Shabbat Lecture Series Winter 2026

Friday, February 13 at 6:15 PM
Service is in person in the Brith Shalom Sanctuary and on YouTube.
Dinner and Lecture are in person only.

Dr. Matthias Henze will present during dinner (for those who sign up for dinner).
Dinner cost is $36.00 per person.  Click here to register.

Title: The Origins of the Synagogue 

Description:  No synagogues are mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. By the first century CE, prior to the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple, there are synagogues in Israel, as well as in Rome, Greece, Egypt, Babylonia, and all over Asia Minor. What do we know about the origins of the synagogue, and for which purposes were they used?

In this talk we will examine a variety of sources, including texts, inscriptions, and archaeology, and we will look at a few examples of ancient synagogues both inside and outside of the land of Israel. This talk will explore the first synagogues we know of, when and where they appeared, and what they were used for.

Bio: Matthias Henze was born and raised in Hanover, Germany. In 1992 he earned a Master of Divinity from the University of Heidelberg, Germany, and moved to the United States to pursue a Ph.D. in Harvard’s Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations. After completing his doctorate in 1997, Dr. Henze joined Rice’s department of religion, where he is now the Isla Carroll and Percy E. Turner Professor of Hebrew Bible and Early Judaism.

His areas of interest include the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, Jewish literature and thought at the time of the Second Temple, apocalyptic literature, and the Qumran fragments. In particular, Dr. Henze focuses on those early texts that never became part of the Jewish Bible - often subsumed under the labels ‘Apocrypha’ and ‘Pseudepigrapha’ – and what we can learn when these texts are read side by side with the canonical writings.

Dr. Henze has written and edited ten books. While at Rice he has won five teaching/mentoring Awards. He was also named a founding fellow of Rice’s Center for Teaching Excellence. In 2009 he founded Rice’s Program in Jewish Studies, of which he continues to serve as director.