Stephen said
Linda, I have no doubt that Dr Metzger was smarter than me too but as in all things our knowledge of the ancient world doesn’t stand still.  Metzger’s book was written in 1965.  ** you do not have permission to see this link ** is something a bit more contemporary.  A well regarded study.  The image you have of the synagogue is largely derived from post First Revolt times after the Temple was destroyed in 70 CE and the later development of Rabbinic Judaism.  In Jesus’ day the Temple was the seat of worship for Jews.  A synagogue was a public assembly, a place to gather for social functions, as often a hostel or a hospital as a house of God.  (In fact many of them seem to have been converted from houses.)   True we do have the ruins of an ancient synagogue found in Nazareth.  Dated from the 12th century!

  

From The New Testament A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings by Bart D. Ehrman, Seventh Edition, pg. 68.

“The Synagogue. Despite the fact that Jews from around the world paid an annual tax to support the Temple, most could not worship there on a regular basis. Indeed, many could not afford to make a pilgrimage there ever. For this reason, apparently, centuries before Jesus -scholars debate when exactly- Jews in the Diaspora devised an alternative mode of worship, one that did not involve sacrifice of animals but focused instead on discussing the sacred traditions of the Torah and praying to the God of Israel. These activities took place in community, as Jews came together on the Sabbath in either a home or a separate meeting place, sometimes a freestanding building, usually under the leadership of the more highly educated and literate of their members. The Scriptures were read and discussed and set prayers were said. These gatherings were called synagogues, from the Greek word for “gathering together,” a term that eventually came to refer to the building in which the meetings took place. 

“By the time of Jesus, there were synagogues wherever there were communities of Jews in the empire, both in Palestine and abroad.”

(emphasis mine)

Stephen said
Linda you continue to conflate two different issues and make an assumption that is not warranted by the evidence.  I have not said that no religious practice took place in the synagogues of Jesus’ day, only that they were public assemblies used for other things as well.  It was only after the Revolt and the destruction of the Temple that they became primarily and exclusively houses of worship.  

The conditions Prof Ehrman describes would have taken place among the upper crust of Jews in urban centers.  Nazareth was a hamlet in Jesus’ day.  The idea you have that all Jewish boys learned to read at synagogue is not borne out  by the evidence. 

If Jesus could read he was an outlier.  It’s possible but we certainly can’t say for sure.   

I did not say all Jewish boys learned to read at synagogue. I said there were literate Jewish men who could teach reading and writing not that all boys would be literate. According to the record, Jesus’ extended family included at least one member who was a priest. Another avenue of education perhaps. 

Jesus was most certainly an outlier. He was an outlier in many ways and on many levels.

On this alone we may agree.