Is the Synagogue a Temple?

Talmud clearly says that a synagogue is a minor temple. Miqdash Me`at and Beth haMiqdash are not the same. Synagogues that respectfully use temple in their title are not proclaiming themselves to be the Beth haMiqdash of Jerusalem.

For sure I totally disagree with the use of temple where it disrespects the Beth haMiqdash which I pray for its restoration as do all Jews following mesorah. Some use the term temple to deny the centrality of the Jerusalem Temple and Israel's ingathering from exile. That is very inappropriate.

Synagogues that respectfully use temple in their title are proclaiming themselves to be a Miqdash Me`at; a minor secondary temple where HaShem dwells with his people in exile. Unlike others, they are not saying that the Beth haMiqdash is outmoded, superfluous, or will never be rebuilt. The intention makes all the difference in using temple in a synagogue's title.

Obviously the Sephardic Temple of Cedarhurst or Sephardic Temple Tiferet Israel in Los Angeles are not declaring themselves the Beth haMiqdash. Their title clearly states which temple they see themselves as, a minor temple where HaShem dwells with his people in exile.

Beth haMiqdash and Miqdash Me`at are not interchangeable or synonymous terms. HaShem uses the term in Y*hhezqel. Later, R' Yisshaq explained it concerning the first beth k*neseth in 6th century BCE Iraq and the rest.

Because a synagogue is a miqdash me`at (minor, little, or secondary temple) its sanctity is only exceeded by the Beth haMiqdash. The word temple has these two subsets:

1. the Temple and
2. minor temples.

A minor temple is a temple. Contradicting that it's like saying only King Messiah ( the Messiah) is a messiah and no other annointed ones mentioned in TN"K have the right to the titled messiah. Or to use more mundane examples; a minor league ball team is not a ball team, a mini-skirt is not a skirt, a little boy is not a boy, and so on.

"therefore say: Thus saith the L-rd GOD: Although I have removed them far off among the nations, and although I have scattered them among the countries, yet have I been to them as a little sanctuary [miqdash me`at] in the countries where they are come;"

Ezekiel 11:16

"Yet will I be to them as a minor sanctuary [miqdash me`at]. - Rab Samuel bar Isaac said: 'This refers to the synagogues [batei k*nesiyoth] that are in Babylon.' Rabbi Elazer said: 'This refers to the house of our master who is in Babylon.'. Raba lectured: What is the meaning of the passage Lord a place of refuge hast thou been unto us? That refers to the synagogue. Abayi said: 'Formerly I used to learn at home and pray at the synagogue; but since I heard what David said Lord I love the site of Thy house, I began to study in the synagogue also.'"

TB Megilah 29a (from `Eyn Ya`aqob)

Rabbi S. Finch comments:

"To the humiliating allegation of the inhabitants of Jerusalem that the exiles, being far removed from the Temple, forfeited the Fatherhood and protection of God, comes the Divine retort that they still preserve their relationship to Him by means of their Houses of Worship and Houses of Learning, each of them serving the purpose of a miniature Temple in which the spirit of God was present (Meg 29a). The Synagogue is even now called a little sanctuary in allusion to this verse [Ezekiel 11:16]"

Prof. Yitzhak Avishur on Synagogues in Babylon:

"....after King Yehoyachin was exiled in 597 B.C.E. Jerusalem residents demanded total and utter dissociation from the exiled people in Babylon and claimed Eretz Yisrael as their inheritance and theirs alone (Ez. 33:24). The exiled multitude reacted with 'Miqdash Me'at '. 'Miqdash Me'at ' is a spiritual concept that came into existence as a substitute for the Holy Temple, which had been destroyed (Ez. 11:16). The tradition of Talmud Babli identifies the 'Miqdash Me'at ' with the synagogue. The 'Miqdash Me'at ' provided the answer to spiritual and physical needs in order to gather the exiled people in Babylon under a spiritual leadership for religious instruction; and so the concept of "Miqdash Me'at " became a synonym for synagogue."