houses of God throughout the country for devotion unaccompanied by sacrifices. These were “the meeting-places of God” (Ps. lxxiv. 8), in which the Israelites assembled to meet their Creator. Such houses of God were established wherever Jews settled; their main purpose was united devotion; but they served also many other purposes—in fact, every holy, good, and noble cause. The house of God was the Assembly-house, Synagogue (בית הכנסת), in which the affairs of the community (צרכי צבור) were settled; [[424]]the young had there their school, adults came there for religious instruction, and found there opportunity for the study of the Law, and the poor and stranger received there support and hospitality.
In a Jewish Synagogue there were two important features, the platform (בימה) and an ark (תבה) containing scrolls of the Law. From the platform in the middle of the Synagogue, the lessons from the Pentateuch and the Prophets were recited, and everything else that was directly or indirectly addressed to the congregants. But prayers addressed to the Most High were offered up from a lower place near the Holy Ark,[116] in accordance with the words of the Psalmist (cxxx. 1), “Out of the depth have I cried unto thee, O Lord.”
The Ark, or Holy Ark (ארון or ארון הקדש), in almost all modern Synagogues—in places west of Jerusalem—occupies the middle of the east side of the Synagogue. In the time of the Talmud the Synagogues were to some extent made to resemble the Tabernacle which the Israelites built in the wilderness or the Temple in Jerusalem. The entrance was from the east, and the Ark, which was to represent the Most Holy, was in the west. The Ark was, like the original one, movable. It was called tebhah, lit. “box,” in order to distinguish it from the original. The recess in which it was kept was the Hechal or Kodesh, “The Holy.” The tebhah seems to have served both as a [[425]]receptacle for the scrolls of the Law, and as a desk on which these were put whenever they were required for the reading of the Torah. On certain extraordinary occasions, when, on account of the absence of rain, a general fast was ordered, the tebhah, with a Sefer-torah on it, was carried into the street,[117] where a special service was held.
The reason why the entrance to the Sanctuary and to the Synagogues was from the east, and the worshippers consequently stood during prayer with their face toward the west, may, according to the Mishnah (Succah v. 4), be explained thus: The principal prayer of the day being that in the morning, the Jews, as a protest against the sun-worship of the idolaters, who at that hour were accustomed to greet the sun with their prayer, turned away from the east and offered up their prayer to the Almighty in the opposite direction. When sun-worship had ceased, probably after the destruction of the second Temple, the national grief and hope found expression in the custom of praying toward the Sanctuary in Jerusalem. Hence the Jews who live west of Jerusalem stand during prayer with the face toward the east, while those east of Jerusalem turn westward. This custom is, besides, supported by the following passage from the prayer of King Solomon: “And they pray unto thee toward their land, which thou gavest unto their fathers, the [[426]]city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy name” (1 Kings viii. 48).[118]
In most Synagogues there is a continual lamp (נר תמיד) burning. It is a Biblical institution, but only designed for the Sanctuary; its presence in the Synagogue is of comparatively modern date. The ner tamid of the Sanctuary, however, is explained to be a lamp burning “from evening to morning” (Exod. xxvii. 21). A golden candlestick standing in the Sanctuary against the south side, with its seven branches arranged from east to west, served this purpose. According to Tradition it was the second branch, counting from east to west, which really burnt continually; but this was not considered as implied in the term ner tamid, which only meant “a continual lamp” in the sense of a lamp that burns regularly every night.
The ner tamid in the Synagogue, which burns continually day and night, is not mentioned by any of the earlier Rabbinical authors. It has been introduced as a symbol representing our conviction that from the Synagogue shall continually come forth the light of instruction, the light of comfort and blessing, and the light of love and peace.
In the Synagogue women are separated from men. There was also in the Temple an עזרת נשים “court of the women,” distinguished from the עזרת אנשים “court of the men,” to which women had no access. During the Feast of Tabernacles, when the great rejoicings in the Temple attracted a large assembly, special care was taken (תקון גדול היה שם) that the separation of the sexes should be maintained (Mishnah, Succah v. 2; and [[427]]Talm. B., Succah 51b). This precedent has been followed in the Synagogue, and has been accepted as law up to this day.
Reservedness and modesty (צניעות) have always been the pride and ornament of Jewish women, both in their homes and in the Synagogue; hence also their taking a silent part in the public devotion is an honour to them, and by no means derogatory.
In addition to the above-mentioned points, a Synagogue ought to be distinguished by the greatest possible simplicity, by the absence of all kinds of images, portraits, or statues representing living beings, whether real or imaginary. The Jewish religion is void of every visible symbol; and the so-called magen-david (the double triangle) is probably not of Jewish origin, and has no connection with our holy religion. It is not a symbol of this kind, but some inscription of a passage from the Scriptures that in most houses of worship reminds us of the sacredness of the place. We enter it with due reverence, manifesting it outwardly, in our peculiar traditional manner, by keeping the head covered. It is our ancient custom to cover the head when engaged in prayers, in reading the Bible or Talmud and their commentaries. This outward sign serves to remind us that not only our Service but even our literature is something holy, and its study a religious act (מצוה).[119]