Personal Narrative: Visiting A Different Religion
Kaitlynn Mellor
Global and Cultural Perspectives
Dr. iwanwanfuckychoo
3 February 2010
Visiting a Different Religion This past Friday January 29, I attended a Jewish Mincha, or afternoon prayer, in comparison to the Shacharis, or morning prayer, held earlier that day. My class prevented me from observing that. I visited Congregation Poale Zedeck in Squirrel Hill just outside of Downtown Pittsburgh. I sat in the balcony with the other women because I was trying to respectfully observe their faith and was very unfamiliar with their traditions. It was a good thing I left my dorm early because I had some trouble driving in the rush hour traffic. The entrance was through a great beautiful stone archway with blue satined glass windows around …show more content…
Firstly, the prayers were in Hebrew and they required the walking and bowing several times. There were no crosses, but instead there was a Star of David behind the alter and on some of the stain glass windows. There seemed to be more men than women, and all of the men wore small round hats, called a yamaca. The service was led by a rabbi, not a reverend like my church at home. The rabbi's name was Ari Goldberg. He wore a black suit with a white cloth draped over his shoulders for the ceremony. Also, Rabbi Goldberg did not move around as much and did not talk about personal life lessons.
It was very strictly ceremonial. The service was fairly short, just about fifteen minutes long. Also the services are held on different days. It was very strange to have the men and women separated. I have never been to a ceremony where that was required. Also, there were no children in the service, where at my church at home, children were encouraged to interact and go to their own readings where they were taught the scripture passages in terms that they could relate to and understand. There was no talk of Jesus in the service. This in itself makes the two faiths extremely different. They called God both God and Yahweh. Also, they referred to many old testament prophets that I have heard of in the Christian
Global and Cultural Perspectives
Dr. iwanwanfuckychoo
3 February 2010
Visiting a Different Religion This past Friday January 29, I attended a Jewish Mincha, or afternoon prayer, in comparison to the Shacharis, or morning prayer, held earlier that day. My class prevented me from observing that. I visited Congregation Poale Zedeck in Squirrel Hill just outside of Downtown Pittsburgh. I sat in the balcony with the other women because I was trying to respectfully observe their faith and was very unfamiliar with their traditions. It was a good thing I left my dorm early because I had some trouble driving in the rush hour traffic. The entrance was through a great beautiful stone archway with blue satined glass windows around …show more content…
Firstly, the prayers were in Hebrew and they required the walking and bowing several times. There were no crosses, but instead there was a Star of David behind the alter and on some of the stain glass windows. There seemed to be more men than women, and all of the men wore small round hats, called a yamaca. The service was led by a rabbi, not a reverend like my church at home. The rabbi's name was Ari Goldberg. He wore a black suit with a white cloth draped over his shoulders for the ceremony. Also, Rabbi Goldberg did not move around as much and did not talk about personal life lessons.
It was very strictly ceremonial. The service was fairly short, just about fifteen minutes long. Also the services are held on different days. It was very strange to have the men and women separated. I have never been to a ceremony where that was required. Also, there were no children in the service, where at my church at home, children were encouraged to interact and go to their own readings where they were taught the scripture passages in terms that they could relate to and understand. There was no talk of Jesus in the service. This in itself makes the two faiths extremely different. They called God both God and Yahweh. Also, they referred to many old testament prophets that I have heard of in the Christian