A Visit to the Synagogue

Today I bring you another World Religions field trip update, this time to the Synagogue. The day we went there was a bar mitzvah going on, which made it more interesting.

The service was primarily in Hebrew, and although the prayer book had both Hebrew and English, it was difficult to follow along as there was no way to track the Hebrew. Also, the Rabbi read (or recited) very quickly, although things were slower when the congregation joined in. For the most part, the readings and prayers were done in a sing-song type chant, sometimes more “sing” and sometimes more “chant.” The Rabbi did explain what was happening and what page to turn to in English; also, some of the prayers were in English, although they switched back to Hebrew for the prayers for Israel and the Israeli Liberation Federation. Matan, who was doing his Bar Mitzvah, also did a speech in English about his Mitzvah project as well as an explanation his Haftorah (since it was right before Purim, he read Samuel 15:2-34, about the Amalekites; he explained that the story means that we all need to kill the Amalekite within each of us “not all Amalekites are bullies, but all bullies are Amalekites”).

There was great respect shown for the Torah. It is kept in an ark behind a curtain and is covered in a velvet cloth. When it was brought out, it was carried down one side of the congregation and up the middle; when it was put away, it was carried down the other side and back up the middle. As the Torah passed, people reached out and touched it with their prayer books or the tassels of their prayer shawls (only a very few people touched with their fingertips); afterwards, the people kissed whatever had touched the Torah. After the reading, they held the scroll up and turned around; then certain people from the congregation came up to help cover it again. The reverence shown for the Torah made it seem like an idol, like they worshiped the object itself, to the point of not actually touching it. It is God’s words, but it is the words that are important rather than the scrolls.

After Matan read the first portion from the Torah, there was great joy in the congregation, with singing and clapping; the singing seemed to consist primarily of “Mazel Tov!” The Rabbi also threw candies at Matan to wish him a sweet life. After the reading of the Torah, Matan and the others from his Mitzvah class in some of the prayers.

The Shabbat service at the Synagogue was interesting, although sometimes hard to follow (some of the readings were transliterated so it was possible to follow along; for the rest, it helped to watch someone else to know when to turn the page). Many of the readings were familiar, especially the ones from the Psalms and the Levitical blessing. In form, it is much like a service at my own church, except with more Scripture being read and without hymns (although they do sing a lot of the readings). It is much longer, however; we left after two hours, when they started the announcements.