Sinagogue

A synagogue is a Jewish or Samaritan house of prayer.[1] Synagogues have a large hall for prayer (the main sanctuary) with an Ark holding Torahscrolls, and can also have smaller rooms for study and sometimes a social hall for occasions as well as offices for bookkeeping. Some have a separate room for Torah study,called the beit midrash (Sfard) "beis midrash (Ashkenaz)—בית מדרש ("House of Study").
Synagogues are consecrated spaces intended for the purpose of prayer; however, a synagogueis not necessary for worship. Communal Jewish worship can be carried out wherever ten Jews (a minyan) assemble. Worship can also be carried out alone or with fewer than tenpeople assembled together. However, there are certain prayers that are communal prayers and therefore can be recited only by a minyan. Except in Reform Judaism, a synagogue isnot viewed as replacing the long-since destroyed Temple in Jerusalem.
Israelis use the Hebrew term bet knesset (assembly house). Jews of Ashkenazi descent havetraditionally used the Yiddish term "shul" (cognate with the German Schule, school) in everyday speech. Spanish and Portuguese Jews call the synagogue an esnoga. Persian Jews and KaraiteJews use the term kenesa, which is derived from Aramaic, and some Arabic-speaking Jews use knis. Some Reform and Conservative Jews use temple.[2][3] The Greek word synagogueis a good all-around term, used in English (and German and French), to cover the preceding possibilities.[4]
Synagogues often take on a broader role in modern Jewishcommunities and may include additional facilities such as a catering hall, kosher kitchen, religious school, library, day care center and a smaller chapel for daily services.