Shulḥan ‘arukh (Set Table): Laws of the Synagogue

§151

One may not behave frivolously in synagogues and study houses, including exhibiting such behaviors as laughter, teasing, and idle conversation. One may not eat or drink in them, nor may one ornament oneself in them, nor stroll about in them, nor enter them in the heat of the day because of the heat or in rain because of the rain. But Torah scholars and their students are permitted to eat in them due to constraints. One may not settle accounts in them unless they concern a commandment, such as concerning the charity fund or redeeming prisoners. One may not eulogize in them unless the eulogy is for one of the important men of the city, when all the residents of the city gather together and come to mourn him. If one must enter for his own needs, such as to call someone, he should enter and read a little or teach some Torah and then call him, so that it will not seem that he has entered solely for his need. If he does not know how to read or how to study, he should say to one of the children, “Read to me the verse that you are reading,” or he should stay for a little while and then leave, as sitting in such places is a commandment, as it is said: Happy are those who dwell in Your house (Psalms 84:5).

Some maintain that this teaching regarding the sanctity of study houses refers to those that are used by the public, which are similar to a synagogue, but if an individual sets aside a place for study in his house for his requirements, such a place does not have as much sanctity.

One may not sleep in a synagogue, not even to take a short nap, but in a bet midrash [study house] it is permitted.

It is permitted to eat and sleep in a synagogue if one does so for its own requirements. For this reason, people sleep in the synagogue on the night of Yom Kippur. It is likewise permitted to eat there for the purpose of another commandment, such as when people gather to announce the addition of an intercalary [leap] month.

If a synagogue has two doorways, one may not enter through one doorway in order to pass through the second doorway as a shortcut. However, if the path went there before the synagogue was built, it is permitted. Furthermore, if one did not initially enter with the intention of using it as a shortcut, it is permitted to walk on the path. Regarding those who entered the synagogue in order to pray, it is permitted for one who has entered through one doorway to leave by the other.

It is permitted to enter a synagogue with one’s staff and one’s bundle and one’s pouch. Some people forbid entering it with a long knife or with a bare head.

One may spit in a synagogue, as long as one scrapes the spittle with his feet or if there is a mat, such that if one spits into it, it will not be visible.

It is proper to scrape off mud that is on one’s feet before entering to pray. Ideally, there should be no dirt on one’s person or clothing.

One must treat these places with respect, by sweeping and mopping them. It is customary to light candles in them in their honor.

Even after synagogues have been destroyed, they are still holy. Just as one must honor them while they are occupied, so too, one must treat them in the same manner after their destruction, aside from the sweeping and mopping. If weeds have grown in them, they should be pulled out and laid in their place as a mark of sadness, so that the people will see the state of their place and their spirit will be awakened and they will endeavor to rebuild it.

If at the time of its construction, people stipulated that the synagogue could be used for other purposes, they may use it after it has been destroyed. However, while it is still standing, such a condition is of no use. Even after its destruction, the condition is of no use for an unworthy use such as sowing or calculating the public accounts. What does this refer to? To synagogues outside of the land of Israel, but no condition is effective for synagogues in the land of Israel.

Care must be taken not to put an attic above a synagogue to permanent unworthy use, such as for one to lie down there. Regarding other uses, it is doubtful whether it is permitted to perform them there. [ . . . ]

One may not raze a synagogue to build another synagogue, lest some force majeure intervene, and the other is never built. Rather, one builds the second one first and then razes the old one. This law applies when the first one is strong, but if its foundations have been destroyed or if its walls are leaning and about to fall, one razes it immediately and quickly starts rebuilding by day and by night, lest it be put off over time and the site remain destroyed. [ . . . ]

A town square has no sanctity, even though people pray there on fasts, because it is temporary. Likewise, houses and courtyards where people gather to pray temporarily have no sanctity.

If people rent a house and pray there, the place lacks the legal status of a synagogue.

Accessories of ritual observance, such as cases for books and the parchments that are placed on doorposts, the straps of tefillin, the chest in which a Torah scroll or a Bible is placed, a chair on which the Torah scroll is placed, and a curtain that is hung before the ark—all of these have sanctity and must be buried [once they are worn out].

The wrappings of a Torah scroll that have worn out may be used as shrouds for a person who has died who has no relative to bury him; that is their burial.

Regarding a Torah scroll that has worn out, one places it in an earthenware vessel and buries it in the grave of a Torah scholar, even if it is someone who merely studied the law himself but did not learn from Torah scholars.

One may not make a chair for the Torah out of an ark, but it is permitted to make a small ark out of a large one. It is likewise permitted to make a small chair out of a large chair, but it is forbidden to make it into a stool for the chair. Similarly, it is permitted to make a small curtain out of a large curtain, or to make from it a cover for a Torah scroll. But it is forbidden to make from it a cover for a codex of the Pentateuch.

A platform, which is like the platforms that are prepared for kings, does not have the sanctity of the holy ark but rather the regular sanctity of the synagogue.

With regard to the holy ark and everything that is made for the Torah scroll, the condition that it can be used for other purposes—including secular uses—is effective.

It is permitted to use donated items for the Torah scroll, as well as cloths [for wrapping the Torah scrolls] that are placed in the synagogue, for any Torah scroll at all, because they were sanctified for that reason. However, if such an item was first placed in the donor’s home and subsequently consecrated, since it was intended for this scroll and used for this scroll, it may not be placed on another Torah scroll, although some permit it.

There are those who are accustomed to placing the crowns of the Torah scroll on the head of the reader at the end of the Torah [on Simḥat Torah], and there is no need to protest against this practice, but one should object to those who place them on the heads of ordinary bridegrooms.

It is forbidden to light in a synagogue any wax candles that gentiles initially used for idol worship, which their attendant extinguished and gave or sold to a Jew.

In a case where a mouse was found in the oil of the synagogue, if this rendered the oil repulsive, it is forbidden to light it in the synagogue.

It is permitted to read by the light of a synagogue lamp.

One may not light a lamp of a commoner from the lamp of a synagogue. Some maintain that this applies only while they are still burning in fulfillment of the mitzvah, but if they are about to be put out, it is permitted.

If the residents of a city bought a Torah scroll under the condition that if one of them leaves the city, those remaining will give him his share, and Torah scrolls subsequently became more expensive, if one of them leaves, they need only give him the amount he gave.