Shtibl

("little room"). Yiddish term used by Ḥasidic Jews for their own type of Synagogue, combining the functions of a prayer, study, and social center; also called a klaus or kloyz. As a result of increasingly bitter conflict in the late 18th century with their traditionalist opponents, the Mitnaggedim, Ḥasidim found themselves excluded from most spheres of religious and communal life in Eastern Europe (see ḥasidism). Unable to worship in the synagogues of the Mitnaggedim, and in any case ill at ease with the atmosphere prevailing there, Ḥasidim established more informal houses of worship where prayers were conducted according to their own rite. An emotional outpouring of the heart rather than solemnity and decorum typified worship in the shtibl (pl. shtiblakh), simple, often austere premises containing a few tables and benches. These were all that the Ḥasidim needed for joyful prayer at any hour of the day, for discourses by their spiritual leader or Rebbe, and for communal meals or their own mode of study.

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