Editing Synagogue (section)

==Synagogue offshoots==
Since many Orthodox and some non-Orthodox Jews prefer to collect a minyan (a quorum of ten) rather than pray alone, they commonly assemble at pre-arranged times in offices, living rooms, or other spaces when these are more convenient than formal synagogue buildings. A room or building that is used this way can become a dedicated small synagogue or prayer room. Among Ashkenazi Jews they are traditionally called {{lang|yi-Latn|[[shtiebel]]}} ({{lang|yi|שטיבל}}, pl. {{lang|yi-Latn|shtiebelekh}} or {{lang|yi-Latn|shtiebels}}, Yiddish for "little house"), and are found in Orthodox communities worldwide.

Another type of communal prayer group, favored by some contemporary Jews, is the ''[[chavurah]]'' ({{lang|he|חבורה}}, pl. ''chavurot'', {{lang|he|חבורות}}), or prayer fellowship. These groups meet at a regular place and time, either in a private home or in a synagogue or other institutional space. In [[classical antiquity|antiquity]], the [[Pharisees]] lived near each other in ''chavurot'' and dined together to ensure that none of the food was unfit for consumption.<ref>[[Alan F. Segal]], ''Rebecca's Children: Judaism and Christianity in the Roman World'', [[Harvard University Press]], 1986, 125.</ref>