Synagogue

Synagogue - (from Greek: «assembly») is a Jewish or Samaritan house of prayer. Synagogues appeared about twenty-five centuries ago in Babylon after the destruction of the First Temple and the beginning of the Babylonian captivity. Jews exiled to Babylon began to gather together in each other's house for a prayer and Torah reading. Later special buildings were built for prayers - first synagogues.
First Jews came to the territory of Belarus in the XIV century during the era of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In the XIV and XV centuries jews from German cities massively migrate to Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Entire communities braught here their capital, traditions and custom, German-Jewish dialect, religion and education system. By the end of the XV century in Poland and Grand Duchy of Lithuania were more than 20 thousand Jews.