parsha bit: Vayikra

[cellio]

When the temple was destroyed it was no longer possible to bring the korbanot (offerings) mandated in the book of Vayikra, and the rabbis instittuted prayer as a substitute. Some of the rabbis said that prayer was not just equivalent but superior to korbanot: prayer could be offered anywhere and at any time, unlike the korbanot, and could take the form of meditation or words spoken from the heart. (Tanchuma, Vayera, 31b)

(Actually, even before the temple was destroyed there were synagogues where people prayed instead of journeying to Yerushalayim.)

Comments

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

Like Sanpaku said, synogogues developed during the Babylonian exile after the destruction of the first Temple.

I find this a deeply fortunate thing -- because the generation in exile was only one generation before rebuilding the Temple, but they developed a way to continue Judaism even after the 2000-year-and-counting Temple-less period that we're currently going through.