Synagogue Reflection

After the service, members shared grace over the message. Michael, Elim prayer ministry leader shared, " It seems paradoxical being

Torah Scrolls: This object is the most significant to the Synagogue, which is made up of the five books of Moses hand written by a pious scribe. The scrolls are kept inside an Ark of each synagogue and are read aloud in all synagogues four times a week.

common room. On days of worship the scroll of Heaven and Earth or that of the

On the rotating table there were open books and the men would turn the table and without any hesitation continued to sing. Around 9:30 is when the church began to fill up and that is when the Priest and two Bishops came out. The Priest wore his stole, which is like a long scarf, around his neck and hanging to the floor on either side of him. The Deacons wore their stole vestments across their body diagonally. There was also a group of 4 boys that helped on the Alter whom also wore robes and they would enter and exit through the Angel Doors also known as Deacon’s Doors. Each time they went through the doors they kissed the icon on the door. There were times when the church would stand and times when everyone in the church would sit and these motions were all dictated by the Priest that made gestures to the crowd.

peculiar sounds it was noted in that during prayer they also broke out in uncontrollable laughter and

pray to God. As well as functioning as a House of Prayer, or 'Beit ha

Throughout the world, there are billions of people that profess belief in a religion that most adequately answers the questions that most people ask regarding the origination of life to the self-purpose. Furthermore, within society their holds many people that believe in different religions that can cause for people to become biased and ethnocentric when evaluating certain aspects of a different religion. Due to this task of delving into research of a religion outside of your own, I chose to further my understanding through observing a service at an Orthodox Jewish Synagogue. In being that I am a Christian, I will be observing from a perspective in which I am informed about some of the scripture, but puzzled when it comes to many of the

My ancestral background belief is focused on spirituality and prayers hence, this lecture was a reinforcement towards my daily practice of prayers in my life.

Everybody looked very cheerful and benevolent. It felt like one big family gathering. We entered the synagogue and there were plush chairs and carpet embellished with nature like colors and leaf designs. The roof was high, there was a lot of light, gold accents, a stained glass window, wooden beams that were exposed, as well as a wooden bureau, which housed the Torah. There were also candles and podium/table from which the rabbi spoke.

There was a lot of singing and shouting done in these secret meeting places. Shouting had two basic forms regular shouting and ring shouting. The “ring shout” a ritualized group activity clearly of African origin, which gained momentum in praise houses. Shouting is experienced when the Holy Spirit fills and empowers the worshipers so that they are unable to remain still. Much like today, when the Holy Spirit takes over your body, you can’t hold still and the Holy Spirit jumps from one person to

Before the meeting started, the group all bowed their heads in prayer. This prayer was led by RH Brown from WCBI News. This is normal during these meetings, but I know in many other settings this may have been avoided to keep from offending anyone that was not Christian. The meeting began with the secretary, Ceolia

     I also observed many paintings in this gallery. One painting that caught my eye was titled, “The Mocking of Christ” by Hieronymus Bosch. It was an early 16th century, oil on wood painting. Christ was seen in the upper right next to Pilate and was surrounded by figured who looked more like friends than enemies that would crucify him. These so called friends of Christ were holding weapons and wearing bizarre headgear. In the painting, Jesus had a saddened look on his face while the others looked jollier. Another painting that I observed was a painting by Defendate Ferrari which showed the enthroned Virgin Mary breastfeeding the baby Jesus with Saint John the Evangelist, Catherine of Alexandra, Anthony Abbot, and a saint reading a book. I was attracted to this painting because I would never have thought to have seen a picture of Mary feeding Jesus in that way. This painting was originally an oil and gold on wood and was transferred to canvas. There were so many

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

I sat near the back, a good thing because it was mostly the people participating in the service who sat at the front. I noticed that several of the women had a tallit, or prayer shawl, and only knew the significance of them because of our readings and lessons. Many of the men were wearing a yarmulke as well, though not all of them were. As I looked around the room I noticed the Ark, which holds the Torah scrolls. As I continued to scan the room I also notice the menorah (candelabrum).

When the service started it began with prayer, during the service there were moments of prayer, and the service ended with prayer. Something that I found very entertaining was the form of worship that they used which was singing. They sang a lot of different songs that worshiped God. You could tell who went to church a lot because they knew all the songs by heart. For those like me that didn’t know the songs, the words were projected on to the wall so you could sing along with everyone else. There was also a live band that played the music to sing to. This part of the service was really entertaining to me and I really enjoyed it.