My Visit to a Jewish Synagogue Essay

One interesting concept that I learned was to stand the book straight up on the next available chair, instead of faced down or in any other position to accentuate the importance of the scriptures and prayers that the books consist of. The service started promptly at 9:00 pm in which the members of the Jewish Synagogue were already wearing a tallit, which is a prayer shawl that represents the six hundred and thirteen commandments, and silently prayer with a swaying motion incorporated. After asking the congregate that was aiding the observers throughout the service, he explained that Jews usually sway, rock, or shake because it is stated that the physical act is a way of connecting spiritually to God while praying along with other justifications within the Torah. My initial feelings regarding the acceptance of me as a visitor was kind of unsettling because I was the center of attention along with the two other observers. Some congregates would greet us warmly offering any help, while some others often discretely talked among their other fellow congregates about our attendance with some people staring for portions of the service. Besides, the interaction of the congregates to the clergy was very divided in the aspect of gender roles due to the fact that the table that two intricate cased Torahs were brought out on could only be seen by the men and recite by men only. As far as the division of roles, I found it interesting that some of the women explained to us that it was not a form of disrespect or act of degrading because they play their specialized role in the congregation, which is often misunderstood and in their perspective more liberating than most portray it to me. It was also explained to me that women are seen as separate but equal when stated throughput Jewish

The two cantors and the two rabbis stood at the front of the temple. The two rabbis had cloths draped around their shoulders. Around them, there were flowers. Most of the people in the temple were staring at the front of the temple as Rabbi Jason quieted them down. The man sitting in front of me was on his phone. Rabbi Jason began the Hashkiveinu portion of the service by speaking about what is happening to Jewish people all over the world. “The very last line of the blessing we say every night, the blessing for protection is basically asking for protection very specifically for Jews and Jewish places. And in reform Judaism, we are often uncomfortable and often like to remind ourselves that we actually care about everyone. And that is a great,

At the front, there were three Rabbis; two male and one female. This was the first evident sign that this temple was reformed, on the grounds that in Orthodox and some Conservative Judaism, leadership by a female is not permitted. Each of the three rabbis wore the talit, and one of them was the Cantor. He played a guitar and sang a song and the style reminded me of the praise and worship songs we sing at my church. He continued singing as people found seats. The service started with some singing in Hebrew. The lighting of the candles for Shabbat occurred next along with the reading of a blessing. Some more readings and songs followed that. A decent amount of the service was in Hebrew, particularly the singing, however there were also times that English was also spoken. Since the books were in Hebrew, which reads from right to left, the books opened in reverse. This took some getting used to; however, there were English translations. The following segment of the service is what I describe as a parade of the Torah. The Torah,

From all the clubs and organizations I am associated with, I consider the National Conference of Synagogue Youth my favorite extracurricular activity for the past three years. The National Conference of Synagogue Youth is a club that is growing internationally, especially when I was president last year for Dallas. The local club I was managing started off with a population in the low twenties to the mid-thirties with the help of popular events I created with the board and friends associated. For example, The board members of NCSY in Dallas successfully bring in a Holocaust survivor for the week pertaining to Holocaust day every year. I would spread the information through others with Instagram, text messages, and emails that would later be

On October 29, 2016, I visited the Anshe Chesed Fairmount Temple which offers services regarding the religion of Judaism. Although I don’t identify as religious, I was originally raised as Roman Catholic, even going to a private catholic elementary school. I’ve always had somewhat of an interest in Judaism as it’s believed to be among one of the oldest existing religions in the world along with Hinduism. The service I visited is referred to as the “Shabbat Morning Service”, which took place from 11:00 AM-12:15 PM.

One time when our synagogue was exploring a market, there was this area that our rabbi told us not to go into without adult supervision. But me and my sister being who we are decided that it would be a good idea to visit the other section because it looked more interesting than the part we were currently in. It was really strange how suddenly the market changed from safe to dangerous, it felt as if there were a line on the ground and crossing it was like crossing into another world. It was like one world was covered in light and the other in darkness. The booths didn’t look as inviting, and the people working there looked at my sister and I in a less than pleasant manner. I was ready to turn around and run back to safety, but my sister wanted

The church was rather small, but quite modern. There was a small playground in the back for children to play. All of the windows were made of beautiful stained glass. As we approached the church, we could see the Star of David positioned high in a large stained glass window. We spoke to a lady who was exiting the church as we were coming in, but she said nothing. Once inside, a man who was ushering came over to us and said, “Shabbat Shalom”. I had been greeted with Shalom many time before at my old church, but never “Shabbat Shalom”. I didn’t know what was appropriate to say, but somehow “Shalom” came spilling out of my mouth, and the usher nodded. He gave us two books, Siddur Sim Shalom (a prayer book) and Gesher L’Tefillah (another prayer book). My friend and I found it hard to follow the prayers and songs from each book because most of the text was in Hebrew and the Siddur Sim Shalom opened and was to be read from the back of the book with the pages

While attending the worship service at Temple Beth synagogue seen many different things but very interesting. It took me a while to get use to everything because I was in a whole different environment. The structure of the church , the Jews wardrobe, and the language was all different from my church tradition. The things I seen and heard are way different. In the service everything was written and said in Hebrew, which I had a hard time understanding. The program that had been given to us had no English so I couldn't really understand. It contained scriptures on long parchment rolls.

