The Synagogue and the Jewish Life Cycle

The synagogue serves as a house of prayer, study and community. Its focus is the ark (aron kodesh), which holds the Torah scrolls and traditionally faces toward Jerusalem; an eternal light hangs before it. Communal prayer traditionally requires a minyan of ten adults, men in Orthodox practice and men and women in most other movements. Life-cycle rituals mark key moments. A boy's circumcision (brit milah) on the eighth day and naming ceremonies for girls welcome children into the covenant.

At 13 for boys and 12 or 13 for girls, a bar or bat mitzvah marks religious adulthood, often by reading from the Torah in public; the bat mitzvah became widespread in the 20th century. Weddings take place under a canopy (chuppah) and end with breaking a glass, recalling the Temple's destruction even in joy. Mourners sit shiva for seven days and recite the Kaddish, a prayer praising God.