What things are inside a Synagogue?

Answer 1

Every temple is different. I'll try to describe what is in my synagogue. I'll only describe the sanctuary, not the entire place including the social hall, religious school, and temple offices.

When you walk in, there are plaques on the wall commemorating people who have passed, and those who donated to the construction of the new building. There is a rack of prayer shawls and yarmelkes that people (men and women) may borrow should they so desire. As you walk into the temple itself, there are seats (just like in a theater or church). At the back of each chair is a little thing that holds prayer books. Over to one side in the seating area is the sound board for the sound operator to sit at during services.

There are stained glass windows on one wall. The opposite wall is actually removable and leads into the social hall.

At the front is the stage (we call it a bima). In the middle there's a podium from which the clergy speak and lead services. To the right and left are seats for people who will be participating in the service. To the back there is an alcove, beautifully decorated, called the arc. It contains the torah. There's a light overhead called the Eternal Light. On one side, there's a little table that they light the sabbath candles on. Just off of the bima, stage right (house left, to use theatre terms) is the piano, and the place where the choir stands.

That's about it. Everything else is decorative.

Answer 2

things in a synagogue, you're everyday Jewish checklist: :)

Im asuming you want to know aboout and orthodox synagogue and because that's what i know that's what your gonna get :)

1) the Aron Kodesh (the space where the Torah is kept, hopefully it is facing the east or where ever Jerusilum is depending on where you are)

2) a Bimah (a (sometimes) raised area where the Torah and havtorah are read to the cogregation, and where prayers are lead)

3) the eternal flame (whose Hebrew name escapes me and i kinda forgot the purpose but im sure you can find it with some Google-ing)

4)a micheetzah (a separating between men and women)

5) siddurim (prayer books)

6) talleetot (prayer shawls worn by men usually and tied with tzittzit)

7)kippot (skull caps)

there maybe others but i cant think of them

Answer 3

Well, besides the usual chairs or pews, all Jewish synagogues will face towards Jerusalem. Here in America, the sanctuary will face towards the east. A Jewish synagogue has a bimah, which literally means "elevated place" in Hebrew. All the congregants face towards the bimah, that's where the rabbi stands and if there is a cantor, where the cantor sings. The center part of the bimah, usually towards the back holds the ark and that's where the Torahs are kept. A Jewish synagogue usually holds 2-3 Torahs in its ark. If a congregation is lucky, it's asked to keep a Holocaust Torah, that is, one that survived the Holocaust in Europe in the 1940's. It is considered a great honor to have one. Each week during the Sabbath service, the Torah is brought out and the weekly portion is read. The rabbi scrolls through to the proper place and it is read. As a side note, the Torah is never touched by hands, and is kept covered with a decorated cover and silver or gold plate. When it is read, a yad is used, which is a pointer, usually made in the shape of a pointing finger, and this keeps the place of the reader without touching the Torah itself. The other important thing in a synagogue is the ner tamid, the eternal light. This is a flickering flame or lamp that symbolizes God's presence in the synagogue. Catholics have it to, though most lay Catholics probably don't realize where it comes from.

Answer 4

There are chairs, a table or lectern for reading the Torah, a lectern at which the person who leads the prayers stands, and there is a holy ark in which the Torah scroll is kept.

Answer 5

A Torah, a Torah ark, and the eternal light.