The synagogue is around the world, where there is a Jewish population, there is also a synagogue.Synagogue is a Jewish community an important center of worship and teaching. The word synagogue means a congregation that comes together.
The construction of synagogues became necessary after the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem in the 5th century BC, when the Jews were deported to Babylon. Attempts were made to imitate in joint church meetings the pattern of temple worship.
The Romans destroyed in the 70's rebuilt by King Herod temple. Since then, it has not been rebuilt since for there is a Mosque of Rocks built by Muslims.
There is no actual synagogue architecture. The appearance of synagogues has varied from country to country according to style trends and the wealth of the congregations.
Helsinki Synagogue
Common to all the synagogues are the cult objects in their interior: the Torah scroll, the ark, the reading desk, the eternal light, the tablets of the Ten Commandments, and the seven-pronged candlestick, the menorah, and the Star of David.
Its a synagogue belongs to the Orthodox Jewish Congregation, the women sit on the balcony.
The sheet is on the wall facing the temple in Jerusalem.
The curtain in front of the sheet reminiscent of the veil of the temple in Jerusalem, which isolated the most holy.
Worship
Orthodox Synagogue Worship can only be held when 10 men are assembled. Boys over the age of 13 who have attended a bar mitsva ceremony are counted as men. The presence of a rabbi is not necessary.
Men put a prayer cloak (stables) on their shoulders and a prayer strap (tefill) is wrapped around the left wrist of a small hat (kipa) (Not in Sabbath services)
Services are held in the mornings, noon and evening.
At the beginning of the service, the scroll is taken out of the sheet and passed from hand to hand. People show respect for it by getting up. The honor is to get the doors of the sheet open or closed.
Every service includes reading the Torah and teaching it in a sermon usually given by a rabbi.
The order of worship is determined by the book of prayer from which the cantor or a parishioner reads passages, psalms, and proverbs of the Torah. Worship ends with closing prayers and prayer for the mourning (kaddis)
The Mikve pool is for ritual cleansing. Married women are cleaned up there some time after their period ends and before the wedding.
Men are cleansed on their wedding day and some young fathers before their son is circumcised.