SYNAGOGUE (Documentary)

Before the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, communal prayers were centered around the korbanot, sacrificial offerings, brought by the kohanim in the Holy Temple. During the Babylonian captivity the Men of the Great Assembly began the process of formalizing and standardizing Jewish services and prayers that did not depend on the functioning of the Temple in Jerusalem. Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai, one of the leaders at the end of the Second Temple era, promulgated the idea of creating individual houses of worship in whatever locale Jews found themselves. This contributed to the saving of the Jewish people by maintaining a unique identity and a portable way of worship despite the destruction of the Temple.