SYNAGOGUE (From the Greek SUNAGOGUÊ meaning assembly, congregation.) There was only one temple in Judah, that of Solomon in Jerusalem, where all the great ceremonies of worship were held. Every year all the Jews would go there in pilgrimage for the principal festivals, such as the Passover, the Dedication and the Feast of the Tabernacle. It was on the occasion of these feasts that Jesus would also be present. The other cities did not have temples, only synagogues, buildings where the Jewish people would collect for their Saturday meetings and public prayers, under the leadership of their Eiders, the scribes, or scholars versed in the Law. It was due to this fact that Jesus, although He was not a priest, was able to teach at the synagogues on Saturdays.
Ever since the ruin of Jerusalem and the dispersal of the Jews, the synagogues, in the cities where hey went to live, became temples for the celebration of their cults.
