The Synagogue as a Substitute for the Temple

Midrash on Deuteronomy from the Cairo Geniza

2nd to 6th Century

As long as the Temple existed, the daily offerings and sacrifices would atone for the sins of Israel. Nowadays, the synagogues of Israel replace the Temple, and as long as Israel prays in them, they, in effect, replace the daily offerings and sacrifices; and when prayers are recited [therein] at the proper times and [the Jews] direct their hearts [to God through their prayers], they gain merit and will see the rebuilding of the Temple and the sacrificing of the daily offering and [other] sacrifices, as it is written: And I will bring them to My holy mountain, and I will rejoice in My house of prayer; their sacrifices and offerings are welcome on My altar, for My house will be called a house of prayer for all peoples (Isaiah 56:7).

Translated by Lee I. Levine.

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Notes

Words in brackets appear in the original translation.

Credits

Midrash on Deuteronomy from the Cairo Geniza, trans. Lee I. Levine, in Lee I. Levine, The Ancient Synagogue: The First Thousand Years, 2nd ed. (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 2005), p. 240. Used with permission of the pubisher.

Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 2: Emerging Judaism.