La nascita e il significato della sinagoga antica. Nota Bibliografica

The three volumes presented in this Bibliographical Note examine the origins of the synagogue. The problems highly debated are the social and the religious impacts behind the scenes, and the time and the purpose of such an institution. So, where, when and why did the synagogue emerge? The volume of D.D. Binder first examine the terminology: proseuche, synagoge hieron etc. to find a religious background for the synagogue. Starting from the assembly performed during the Persian Period at the city-gates of villages and cities of Judaea, the ‘Torah Reading’ was central (cf. Nehem 8,13-18). From this kind of assembly emerges the synagogue, as a place where the local community reproduces the central sanctuary of Jerusalem, not only in the liturgy but also with the architecture and decoration (Aron Qodesh, palm tree, door, menorah, paroket etc.). The volume edited by A.J. Avery-Peck - J. Neusner presents a collection of studies on the synagogue. J. Magness argues the new dating for the galilean synagogues (Gush Halav, Capernaum, Khirbet Shema, Nabratein and others), that is from 5º to 6º century AD. The opponents are the excavators E.M. Meyers and J.F. Strange who maintain an early date. Significant chapters are presented by J.F. Strange on ‘The Synagogue as Methaphor’; and by P.V.M. Flesher on ‘Prolegomenon to a Theory of Early Synagogue Development’. The final chapter of this volume is by M. Aviam, who presents the new excavations at the ancient synagogues at Bara‘am. The volume presented by A. Runesson envisages a different historical and social process at the origins of the synagogue. The investigation spans from the Persian Period to the Roman Period and argues that behind the word ‘synagogue’ in the first century AD, there are concealed two types of institutions: the public village assembly and the so-called voluntary association. The former originated as a result of the radical implementation of Persian imperial policy in the Province of Yehud, while the latter developed when Hellenistic influence was felt in the region. In the Diaspora, synagogue liturgy gradually replaced Jewish sacrificial cult so that temples eventually were transformed into synagogues.