Parshas Kedoshim
Jews come to synagogues (“shulsâ€) on the weekend for all kinds of reasons. Some come for the herring, single malt, kugel and cholent (which some shuls serve at the kiddush following the services). Others come to hear the Rabbi’s sermon. Still others come for the social aspect, i.e. to catch up with friends on the latest news. And as unbelievable as it may seem, some Jews actually come to synagogues to pray and talk to G-d.
And then there are men who show up at the synagogue on the weekend just to meet women. Hey! Maybe they can try out the following “top ten list†that I found online:
Top Ten Best Synagogue Pick-Up Lines
Truth be told, shuls have rules, and according to Halachah (Jewish law), we are simply not permitted to say or do whatever we want in a synagogue. And here’s why…
One of the 613 commandments – mentioned in this week’s Torah portion, Parshas Kedoshim - is the mitzvah to revere G-d’s sanctuary, the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, as the place where G-d causes His Shechinah (“Divine Presenceâ€) to dwell in this world.
As the Torah commands us, “… [You shall] revere My Sanctuary …†(Leviticus 19:30). And Rashi quotes the Talmud in Berachos 54a which gives a few examples of how one can show proper awe and respect when entering the Holy Temple: He should not enter the grounds of the Temple neither with his staff, nor with his shoes on his feet, nor with his moneybelt, nor with the dust that is on his feet, i.e. he should not enter with dirty feet … and there are many other examples.
Unfortunately, to our great sorrow, we no longer have a Holy Temple in Jerusalem, as the Romans destroyed G-d’s Sanctuary in the year 70 C.E.
But don’t despair, since G-d’s Divine Presence still dwells among us in our synagogues and study halls.
As G-d told the prophet Ezekiel regarding the Jewish people in exile: “Though I have removed them far away among the nations, and though I have scattered them among the lands, yet I have been for them a small sanctuary in the lands where they arrived†(Ezekiel 11:16).
The Targum explains that G-d is saying to the prophet Ezekiel that even as His Temple in Jerusalem has been destroyed, He has given the Jewish people throughout the world “small sanctuariesâ€, in the form of synagogues, so that even in the darkest exile, the Jews can find the Divine Presence in their synagogues and study halls.
And since the synagogues take the place of the Holy Temple as the new residence of G-d’s Divine Presence, the same rules of reverence and decorum that applied to the Holy Temple then now apply to all synagogues.
We thus find the following general shul rule, as quoted by Rabbi Joseph Karo in Shulchan Aruch O.C.151:1, “One may not act with levity and frivolity in synagogues and study halls.â€
It is also forbidden to talk in the synagogue during the prayer services and the Reading of the Torah, as this shows a lack of awe and reverence for G-d and the Torah.
The Chafetz Chaim adds that a person who speaks Loshon Hara (slander) in a synagogue – aside from the severity of the sin of speaking Loshon Hara itself – also shows that he doesn’t truly believe that G-d would cause His Divine Presence to dwell in this place, and therefore has the temerity and chutzpah to speak forbidden speech right there in the House of the King, thus greatly denigrating G-d and the synagogue.
So what have we learned today, folks? I think it is pretty straightforward. We learned that while Jews might be coming to synagogues on the weekend for all the right (and wrong) reasons, it is not a free-for-all. Shuls have rules and laws of proper decorum and must be revered and respected for what they truly are – “small sanctuaries†where G-d Himself causes His Divine Presence to dwell, just as He did in the Holy Temple in Jerusalem.
http://www.torchweb.org/torah_detail.php?id=564