My Visit to a Jewish Synagogue
Michelle Arnold
Introduction to Judaism
Monday & Wednesday 9-12
When I visited my first Jewish synagogue, I expected it to be very different. My previous experience with religious ceremonies was limited to a few visits to Baptist churches. The most surprising thing for me at this one was, oddly enough, its similarity to Christian services and rituals. I went into the religious visit expecting an enormous difference in the customs and perhaps even in the attitudes of the people attending the service. What I found instead was a religious ceremony very reminiscent of the Christian ones I’ve been to before. To begin, I was nervous about attending a service for a faith to which I did not belong and which was not even part of my heritage. Previously when I had attended Baptist worship, I had gone along or with a member of my family, who belonged to the church. I wasn’t sure how people of a different religion would react to having someone who was not of their faith visiting their place of worship. However, as soon as we walked into the synagogue, the people there were very friendly and not at all unused to having visitors. There was a collection of pamphlets set out for anyone unfamiliar with the Jewish religion and with Sabbath services and there were nametags for us to wear. The people were very friendly, asking us if we would like to know anything more about the synagogue. There were people standing in small groups too talking and catching up with the happenings of the week before. Overall, the interior of the synagogue reminded me very much of a church. The sanctuary was round or possibly octagonal, with the seating also set up in a semicircle. Inside of the sanctuary the atmosphere was different from that in the lobby, more serious I would say. I thought that it was lovely, and smaller than the chapel of any church I’ve ever attended. We were given prayer books as we entered, and when I leafed through mine I found that it was printed from
Introduction to Judaism
Monday & Wednesday 9-12
When I visited my first Jewish synagogue, I expected it to be very different. My previous experience with religious ceremonies was limited to a few visits to Baptist churches. The most surprising thing for me at this one was, oddly enough, its similarity to Christian services and rituals. I went into the religious visit expecting an enormous difference in the customs and perhaps even in the attitudes of the people attending the service. What I found instead was a religious ceremony very reminiscent of the Christian ones I’ve been to before. To begin, I was nervous about attending a service for a faith to which I did not belong and which was not even part of my heritage. Previously when I had attended Baptist worship, I had gone along or with a member of my family, who belonged to the church. I wasn’t sure how people of a different religion would react to having someone who was not of their faith visiting their place of worship. However, as soon as we walked into the synagogue, the people there were very friendly and not at all unused to having visitors. There was a collection of pamphlets set out for anyone unfamiliar with the Jewish religion and with Sabbath services and there were nametags for us to wear. The people were very friendly, asking us if we would like to know anything more about the synagogue. There were people standing in small groups too talking and catching up with the happenings of the week before. Overall, the interior of the synagogue reminded me very much of a church. The sanctuary was round or possibly octagonal, with the seating also set up in a semicircle. Inside of the sanctuary the atmosphere was different from that in the lobby, more serious I would say. I thought that it was lovely, and smaller than the chapel of any church I’ve ever attended. We were given prayer books as we entered, and when I leafed through mine I found that it was printed from