I wonder why a shul is referred to as a sanctuary, meaning a location of refuge and protection. I can come up with reasons to justify why this would be a legitimate term to refer to a shul, but they’d all be forced.
On the other hand, everyone understands that a bird sanctuary means it is a safe place where birds will be spared from predators. Likewise, it takes no mental gymnastics to understand why a sanctuary would be a venue where there is immunity to the law of the land. And in the colloquial parlance it also has connotations such as a safe place. It brings to mind Superman’s “Fortress of Solitude,” which we all have in one way or another – even if we are not super.
While on the subject, there is one other sanctuary that we are indeed all familiar with, although we never refer to it with this term. And that is the chuppah.
The idea of a chuppah is that it is the most minimal sign of a home, and a home is what you build in order to keep out negativity. We believe that the purpose of a home is not just a place where you turn to for supper, but it’s a shelter and a bedrock against all of the influences on the street that have no place in the home. Hence it is a sanctuary.
