Synagogue Questions and Answers

The crown serves as a reminder to strengthen our commitment to fulfilling the mitzvahs of the Torah.

What is the function of a rabbi? What is his purpose and mission? What is he there to accomplish? I would imagine that if you would ask three different rabbis you would probably get three unique responses.

I have always understood that the word aliyah refers to being called up to the Torah reading at the synagogue. But yesterday, a friend told me that he is making aliyah. He explained that “making aliyah” meant moving to Israel. Could you enlighten me on what the true meaning of the word is?

As a regular attendee of Shabbat services, I know that the weekly Parsha is not read from the Torah scroll in one go, but is divided into seven portions, with seven different people called up to the Torah for an aliyah. I am wondering when the aliyah portions were divided and by whom?

The word chumash is derived from the Hebrew word chomesh, which means a fifth.

Ever wondered why the ark in your synagogue has two coverings – a door and a curtain?

It was never clear to me why some call the weekly Torah reading parshah and others call it sidra.  Are these two words synonymous?

Is it true that there is no mention of the synagogue in the Torah? It’s hard to imagine “Judaism”—at least as we know it today—without synagogues!

Is there a specific reason why we lift the Torah up in the air in the synagogue after each reading?

Why do we need a synagogue? How do we build a synagogue? What do we do in one?

At almost every function I attend, a wedding, kid's birthday party or communal gathering, someone comes up to me and says, "Rabbi, do you know why I don't go to synagogue...."

The synogouge is a holy place some laws on how one should conduct themselves

I go jogging every Friday afternoon and often pass your synagogue. I see you are getting some nice crowds. To be honest I don't see why people go to services every single Shabbat.

The issue is even more baffling than you think. Most of the guidelines for prayer, we learned from a lady named Chana who lived about 3000 years ago. Yet all the dominant roles in communal prayer are given to men!

An exchange between the Lubavitcher Rebbe and Rabbi Menachem Mendel Kasher, a Polish-born Israeli rabbi and author.

The common assumption is that spirituality and sensuality are mutually exclusive. Who says? Sensuality is not something we are meant to kill. It lies at the core of human spirituality--even of...

Why do men and women sit separately at traditional Jewish services?

“I like to sit next to my husband during synagogue services; that’s why I don’t go to Chabad,” a nice lady told me.

“It is a mistake to think that the Mechitzah is degrading to the honor or dignity of the Jewish woman . . .”

The shtiebel is a sort of synagogue, and it comes with its own color, character and cultural nuances.