Meeting in a synagogue auditorium

We have an auditorium in our synagogue. On weekdays it’s used for prayer, and there is a little ark for a Torah scroll, but we only actually put a Torah scroll in it at the time of prayer. Are we allowed to hold a general meeting there, dealing with secular subjects?

Dear …!

The answer to your question depends on whether a stipulation was made when you started using this place for prayer.

If the place is essentially supposed to be just an auditorium, and you are only temporarily using it for prayers, while looking for a more suitable place, and especially if you stipulated that ahead of time, then you can use this auditorium for other needs. However, when you pray in this place, it’s not considered praying in a synagogue.

If a proper stipulation was made beforehand, and the auditorium was to serve as a place for prayer only at the time of prayer, and at other times it would be used as an auditorium, then you can hold a private or public meeting there, provided there is no debauchery and improper behavior, which would be a disgrace to the place.

If the auditorium was designated as a place of prayer, and no stipulation was made, then it’s forbidden to hold a meeting there.

Shulchan Oruch, section Orach Chaim, chapter 151, §§1-2; Mishnah Berurah and Biur Halachah, ibid.