Synagogue Judaica and Religious Decorations

The center of Jewish life is the synagogue, alsoexception. There are synagogues in all of the
known as a Schule in Yiddish and a Beitmajor types of architecture that were popular in
HaKnesset in Hebrew. The synagogue is whereEurope, from Greek and Romanesque to
communal prayer services are held and in manyNeoclassical to the modern buildings seen today.
communities special events and lifestyleRegardless, all synagogues have much of the
milestones, such as weddings and Bar Mitzvahs,same Judaica, both in the form of decorations and
are held in the synagogue. Since the synagogue isobjects which can be used.
also considered to be the equivalent of a smallThe most essential Judaica present in synagogues
temple, many of them are decorated with fancyare Siddurim and a Torah Scroll, as these are the
depictions of things from Judaism or the Torah onbare essentials of what is necessary for services.
stained glass. In addition, the synagogue is filledThe Torah is always housed in an area called an
with Judaica such as Siddurim - prayer books,Aron Kodesh in Hebrew, which is often decorated
Torah scrolls and a large menorah, to name awith Judaica such as lions or the first words of
few.each of the Ten Commandments. In addition to
Initially, synagogues were considered to be only athis, there are usually other Judaica such as
communal house of prayer and not the center ofdifferent books on the Torah such as the Talmud
Jewish life in different communities. Consequently,and Mishna, as well as books on Jewish law and
there were very little Judaica in them. Often thereJewish philosophy, amongst many other topics
was little more present than a Torah Scroll as therelated to Judaism. Very often, synagogues will
congregants often either owned their ownhave at least one large Menorah for use on
Siddurim or knew the prayers by heart and alsoHanukkah.
owned their own sets of Tefillin, the phylacteriesRegarding decorations, many decorations relate to
worn during morning services. Regardless, theJudaism and often are recognizable Judaica. Some
Torah scroll itself was almost decorated with typeof these decorations include lions and the seven
of Judaica. The most common Judaica adorningspecies as well items used in the performance of
scrolls were items such as Torah pointers andcommandments, also known as Mitzvot. However,
various silver ornaments such as Rimmonim,there are also other decorations such as the
breastplates and crowns. However, once thesymbols of the 12 tribes of Israel. Once again,
Catholic Church started building fancy, ornatethese decorations of various Judaica are because
cathedrals, the Jews followed suit and did theJews tend to decorate anything and everything
same to their synagogues.that is to be used in the performance of Mitzvot.
Since Jews tended to adopt certain elements ofIn addition, their presence in the synagogue is a
the pervading culture to be used for theirgreat reminder to people as to why they are in
purposes relating to Judaism, synagogues were nothe synagogue in the first place - to speak to G-d.