Exploring the Ancient Synagogues and Their Origins

In this series, we will trace, with Hashem's help, the history of synagogues among the Jewish people throughout the generations.

When did the Jews start building synagogues? The sages taught that prayers were established in place of the daily offerings. This could imply that prayer, and by extension the synagogue, only began after the destruction of the Temple. However, as we will see, that is not the case.

The synagogue is mentioned in some of the oldest sources. Regarding Jacob's words to his sons, Simeon and Levi, "I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel," the Jerusalem Targum says: "in synagogues and study houses." On Yitro's words, "and show them the way they must walk," the Targum elaborates: "and inform them of the prayer to be made in the synagogue." The verse "How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, thy dwellings, O Israel," was interpreted by the sages to refer to synagogues.

Could there have been synagogues during the days of Moses? Apparently, yes. The sages taught that Moses instituted the reading of the Torah on Shabbat. This tradition is mentioned in many ancient sources (Josephus, Philo, the Gospels). On Shabbat, the Israelites would gather to hear Torah teachings, as also mentioned in the prophets, in the story of the Shunammite woman who asked, "Why are you going to him today? It is neither a new moon nor Shabbat" (2 Kings 4:23). On the new moon and Shabbat, they would come to hear the teachings of the Torah.

In the description of the destruction, Jeremiah says, "the Chaldeans burned with fire the king's house and the people's houses." What is meant by "the people's house?" The sages, and the Targum as well, say it refers to the synagogue, where the people gather. Similarly, in an earlier account of the conquest of foreign nations in the land, it says in Psalms "They have burned up all the meeting places of Hashem in the land" (Psalms 74:8), which the sages interpreted as a reference to synagogues.

The earliest historical account of a synagogue comes from the second century BCE. Josephus describes how the kings of Syria after Antiochus Epiphanes gave gifts to the synagogue in Antioch. A synagogue inscription in Schedia, Egypt, attributes its origin even earlier, to the days of Ptolemy III, around 247 BCE. Similarly, other synagogues in Egypt, in Athribis and Alexandronosus, date from ancient times.

Despite this, some researchers have attempted to deny the antiquity of synagogues among the Jewish people. Maybe synagogues were only built abroad, where there was no Temple? Yet in 1997, the winter palace of John Hyrcanus I, grandson of Mattathias the Hasmonean, was excavated. Ehud Netzer, the site's excavator, uncovered a massive and impressive synagogue structure there, crafted with basilica-style artistry and colonnades. It's clear that the Hasmoneans did not invent the idea of the synagogue. Rather, their dedication to synagogues even in their war fortresses shows how fundamental and necessary it was for every Jew.

In the following articles, we will continue to explore the history of synagogues and prayer in Israel.