Dictionary

shulgoer en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈʃulˌɡoʊəɹ/ (General-American)
• (Southern-England) audio
• /ʃʊl-/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /ʃʊl-/ (General-American)
• /ˈʃuːlˌɡəʊə/ (Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

From shul (“Ashkenazi synagogue”) + goer. Shul is borrowed from Yiddish שול (shul, “school; synagogue”), from Old High German scuola (“school”), from Latin schola (“school”), from Ancient Greek σχολή (skholḗ, “place for giving lectures, lecture hall, school”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *seǵʰ- (“to overpower; to take hold of”). Piecewise doublet of schoolgoer.

Meanings

1. (Judaism) One who attends shul (“a synagogue”); a practising Jew.
   • [H]e was invited, on his first visit to my synagogue in St John's Wood, to choose between sitting in the wardens' box or occupying a prominent front row seat. As he is orthodox and a regular shulgoer, this was quite a quandary. He decided to sit in the wardens' box. 2000, Cyril Harris, For Heaven’s Sake: The Chief Rabbi’s Diary, Goodwood [Western Cape?], South Africa: Cyril Harris, →ISBN, page 136:
   • Although Jonathan states that "schools and shuls", which seem to always appear as a pair, are entities with which South African Jews identify, most of my interlocutors did not seem to be avid shul'''goers. 2022 (date written), Larissa Denk, “Organising the Charitable Diaspora Community”, in Jubuntu: Giving and Belonging in the Jewish Diaspora of Cape Town, Berlin: J. B. Metzler, Springer-Verlag, published 2023, →DOI, →ISBN, page 177:
   • He knew that some of his congregants, especially the regular Shulgoers (Synagogue worshipers), would not buy their meat from the local non-Jewish butcher, and came instead to Stern. 2003, Yanky Fachler, “Hadassa Wine Company and Luton Kosher Foods”, in The Vow: Rebuilding the Fachler Tribe after the Holocaust […], [Dublin]: TAF Publishing, published 2010, →ISBN, page 224:
   • Having greeters at the entrance of the worship space not only sends a message of welcome, but it allows newcomers to enter a little less nervously, take an appropriate seat, and ease into the worship experience itself. This is often an awkward moment, even for the veteran shulgoer; how much the more so for a new visitor, a non-Jew, or a recent Jew by choice. 2006, Terry Bookman, William Kahn, “Is this a Place You would Come If You Didn’t Already Belong Here?”, in This House We Build: Lessons for Healthy Synagogues and the People who Dwell There, Herndon, Va.: The Alban Institute, →ISBN, part 1 (Healthy Houses), page 52:
   • If you're an occasional shul-goer and have not yet found a home, ask your friends, people you feel are on the same wavelength as you. Go shul hopping! 2012, Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, with Joel Segel, “At Home in Shul: The Synagogue Experience”, in Davening: A Guide to Meaningful Jewish Prayer, Nashville, Tenn.: Turner Publishing Company, →ISBN, page 139:

Forms

Hypernyms

religionist · solifidian · devotionalist · devotee · believer · person · religionist · pietist · religitard · temple-goer · believer · religioner

Synonyms

synagogue-goer

Translations (5)

fi synagogassa kävijä (one who attends shul) · de Synagogenbesucherin (one who attends shul) · de Synagogengänger (one who attends shul) · de Synagogenbesucher (one who attends shul) · de Synagogengängerin (one who attends shul)