I don’t know why they remove the article but that seems to be the trend when you go to Synagogue around here. That makes it sound more like a tradition than a place that you go to. What change would that reflect if we went to temple instead of going to THE temple. Curious
It was a small Orthodox Synagogue. Actually it is a boy scout house (which I thought was pretty cool, Not BSA though) which is used as a synagogue. It was very simple. A single large room divided male and female by a small mobile curtain. Plastic deck chairs served as seating and the wooden pulpit was facing the wall in the direction of the old city of Jerusalem.
The service is connected to sundown. This was a larger service because Friday sundown marks the beginning of Sabbath. Before the sun sets they said the evening prayer for Friday (the Jews have three written daily prayers which rotate on a complicated yearly bases) So after the closing prayer for Friday the Saturday prayers began. A man put on a prayer shawl and went to the pulpit to lead us. He had a very good voice and led us in the opening hymn. He faced the wall to lead us, they very much have a sense of equality there. As far as I could tell there was no hierarchy or position. He led the chanting of 6 psalms for the days of the week , each one had it’s own tune and rhythm which the leader tapped out on the pulpit. Those around us who knew what was going on followed along with the chanting sometimes standing or moving around. Some would pray next to the window. It was very musical with lots of swaying and head bobbing. After the 6 psalms they sang the 7th which was for welcoming the Sabbath bride in. At this point everyone stood up and looked to the entrance of the building to welcome in the Sabbath.
I wish I had the paper in front of me so I could remember all the different parts and which psalms they sang. It was very beautiful though and they had very good harmony. The lead singer was absolutely amazing. They did have a brief sermon (about 7 minutes) but, like everything else, it was in Hebrew so I don’t know what it was about. They leave the lights on in the synagogue all day (unless they have a timer) because turning them on or off violates the Sabbath. Everyone walked home because driving is also forbidden (we took a van home). It is a very sincere faithful religion with a great focus on lifestyle. Its interesting that being a Jew is more about practice than it is about belief. They spend very little time talking about what they believe and a lot of time talking about the law they follow.
I have to draw a few parallels which surprised me a little.
Like the Catholics they
- Have a very verbatim service. All of it, or close to it, is written a predictable. Same psalms on a regular basis.
- Have a brief sermon (5-8 minute) which is the only ad-lib portion
- Do it all in a particular language. Almost every synagogue in the world does the majority in Hebrew just like the Catholics do it all in Latin
- Lots of audience participation. Standing up, chanting with the rector, singing (although Jews do not play instruments on Sabbath). Also people muttering private prayers.
- At one portion it is customary to greet everyone near by and which them a happy sabbath (the Catholics do the same thing) In this synagogue they greeted each other through the whole thing because it is a local community so they all know each other. They have no problems with people walking in and out during the service.
With the Muslims
- They pray in a particular direction (in early Islam they all prayed to Jerusalem.)
- There are a certain number of prayers per day associated with dawn and dusk.
- They both have special languages although the Muslims are much more particular about the language of scripture
- You can go to synagogue or the mosque for any of the daily prayers but only once a week is there a big service. (the Jews also do something bigger on Sabbath morning but I don’t know what)
- When they read scriptures they chant it in a near musical manner.
- both memorize a lot of the word
With Latter-day Saints
- It was a tight knit community, very close
- I sat next to a 6-7 year old boy who slept through most of the service. One man had his 3 year old daughter with him on the male side of the synagogue
- Babies screaming in the background.
- Wide age range, lots of families young and old
- Close association with the Boy Scouts
Maybe we aren’t all that close. With our 3 hours a week and focus on gospel learning instead of just gospel reciting I suppose we are very different. I am grateful for that though. I dearly appreciate having not just a faith or works focused religion but a good balance of both. The Jews seem very connected to the idea of works, I doesn’t seem like they ask why about very many of the commandments, just how. So all those commentaries of commentaries of the oral tradition of the written Torah deal with how to follow the commandments, not very much with why.
Reflecting on that I think knowing why we have commandments is very helpful in knowing how to follow them. Understand the principle, for example, behind the word of wisdom allows us to apply it to substances that are not specifically mentioned. The Jews seem to have a harder time with that which is why they have 613 commandments and thousands of practical interpretations thereof.
Both writing and photography are forbidden Sabbath activities so I apologize for the lack of pictures and the loose details.
The singing is a lot like Fiddler on the Roof and Prince of Egypt. Anyway, it was a blast. I have to add a disclaimer that it appears that every synagogue is unique so depending on what kind of Jews you find it could be very different than what I found in a small building south of the ancient city of Jerusalem.
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