Shtiebel
Encyclopedia
Synagogue
A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...
, a shtiebel is far smaller and approached more casually. It is typically as small as a room in a private home or a place of business which is set aside for the express purpose of prayer, or it may be as large as a small-sized synagogue. It may or may not offer the communal services of a synagogue.
Traditional shtiebels are not only a place for prayer, but also a place for community gathering. Due to the prominence of a Hasidic Rebbe
Rebbe
Rebbe , which means master, teacher, or mentor, is a Yiddish word derived from the Hebrew word Rabbi. It often refers to the leader of a Hasidic Jewish movement...
, the shtiebel served as a medium for being near to him. A shtiebel would be host to the Shalosh Seudos, the ritual third meal of the Sabbath
Shabbat
Shabbat is the seventh day of the Jewish week and a day of rest in Judaism. Shabbat is observed from a few minutes before sunset on Friday evening until a few minutes after when one would expect to be able to see three stars in the sky on Saturday night. The exact times, therefore, differ from...
.
Shtiebels were common in Jewish communities in Eastern Europe before the Holocaust
The Holocaust
The Holocaust , also known as the Shoah , was the genocide of approximately six million European Jews and millions of others during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored murder by Nazi...
. They were popularly preferred to large synagogues by Hasidim
Hasidic Judaism
Hasidic Judaism or Hasidism, from the Hebrew —Ḥasidut in Sephardi, Chasidus in Ashkenazi, meaning "piety" , is a branch of Orthodox Judaism that promotes spirituality and joy through the popularisation and internalisation of Jewish mysticism as the fundamental aspects of the Jewish faith...
, and continue to exist in contemporary Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
In Israel, minyan
Minyan
A minyan in Judaism refers to the quorum of ten Jewish adults required for certain religious obligations. According to many non-Orthodox streams of Judaism adult females count in the minyan....
s are held in storefront shtiebelekh in major business areas around the clock; whenever ten men show up, a new minyan begins. The Zichron Moshe shtiebel in the Zichron Moshe
Zikhron Moshe
Zikhron Moshe is a neighborhood in the center of Jerusalem, Israel.Zikhron Moshe was founded in 1905. It is located between Meah Shearim and Geulah. The first inhabitants were secular teachers. It was one of several neighborhoods in Jerusalem named for Sir Moses Montefiore.The neighborhood grew up...
neighborhood of Jerusalem (near Geula
Geula
Geula is a neighborhood in the center of Jerusalem, Israel populated mainly by Haredi Jews. Geula is bordered by Zikhron Moshe and Mekor Baruch on the west, the Bukharim neighborhood on the north, Meah Shearim on the east and the Jerusalem city center on the south.-History:Geula was established in...
) is located in a proper synagogue
Synagogue
A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...
, with many rooms for round-the-clock minyans. This shtiebel is well-known as the locale of Friday-night mussar talks which Rabbi Sholom Schwadron
Sholom Schwadron
Sholom Schwadron was a Haredi rabbi. He was known as the "Maggid of Jerusalem" for his fiery, inspirational mussar talks. Some of the stories he told about the character and conduct of Torah leaders and tzadikim of previous generations were incorporated in the "Maggid" series of books by Rabbi...
, the "Maggid
Maggid
Maggid , sometimes spelled as magid, is a traditional Eastern European Jewish religious itinerant preacher, skilled as a narrator of Torah and religious stories. A preacher of the more scholarly sort was called a "darshan", and usually occupied the official position of rabbi...
of Jerusalem," delivered for more than 40 years.