III.

Origins

The origins of the synagogue as an institution are obscure. The earliest archaeological evidence is a 3rd-century bc inscription from Egypt. The earliest evidence from Palestine is a 1st-century bc Greek inscription that stresses the synagogue’s teaching function (“for the reading of the Law and the teaching of the commandments”). The earliest synagogues discovered (at Masada and Herodium) are from 1st-century ad Palestine and predate the destruction of the Temple. Literary evidence of the 1st century (such as the works of the philosopher Philo Judaeus and the historian Flavius Josephus, as well as the New Testament) portrays the synagogue as a well-established institution, but its exact origin is uncertain, despite numerous scholarly guesses. The Jerusalem Temple was the center of the Jewish cult as long as it stood, and the synagogue clearly had a different function, serving as a local meetinghouse for study and, probably, prayer. When the Temple was destroyed, the synagogue became its surrogate. Much of the liturgy of rabbinic Judaism—even the times of statutory prayer and the number of services held on Sabbaths and festivals—was framed to correspond to the rituals and rhythms of the defunct Temple cult. From early on, the synagogue functioned also as a communal center and even as a hostel for traveling Jews.