SYNAGOGUE OF THE JEWISH COMMUNITY ZAGREB

In the Zagreb synagogue, at Palmotićeva 16, the service is held every Shabbat, on the Torah holidays Pesach, Shavuot and Sukkot, the great holidays, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, and the rabbinical holidays Purim and Hanukkah. Tu Bi'Shvat and fasts are also celebrated, the most significant of which is Tisha Be'Av (Post 9.ava).

The beginning of the evening prayer "Arvit" depends on the sundown and the beginning of the night. The evening prayer for Kabbalat Shabbat may start earlier, particularly in the summer. The morning prayer "Shacharit" starts at 09h00 in the morning. The time of the afternoon prayer "Mincha" also depends upon the time of sunset.

Each month, in the community newspaper Hadashon and on the website of the JCZ, the Office of the Rabbinate publishes hours of prayer for each Shabbat and each holiday that falls that month.

The Second Synagogue of the JCZ is situated at the Lavoslav Schwarz Foundation". Currently, after the Zagreb earthquake and current epidemiological measurements, the synagogue in the retirement home Lavoslav Schwarz" is out of service.

SYNAGOGUE (BET KNESSET)

The synagogue is a place of prayer, gathering and educating in Jewish life, and sometimes as a community centre. The word synagogue comes from Greek origin and could be translated as "meeting place". In Hebrew, the synagogue is called "Beth Knesset," which translates as "house of assembly," because it refers to the fact that many Jews gather together for prayer (service or "Avodat Hashem"). Praying together is one of the most important responsibilities of every adult Jew, hence it is one of the names of the synagogue and of "Beth Tefila" (House of prayer).

A synagogue can be a standalone building or a room within a building. Apart from a place of prayer, the synagogue can include a study hall and offices. A separate room or study area is referred to as a "Bet midrash" ("learning house"). The Yiddish name for the synagogue is "Shul", the Yiddish name for the schoolhouse. In some places, the synagogue is also called the "Temple", as a reminder of the Temple ("Beth Hamikdash") which stood in Jerusalem. Members of Zagreb's Jewish community also called their synagogue, which was on Praška Street until it was destroyed, Temple.

Jews may pray anywhere, but for a space to deserve the name and status of a synagogue, it must meet certain conditions. First of all, the space should have an "Aron haKodesh" ("sacred" closet for holding Torah scrolls), which is placed on a wall facing Jerusalem (the custom in Europe is to the east). It is enough to possess a single parchment of the Torah, but for practical purposes it is ideal to possess at least three parchments. An altar ("Bima") should be placed in the synagogue, on which the scroll of the Torah stands when it is read. There should be benches or chairs for those in attendance as well. The majority of synagogues have men and women sitting separately.

PRAYER IN THE SYNAGOGUE

The service (prayer) can be conducted by any of the men in attendance. Given that in Judaism only men over the age of 13 have the obligation to hold God's service three times a day at a certain time, so only one of them can lead the service in the synagogue. In Judaism, there is a principle according to which a person who does not have an obligation to voluntarily fulfil a certain obligation cannot release this obligation for those who have it. Since neither women nor men under the age of 13 have the obligation to pray three times a day at a certain time, they cannot release those who have it (men over the age of 13) and therefore cannot lead the service in the synagogue. The service in the synagogue may be led by a rabbi or a cantor (hazan) or a member of the congregation, who is then called the preprayer ("shalijah cibur"). All those in attendance, including the person who runs the service, face the east in the same direction.

The civil service requires 10 men over the age of 13 ("minjan") to be present. The service is carried out in Hebrew. Prayers and psalms are read from the prayer book, which can be daily ("Sidur"), Shabbat ("Sidur Shel Shabbat") or for a certain holiday (eg "Sidur Shel Pessah"). The prayer book for the major festivals of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur carries a special name "Mahzor". Some parts of the prayer are sung and that is done by all the people present, there is no special choir. In the United States, there are many synagogues with a choir.

CLOTHES THAT WE WEAR FOR THE SERVICE

Jews in the synagogue, married men and women, have their heads covered in the synagogue when they come into the synagogue. Even single women cover their heads at some age. Women wear either scarves or hats or caps or wigs, while men cover their heads with a Kippah (cap), better known as a yarmulke (in Yiddish) or a hat. This is why there is a bunch of Kippah for guests in front of the entrance.

Another thing that Jewish men of more than 13 years wear during service is a prayer shawl ("Tallit"). Tallit is worn daily, including holidays, on early morning service ("shahrit"). It's got eight fringes on every corner. These tassels are called "tzitzit" and are there to remind us to keep all of G-d's commandments according to G-d's command given in the Torah (Num .: 15: 38-40). Women do not wear prayer shawls because it is considered a man's garment and wearing them is a temporal obligation. The preceptor carries the talit to all services, evening and afternoon. Tallit is white in colour and has wide transverse bands, usually black, on the bottom half. Colour may be either blue or white or grey.

The third thing that a man over the age of 13 wears at the service of the synagogue is prayer belts ("Tefillin"). We differentiate between the tetilin of the head and the teflon of the hand. Both have a box with the praying text "Shema Israel" ("Hear Israel"). The boxes are black and have leather straps in the same colour with which they are fastened to the arm and head.

THE TIME OF SERVICE

Many things that a Jew is obliged to do under Jewish regulations have to be done during the day at some point. In Hebrew, these times are known as zmanim (singular, "zman"). In Judaism, a civil day is defined from the darkness of the former to the darkness of tomorrow. In addition, Jewish regulations require certain things to be done at a certain hour of the day (during the day) or a certain hour of the night (during the night). Judaism has its own definitions of each period of the day, such as dusk or the coming of darkness, and at the same time the various rabbinical authorities differ from each other in how these definitions are practically applied for different purposes. The "Jewish clock" does not have the "usual 60 minutes" and each Jewish day lasts differently, in winter it lasts less than 60 minutes, in summer longer. That is why in everyday life we use tables in which they write the times (decrease) from dawn to midnight for all the things we need.

Jews say prayers three times a day. As the day begins with the arrival of night and the appearance of three medium-sized stars, the first daily prayer takes place in the evening and is called "Arvit" or Ma’ariv". The morning prayer is called" Shacharit ", and the afternoon "Mincha ".

The times of prayer refer to the time when the sacrifices were offered in the Temple. On Shabbat, holidays and the morning of Rosh Hashanah immediately after, a further prayer is added to the Shahrit. The additional prayer is known as "Musaf". On Yom Kippur, in addition to Mu'saf, another prayer "Neilah" is added to the morning prayer in the afternoon.