The Temple was no longer the only institution for Jewish religious life. After the building of the Second Temple in the time of Ezra, the houses of study and worship remained important secondary institutions in Jewish life. Outside Judea, the synagogue was often called a house of prayer. While most Jews could not regularly attend the Temple service, they could meet at the synagogue for morning, afternoon and evening prayers. On Mondays, Thursdays and Shabbat, a weekly Torah portion was read publicly in the synagogues, following the tradition of public Torah readings instituted by Ezra.See Although priests controlled the rituals of the Temple, the scribes and sages, later called rabbis (Hebrew for "Teacher/master"), dominated the study of the Torah. These men maintained an oral tradition that they believed had originated at Mount Sinai alongside the Torah of Moses; a God-given interpretation of the Torah.
The Temple was no longer the only institution for Jewish religious life After the building of the Second Temple in the time of Ezra the houses of study and worship remained important secondary institutions in Jewish life Outside Judea the synagogue was often called a house of prayer While most Jews could not regularly attend the Temple service they could meet at the synagogue for morning afternoon and evening prayers On Mondays Thursdays and Shabbat a weekly Torah portion was read publicly in the synagogues following the tradition of public Torah readings instituted by EzraSee Although priests controlled the rituals of the Temple the scribes and sages later called rabbis (Hebrew for "Teacher/master") dominated the study of the Torah These men maintained an oral tradition that they believed had originated at Mount Sinai alongside the Torah of Moses; a God-given interpretation of the Torah