A brief history of the Jewish synagogue as an institution

   The institution of the Jewish synagogue dates back, most likely, to the time of the Babylonian exile (starting in 586 BC). There are, however, some passages in the Tanakh which may refer to ancient prototypes of a designated place of meeting for worship, aside from the Tabernacle or Temple. However, it was during and after the exile period that the synagogue became an established institution. It became the center of Jewish religious and social life, given that Solomon's Temple had been utterly destroyed during the Babylonian conquest. The most important element of the Temple, the Ark of the True God was lost.

   Whether they were in Babylon or remnants scattered about the Levant, this institution of the synagogue developed as a way to keep Jewish religious traditions alive. There is no word in the Hebrew texts for this type of institution, hence the word comes from the Greek synagein, meaning "to come together." Here the people would gather together to read the scriptures, teach the Oral Law and maintain community and social traditions.
   By the time of Yeshua, the institution of the synagogue existed alongside the rebuilt Temple and by this time had become a prominent and more formal institution of Jewish life. The Messiah was first, a prophet, anointed to speak for God, but a greater prophet than those of old. He first presented Himself, and initiated His ministry at the synagogues around Galilee, then He arrived at Nazareth, His hometown;

   And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up; and he went to the synagogue, as his custom was, on the sabbath day. And he stood up to read; and there was given to him the book of the prophet Isaiah. He opened the book and found the place where it was written, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord." And he closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant, and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." Luke 4 (compare Isaiah 61)

   Following the captivity and the return to Israel, Jewish religious life was reorganized to include the construction of synagogues alongside the rebuilding of the Temple. A place of meeting or assembly for worship was called in Hebrew a keneset hence, it was called Bet ha-keneset. It came to be shortened sometimes as simply keneset, or in Aramaic kanishta.

   Synagogues remained in Babylon as some Jews remained after the release from captivity. There were synagogues in Egypt,

especially in and around Alexandria. By the time Titus came to destroy Jerusalem in the year 70 CE, it is said there were hundreds of synagogues in the city. There were many foreign Jews living in Jerusalem and these often had established synagogues of their own. The apostle Paul preached in numerous synagogues in Damascus and throughout Asia Minor, Macedonia, and Greece. He mentions synagogues at Antioch in Pisidia, Iconium, Ephesus, Philippi, Thessalonica, Beroea, Athens, Corinth, and Salamis. His reach was extended to uncircumcised Greeks, but he was always focused on the synagogues.

   The synagogue and the academy became the two institutions which preserved the Holy Scriptures of God, holding them through to the time of Jesus, providing a means of recognizing the Messiah. Thus Judaism became the foundation or the root stock to which Christianity was grafted in. Continuing to hold the scriptures and traditions through the persecutions of Rome and then the persecutions of the Christian church, the persecutions of the Muslim Caliphs, even through the Nazi Holocaust, and the Soviet pogroms. Jewish tradition and the preservation of God's Word has been their gift to the world.

   With the Temple gone, the tradition being firmly established, the synagogue rose in standing as the center of social and religious life for the Jewish communities scattered about Europe and the Diaspora. The community established by the Messiah, was being hunted down in the early years by the Jewish leaders, and would have been compelled to stay away from the synagogues. They were often forced to go into hiding, meeting secretly.

   It is not clear what the Messiah intended for His community or church as far as organizing a system of centers for worship and teaching. So it seems the Apostles struggled for a time with trying to organize some sort of framework for worship which was loosely patterned after the synagogue system. Barnabas and Paul's early missionary work involved traveling about from synagogue to synagogue exclusively, preaching the Good News of the Messiah and the Kingdom. At some he was received well but often he was cursed, driven away, stoned and beaten.

   One may well wonder, as the Christian religion grew, and congregations formed, separate from the Jewish synagogues, what form or shape would the Christian churches take? Would they be modeled after the synagogue, the Temple, or something new? Ultimately, as time passed, the Christian church would organize around a pattern more like the pagan church than the Jewish synagogue. The apostle Paul was largely responsible for this, followed on by the inflow of Greek and Roman converts who were more comfortable with the well organized traditional pagan churches. Ceremonies, rituals, holidays and festivals, and the hierarchy of clergymen, were all drawn from paganism, modified slightly, and adopted by the early church.

   Nonetheless, the synagogue is where the songs are sung, where the Rabbis teach, where the Law and the Prophets are read, and where the cohesion of the Jewish community is grounded. This is where they're misrepresenting the misinterpretations of the misunderstandings. Where they won't never not give the clear and concise explanation of the yes, no, and maybe sometimes, of the Law and Prophets. In other words, all the same curiously twisted teachings one will find in the Christian churches. 

mozel tov