For the Shabbat services worshippers clothed in business casual or business formal outfits to fit the occasion of prayer. Common only everyone was dressed business attire including rabbi who had an additional scarf around his neck. Before I attended service, I did some research on what worshippers would wear to a Shabbat service, and clothed up in clothing that I would normally wear to church, which happened to be a business causal in my Christian church. There were some women who had head coverings or a prayer shawl. These head covering were beautiful with gold fabric design in the stitching. According to Reform Judaism, The Reform movement is egalitarian, so both men and women can wear whatever ritual attire they please if they choose to do so. That said, you may also see people not wearing any ritual attire. Once service began, a prayer book was brought out called a siddur. The siddur contains traditional prayers in Hebrew, English phonetic transliterations, and literal translations. Through the service the rabbi announced the page numbers as the worshippers can follow along. The congregation of the San Francisco synagogue has worship where they gather together to sing. Later on in the service the rabbi then spoke scripture from the holy book. In addition, he would give interpretation of the scripture. Personally, Jewish churched had some of the characteristics of a regular modern day Christian church when comparing to preaching style. Gracefully the rabbi mentioned that Jesus is the son of God. However, I noticed that when the rabbi prayed he did not mentioned Jesus in the prayer. Although the Jewish customs were extremely foreign to me comparing to Christian traditions was

On Saturday morning, October 15th, 2016, my friends and I visited the Touro Synagogue. We attended a synagogue Sabbath worship which took place for less than two hours. I was really excited and eager because I have never experienced any ritual service before. As I first entered the small chapel, I was struck by the beautiful, magnificent architecture of the place. It was a clean, warm place with a nice chandelier. The upper wall is covered with glass windows that help light up the small chapel and bring a refreshing feeling. We were given directions to obtain the service books on the shelves outside before the ritual service began. As I went further inside the chapel, a lady greeted me with the phrase “Shabbat shalom.” All the people there were friendly and greeted us with smiles. I noticed some men wore their Kippot and Tallitot. We had some small introductions and conversations. After getting service books, my friends and I sat in the back row of the chapel. The place was quiet with a sense of peace and contentment. A few minutes after, the Rabbi and the Cantor came in, and the Sabbath service began.

After the service, I was able to ask Arielle some questions pertaining to the service and Judaism in general. First, I asked about the differences between Orthodox and Reform Judaism. Arielle explained that Orthodox Judaism is the most strictly traditional of the three main branches, which are Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform Judaism. Orthodox Jews maintain that the Torah is the direct word of God, thus they uphold the commandments in it as God’s commandments, and deem that unquestionable. Rabbinic writings help humans define God’s laws as just as important, since they are explaining what God says in commandments, and are therefore the word of God. Orthodox Jews also believe that the Torah was given from God to Moses, who then gave it to humanity. Also, Orthodox Jews observe the Sabbath and other holidays by refraining from the kinds of work specified in the Torah. In addition, Orthodox Jews are strictly Kosher, men and women are seated separately, and men and women have separate

Someone was able to walk me through the ceremonies and traditions performed at the service. They sung excerpts from Exodus in addition to singing hymns in Hebrew. Several members of the congregation conversed on the subject of interpretation of the ninth plague brought upon the Egyptians on the basis of various verses present in the Torah. The conversation surrounded whether the nature of the darkness set upon Egypt based on the Torah. With whether the darkness was a physical darkness, or a sort of spiritual darkness. Along with if it was a physical darkness, what was the nature of the phenomenon, i.e. eclipse, the sun blocked by volcanic activity, etc. The reading of Exodus appeared far more like a back and forth conversation amongst members of the

When entering the chapel, we meet the Sheliah Tzibbur, whose job is to lead the congregation, similar to the way a Pastor leads a Christian congregation. I would point out to my tourist, the clothing that the Sheliah Tzibbur is wearing. First, I will explain the cap on his head, called the kippah, which is placed on the head before the prayer service. The kippah is typically worn by men, and is optional for women. Then I would explain the tallit, which is the prayer shawl worn over the body during prayer service. Tallit’s have fringes tied to the four corners, called tzitzits, which serves a reminder for those to think of God always. Most tallit’s feature a strip of blue, known as tekhelet, which is a special blue dye that is mentioned 49 times in the Hebrew Bible. Lastly, I would point out the black box on his forehead and his bicep, which is called the tefillin, which contains scrolls of parchment inscribed with verses from the Torah. While tefillin is less prominent in modern Synagogues, it is still important for my tourist to understand the meaning behind it. Getting into the Torah reading, the first thing I’ll explain, is the process of getting the Torah. When initiating a Torah reading, the Sheliah Tzibbur or the Gabbai, who oversees the religious services,

Although there was only one instrument that I could hear (an organ), this service seemed to have a strong focus on music. Most of the time, a small choir or individual at the altar was singing in Greek, with occasional “readings”

On Visit number two I attended a Jewish morning service in a Temple. I went along with Brady and we went to the Temple Beth Israel. We walked in and sat down in the booths. The service was led by Rabbi Bruce Benson. A Rabbi, I learned, is a Jewish scholar or teacher appointed by other Jewish leaders. We had come on what they called Shabbat Morning, it was a special service because it was to celebrate a young girl named Elexis Goldberg on her Bat Mitzvah. A Bat Mitzvah is a Jewish tradition that celebrates a young man or women coming of age.