Emergence of Synagogue Worship

When the Babylonians destroyed the Temple in 586 BCE, Jewish communities in exile faced a crisis: how do you worship God without the sacrificial system? Their answer was the synagogue — a gathering place centered on prayer, Scripture reading, and teaching rather than animal sacrifice. This innovation proved so durable that synagogues remained central to Jewish life even after the Temple was rebuilt, and later became the model for Christian churches and Islamic mosques.