I had no idea that there was a Jewish synagogue right around the corner from my house. The Kol Ami synagogue is located on 2300 E. and Just off of I-80 and is has the membership of roughly 350 family units, which is about ¼ of the Jewish population in Utah. (1) Rabbi Ilana Schwartzman has been at the Kol Ami since 2010 and has a very cultured past including schooling from: the University of Virginia (English and Religion degree), Ben Gurion University (Hebrew studies), and the Hebrew Union Colleges- Institute of Religion in Jerusalem and Cincinnati. (1) This particular Sunday that I visited Kol Ami there was a Bar-Mitzvah, which is also the topic of this paper, more specifically: What is the meaning of a Bar-Mitzvah. We will be going over what it means, some history, and how the actual Bar-Mitzvah ceremony is like. I have to admit; I was a little hesitant to go into the synagogue at first. But when I entered the doors, I was immediately met by smiling faces. None of the families in the front area greeted me, but after smiling at me, they walked down a hallway. After following them, I was met by three guys who handed me two pieces of paper – which turned out to be a program and a weekly calendar, a Kippah, and two books, one red, one blue. One is the Siddur, …show more content…
During the Bar Mitzvah I went to, I noticed that almost the whole service was dedicated to him. He participated in many readings, and was up with the Rabbi for a lot of the meeting. There was also a lot of his family going up and doing readings, and telling stories. Traditionally, the service includes: Leading specific prayers or the entire service during a Shabbat service, reading the weekly Torah portion, reading the weekly Haftarah portion, giving a speech about the Torah and/or Haftarah reading, and completing a tzedakah (charity) project leading up to the ceremony for charity.
James Howe’s short story, “Jeremy Goldblatt Is So Not Moses” is about a young boy’s thoughtful act of selflessness during his Bar Mitzvah. A Mitzvah is a Jewish ceremony that usually occurs between the ages of twelve and thirteen, which marks the child “becoming an adult”, or basically becoming independent. Many of his colleagues and even his own mom don’t understand why he acted that way in his Bar Mitzvah and even judge him for it. Usually, after his Hebrew classes at the temple, Jeremy would tend to hang out with “Candy Andy”, a homeless man who sat outside the synagogue. During his Bar Mitzvah, Jeremy allowed Andy to hold the Torah, which is a highly valued and sacred object to the Jewish religion. While most people were offended that he did that; since, Candy Andy
The Essential Features in an Orthodox Synagogue Recall, select, organize and deploy knowledge of Jewish belief and sources of authority, practice and organisation. The main function of the Jewish synagogue is worship, with the emphasis on prayer and reading. For Jews the synagogue is not just a building the word synagogue also refers to the community or congregation. The main features of all synagogues, especially the symbols, are designed to help people to worship God. The layout of the building is rectangular, with seats arranged on three sides.
New York: William Morrow. Lipsett, S. M. & Co., P.A. and Ladd, E. C. (1971) The 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary' of the 'Secon "Jewish Academics in the United States: Their Achievements, Culture and Politics." American Jewish Yearbook -. Cited for Zuckerman, Harriet (1977).
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Fellner, Judith B. & Co. In the Jewish Tradition: A Year of Food and Festivals. The. New York: Michael Friedman Publishing Group. 1995. The 'Se Raphael, Chaim. Festival Days: A Jewish History.
Lacking the ready opportunity to visit a unique congregation while stuck, carless, on campus over break, I instead focus on a "field trip" that my churchs' Sunday School class took one Sunday morning last summer. Picture if you will a group of white Presbyterian teenagers hopping into a shiny church van and cruising 15 minutes south, into the poorer, blacker reaches of inner-city Memphis (where neighborhood segregation is still very much the rule). Our destination was relatively near our own church, and yet worlds apart, too. Ours was the area of stately old homes with well-kept lawns along oak- and elm-lined streets, homes filled with the genteel, white urbanites of the city. A mere handful of blocks to the south, however, lay a land of equally old but far more poorly maintained homes, streets long since denuded of any trees they may once have sported. We had left our comfortable zone of neighborhood watches and block clubs, choosing instead to spend our worship hours in a part of the city instead known for its special police precinct and its multitudinous economic redevelopment zones. Thus did we find ourselves at the Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church.
