According to Hugh Nibley, when the temple in Jerusalem was taken away in the Old World (at the time of Lehi) the authoritative priestly order that went with it also went away. Then the synagogue became the important thing, though they had used it before. When they lost the temple they lost everything. An entirely new order of Judaism was established. Before then their practices were different, their doctrines were different, and everything else was different. . . . A rabbi is not a priest; he has no authority. He is just a learned man who has been chosen by a community. They are very jealous of the temple. The rabbi-controlled synagogues didn't begin until the temple disappeared. . . . What the Book of Mormon student should realize is that the Book of Mormon represents temple-centered Judaism. [Hugh W. Nibley, Teachings of the Book of Mormon, Semester 3, p. 42]
Note* It is interesting that whether it was in the Old World or the New World, we see the same apostate movement toward intellectual-based, Holy Ghost-free, Christ-free Judaism. [Alan C. Miner, Personal Notes]