work at a hospital and, some days, I am unable to wear tefillin during the day, but only pre-dawn. May I then put on tefillin before its regular time? [Our staff knows the querier.]
Taken together, Tefila, Teshuva & Tzedaka are the instruments which allow us to operate on our damaged souls & repair them, the tools with which we can rebuild – our holy relationship with Hashem.
The Halacha that synagogues should be higher than all houses in town, but not from buildings built just for decoration expresses the idea of the central place of holiness in Judaism. This value is not only decorative but applies to real life.