Sacred Spaces: 10 Interesting Quotes About Synagogues

1. Our Sages taught in Berachot Chapter 1: "Anyone who has a synagogue in their city and does not attend it is called a bad neighbor and causes harm to themselves and their children after them. Anyone who arrives early and stays late at the synagogue merits serving Hashem in the World to Come, and in this world merits longevity, as it is said: 'Happy is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my gates... For whoever finds me finds life.'" (Rabbeinu Bachya, "Kad Hakemach")

2. "Anyone who builds even one wall in a synagogue or any structure, even something minor, or even just nails in a nail for repair, this is a great merit." (Rabbeinu Bachya)

3. "One who comes to the synagogue should purify himself from all evil thoughts, which are impurities of the heart, all the more so from what Yaakov required for bodily purity when he wanted to come to the house of God, as it is said 'Purify yourselves and change your garments.' It is known that impurity of the heart is worse than impurity of the body, and its punishment is extremely severe for the soul, as our Sages taught: Thoughts of sin are more difficult than sin itself. One must guard against excessive conversation with friends in the synagogue about secular matters, even about one's business affairs... rather, one should speak sparingly, except when speaking in prayer and words of praise and thanksgiving before the Omnipresent. All the more so, one should not converse during prayer, during the blessings of the Shema, and in places where the Sages have forbidden interruptions." (Rabbeinu Bachya)

4. "Great is the power of the synagogue, for it resembles the Holy Temple, and is therefore called a 'minor sanctuary,' as our Sages expounded in the chapter 'The Residents of the City': 'And I will be for them a small sanctuary' - these are the synagogues and study halls. Prayer is heard there more readily because everyone gathers there, and Hashem does not reject the prayers of the many.

5. "Rabbi Simon said: When is Hashem exalted in His world? When Israel gathers in synagogues and study halls... And just as the Holy Temple was built on the height of the mountain, so too we are commanded to build the synagogue higher than other buildings. Anyone who sits there should be clothed in awe, for we are commanded to fear the awe of the Divine Presence, as our Sages said: 'One who prays should see as if the Divine Presence is before him.'" (Rabbeinu Bachya)

6. "See how elevated He is above His world, yet a person enters the synagogue and prays behind the podium and whispers his prayer, and Hashem listens to him. Is there a God as great as this one?" (Yalkut Shimoni, Ezekiel Chapter 1, 337)

7. "Therefore I would say, one should always sit and engage in Torah study and the Work of the Chariot and all good virtues in the world, and leave it all to go to the synagogue and study hall and any place where Torah is renewed, for through attendance at the synagogue and study hall, joy is renewed for Hashem every day continuously. (Tanna D'vei Eliyahu)

Ashkenazi synagogue in Ra'anana

8. In "Tanna D'vei Eliyahu" it states: "Even if a person has neither Scripture nor Mishnah, but comes early and stays late at the synagogue and study hall and recites the Shema for the sake of My great Name, their reward is set aside before Me, provided they keep away from sin."

9. On the verse in Song of Songs: "My beloved is like a gazelle," it is explained in Midrash Rabbah: "Just as a gazelle leaps from place to place, from fence to fence, from tree to tree, from booth to booth, so does Hashem skip and leap from one congregation to another. Why? In order to bless Israel, as it is said (Shemot 20), 'In every place where I cause My name to be mentioned, etc.'"

10. It is brought in Midrash Rabbah: "Rabbi Yehoshua said in the name of Rabbi Nachman: Anyone who comes to the synagogue and hears words of Torah merits sitting among the wise in the future, as it is said (Tehilim 15), 'The ear that hears life-giving rebuke will dwell among the wise.'"