For Father Eugene LaVerdiere, the sound of Hebrew well
read and the plaintive tones of the cantor's chant during a
synagogue service "never foil to strike deep into my spirit. It
is then that I truly know that Jews and Christians ore inextricably
bound as brothers and sisters in one family of God." This week,
Faith Today explores the special traditions of Jews and the
common religious heritage they share with Christians. Inside,
Rabbi Daniel Polish explains the importance of the home, the
center of Jewish religious practice.
Supplement to The Georgia Bulletin, November 12, 1987
□ Faith Toda
A supplement to Catholic newspapers published by
NATIONAL CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE
1012 Massachusetts Ave. N.W., Washington, D.C. 20005.
with grant assistance from
The Catholic Church
EXTENSION Society
35 East Wacker Dr., Chicago, Illinois 60601
All contents copyright© 1987 by NC News Service.
By Father Eugene LaVerdiere, SSS
NC News Service
I n the course of a lifetime,
Jews are much more likely
to attend a service in a
Catholic church than
Catholics are even to enter
a synagogue. The reason is simple:
Among Catholics, just about every
religious event takes place in a
church. Among Jews, many
religious events unfold in the
home.
Take, for example, the events
from Holy Thursday to Easter and
the Jewish Passover. While
Catholics gather as communities in
churches to celebrate the Lord’s
Supper, Jews gather as families in
homes to celebrate the Seder meal.
□ □ □
As a student of Scripture, I often
have had the opportunity to attend
a synagogue service. I confess that
I love the sound of Hebrew when
it is well read and I much ap
preciate the plaintive tones of the
cantor’s chant. They never fail to
strike deep into my spirit.
It is then that I truly know that
Jews and Christians are inextricably
bound as brothers and sisters in
one family of God.
To understand what the
synagogue building and services are
all about, a few comparisons with a
Catholic church and the Sunday
Eucharist can be helpful.
When Catholics come together
for Mass, they do two principal
things: They celebrate what we call
the Liturgy of the Word and im
mediately afterward the Liturgy of
the Eucharist. When Jews gather on
the Sabbath, they celebrate a
Liturgy of the Word.
Historically, the Catholic Liturgy
of the Word, with its readings,
psalms, prayers and homily, was
influenced profoundly by the early
synagogue liturgy. This was in
keeping with the practice of Jesus
and the tradition of the earliest
Christians, who were Jews still
closely associated with the
synagogue.
The synagogue service, however,
has nothing resembling the Liturgy
of the Eucharist. Religious meals
are very important among Jews,
but their place is the home, not the
synagogue.
This big difference in our
religious services has practical con
sequences for the architecture and
physical appearance of Catholic
churches and synagogues.
Catholic churches have a triple
architectural focus.
•There is the ambo, the special
lectern on which we display the
Bible and where we proclaim its
message in the Liturgy of the
Word.
•There is the altar, where the
Eucharist is celebrated.
•And there is the tabernacle
where the Eucharist is reserved for
the sick and for prayer.
Synagogues have a double focus.
•A major feature is the lectern.
•The tabernacle also holds a pro
minent place. It is here that the
scrolls of the Torah — that is, the
Law, the first five books of the Bi
ble — are kept.
There is no better place than
Israel to visit and study the various
kinds of synagogues. Some of the
large modern synagogues of
Jerusalem are comparable to
churches built in the United States
during the past few years.
In the old traditional synagogues
of Galilee, however, the similarities
are less obvious. These synagogues
are very small. The lecterns are like
large pulpits which rise high in the
middle of the synagogue and take
up much space. The congregation
sits all around along the walls.
In these little synagogues of
Galilee we feel the warmth and
strength of Jewish tradition. As out
siders we are not made to feel
unwelcome, though in this small
setting we might experience the
uneasy feeling that we are invading
someone’s privacy.
One incident, more than any
other, typifies the joy, the affec
tion, the love and the reverence
which fills a small synagogue at its
prayerful best. It took place in
Israel. We were a busload of
students, mostly priests, visiting
excavations in the southern part
of the country in the autumn.
Passing through a neighborhood
in a small town, we heard music
and saw singing and dancing. In
the midst of the small congrega
tion, the rabbi was dancing with
the scrolls of the Law. All eyes
were fixed on him as he spun to
the music, raising and lowering the
scrolls, delighting in God’s gift of
the Law. It was the Jewish feast of
the Joy of the Torah.
Now, 20 years later, I still can
see the rabbi holding up the scrolls,
the children leaping, the adults
bowing, all eyes shining.
Remembering that moment, I
sometimes think how wonderful it
would be if Catholics had a feast to
celebrate the Joy of the Gospel.
(Father LaVerdiere is editor of
Emmanuel.)
The
synagogues
of
Galilee