At the time of our Bat Mitzvah, we as Jewish women are encouraged to look to influential and inspirational Jewish women, such as Esther, for guidance and strength. A Bat Mitzvah is a Jewish ritual in which a female immediately upon the age of 12 becomes an adult or a “daughter of the mitzvah” (Cahabad.org, 2016) (Pelaia, 2014). This ritual marks the beginning of a lifetime of devotion to the Jewish religion and with this comes the exploration of your own personal purpose that was given to you by God (Rich, 2011). Esther, a woman of the scripture, exemplifies what it means to be a Jewish woman and therefore would be an appropriate addition to my Bat Mitzvah ceremony and following this will continue to provide inspiration as I journey through life.
...t also with acceptance as one of their own, although I never wore a Tallit or Kippah. This was a very peculiar position since I have never been so accustomed to this sort of kindness. By the end of the Jewish service, not only did I respect and appreciate their faith much more, but, in a way, I began to grow a love for it as well. While I felt no negative feelings towards the service, the most positive aspect would, most definitely, be the warmth I felt from everyone inside the Synagogue and from the presentation of the building itself. At first glance, I was not able to fully appreciate the decorations in the room, but the longer I observed I began to realize each decoration represented something significant. Overall, if I learned anything important this day it is that one thing holds true: I can still appreciate ideas and concepts even if I do not agree with them.
My Jewish learning. Web. 10 Sep. 2011. Jewish_Family.shtml.>.
The church external appearance was quite different than other churches that I have seen. It was basically a big white stucco block with a gold dome on top and four decorated spikes on each corner of the building that surrounded the dome. The people of course were all Greek and were very well dressed. Most of the men and boys all wore suits, and If not they had some kind of vest on. I don’t know if this was some kind of rule or tradition, but it mostly seemed as a respect to God. The women all wore the basic dresses, and all the skirts fell down below the knee. Everybody was proper and ordered. As I walked in the church I entered a lobby of some kind. What I saw hear was something like social hour. Everybody was in there. They were all speaking Greek, and I felt as if I was in a family reunion party. The children were all together; the adults talked together and the young adults all were together. The way they all socialize is when someone comes up to say hello, they give each other a kiss on the cheek and a hug. These people are all very close to each other. It seems as if the church is the center of their lives. I admire that trait as well. To enter the auditorium you must enter this little room, which has a piece of garment from St. Constantine and St. Helen. Also there were candles lit. As they walked through this little room they lit a candle and knelt down for a moment to pray, and then touched each garment and made a cross over their chest.
Once the service started, my friend showed me where the schedule for the service was and what each number meant. There were different colors of numbers in the book and those indicated what section the reading or song was coming from. This was different from the church that I attend because we have a choir and a band that plays the songs and if you wish to join in you can but for the Catholic Church there is, no choir and the members of the church are the ones who sing. After some singing, the priest came up to talk and this is very different from what I expected. I was used to flipping through the channels and seeing the catholic churches with the priest who were a ...
Mail, A.S. (1997). An Exploration of the Impact of the Israel Experience upon Bar/Bat Mitzvah Students: Rites of Passage for Progressive Jewish Teenagers. Journal of Progressive Judaism. Nov97, Issue 9, pg59-82.
... curated community called, ArtSetters, that is focused on encouraging and promoting the artwork of local emerging artists to a global audience. For me, this lecture was in many ways very interesting. This type of lecture would for one never happen in a Catholic mass, but as well was very nice to see a congregation welcome back a member. Allowing Wyner to speak about her passion for art was inspiring as well an informative. It was refreshing to see a community supporting each other as the congregation welcomed Wyner and applauded her accomplishments. The service was let out after the finish of Wyner’s lecture. While some of the lay lefts shortly after, I noticed a good majority of the congregation stayed behind and talked with each other. The service at Temple Israel was an unlikely comforting and fascinating service that gave me a greater appreciation for Judaism.
Perhaps one of the most well-known traditions of the Jewish faith is the celebration of a young man’s Bar Mitzvah. The ceremony began as a graduation for a schoolboy who had completed his religious education. The focus of study was typically the Hebrew Bible along with other Jewish literature, history, customs and ceremonies (Oxtoby and Segal 110-111). Today, the ceremony is often known as a coming of age celebration for 13-year-olds. During the festivity, the young man reads scripture from the Torah for the first time aloud and may also chant from one of the Torah scrolls (Oxtoby and Segal 61). This significant Jewish tradition is now also widely celebrated for young girls as well, known by the name as a ‘bat mitzvah’.