I thought of this because the synagogues in my town consolidated, and I found out today that the main one is now in the process of transforming into a YMCA community center. It’s a beautiful building in a low-income neighborhood, so I’m glad it’s going to still be useful.
Anyway, I know that many churches undergo deconsecration if the building is going to be used for something else after a congregation moves out. Does a synagogue have to undergo something similar?
There appears to be no halacich (legally proscribed) procedure
No.
In my area we recently had two Reform synagogues consolidate into one group. They sold one of the two buildings - it is now a Christian church. The money made from the sale was put into the building fund for the building they kept.
As a general rule, Judaism does not see the synagogue building as sacred.*.
What is sacred are the ritual objects inside the building , which are used in worship.
*Unlike say, a Cathiolic cathedral, where the building itself must be shaped like a cross, and within the building the altar is a sacred spot.)
I think the idea is that having the Torah scrolls in a synagogue makes it sacred, because it is now the home of the scrolls. That’s why bringing a scroll into a shul is such a big deal:
Once you take the scrolls out, it’s just a building.
The ark holding the scrolls is sacred. The building, not so much.
But I aint no expert. I’m just talking about the general atmosphere and social attitudes of the folks using the buliding.(especially among American Jews, which I think is what the OP is asking.)
A friend of mine wanted to turn an old synagogue into a nightclub and call it ‘synagogo’.
Say what? There are plenty of Catholic churches, and even some cathedrals, that are not shaped like a cross. There’s a long tradition of round churches—the Aachen Cathedral is one example, but there must be dozens more.
Do you mean “proscribed” or “prescribed”? If the former, that might explain this news report about a New York synagogue undergoing some sort of formal deconsecration procedure (emphasis mine):
Early morning/fat fingers/typing on tablet/auto-correct, pick one. Prescribed of course.
They had a last service that they called a deconsecration service, but there is no specific deconsecration procedure. Take out the Torahs and it is done as a synagogue.
A congregation can certainly decide to hold a ceremony, or mark an occasion in some manner, but that does not mean it is in any way mandatory to do so.
It’s the torah scrolls that make the place holy, not the building itself.
Our old temple became an appliance repair shop, and is now a private home. I think there was a ceremony as we moved out but other than removing the Torahs I’m not sure what else done.
yes, I know that not all churches are built that way, But many are.
And the church building itself is often divided into separate areas with names like the nave, the sanctuary, the altar, the chancel, the presbytery–each defined with its degree of sacredness. Synagogues have sacred objects in them, but the building itself is less sacred, if at all. For example, there are no areas which are restricted to the clergy, and off limits to the laymen, or areas where rituals must be performed, and nowhere else.
from the united methodist church
the sanctuary, where the clergy preside, from the nave, where the lay people worship
from wiki:
In many Western Christian traditions including Catholic, Lutheran, Methodist, and Anglican churches, the area around the altar is called the sanctuary; it is also considered holy because of the belief in the physical presence of God in the Eucharist,
It’s not just the synagogue that is treated differently . Unlike priests, rabbis have no specific ritual role that can’t be done without them like mass. Rabbis are teachers, leaders, and may hold a lot of sway over their congregants but ritual life doesn’t require one.
No. There is no prescribed ritual or anything else for that purpose.
A synagogue may choose to hold an inauguration, of course, but it is certainly not required, and there is no prescribed ritual for such an event. Anyplace that a minyan* of Jews gather can be used for regular prayer.
Zev Steinhardt
Nice to see you, @zev_steinhardt.
As an aside: I used to live in a very Jewish neighborhood of Montreal. There were at least four synagogues within walking distance of my house. In the many decades since then, most of the Jews have moved away. So all those synagogue buildings are now used for something else. I’m not aware of any ceremonies that were held when they were sold.
Thank you, Susan!
At one point there were YMCAs and YMHAs, with presumably some non-secular component to the group. (I think the 92nd Street Y in New York was a YMHA.) Now, all of the "Y"s seem to be entirely secular.
Both YMHAs in Toronto rebranded as the Jewish Community Centre decades ago, even though they are multi-faith and open to all.