In Jesus' day, synagogues were common throughout Palestine. Local congregations of Jews met to read scripture and to pray. Synagogues probably began during the Babylonian captivity (Jews were held captive in Babylon from about 582-597 B.C.E.) At that time Jewish captives didn't have a temple but longed for communion with God, so they met in local groups to worship together and to read Torah. Some synagogues also functioned as local courts and some may have even been elementary schools. They became centers of Jewish community life.
The Temple was a massive complex in Jerusalem where Jews worshipped. Jews traveled to the temple for special feast days several times a year. Only priest were allowed to enter the temple to offer sacrifices for the sins of the people. In 70 A.D. the temple was destroyed by the Romans. At that time animal sacrifice stopped because there was not a sacred placed to complete the ceremony. The Western Wall of the temple survives today in Jerusalem.
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