My first Shabbat (hell, church, experience, catholic, pastor)

Lintu · #1 12-10-2004, 09:19 PM

Just in case anyone was wondering what it's like!
My fiance and I went to a Reform synagogue not too far from where we live. There was a really large menorah up front, and when everyone had mostly arrived and sat down, the Rabbi (a woman! how cool!) called everyone up to bring a menorah. There were probably about twenty of them, all lit up. It was really nice. A small children's choir sang up front--so cute. One of the first things I noticed was how much the children got into everything. It was great! I remember being a kid and going to religious services, and the only time I had fun was when the pastor would have us come up for a special children's sermon. That was only a few times a year. The kids here had all kinds of opportunities to interact...through singing, walking in with the Rabbi, and answering questions about what they'd do if they were living in the time of the Maccabees. Sometimes when we were singing, kids would dance in the aisles. I thought that was so cool!

So anyways, there was a lot of singing, and a lot of it in Hebrew. I love languages, so that didn't bother me. I do want to learn more Hebrew though so that I can understand what I'm singing while I sing it.

Something else that stood out to me is that every Shabbat is treated like a holiday (at least according to this Rabbi). It reminds me a lot how Catholic mass is supposed to be a celebration. In the church where I grew up, the thing I remember most is all the sermons on how we were all going to burn in hell. So, this was a pleasant surprise. I could really feel a divine presence.

I'm definitely going to go back again. Unfortunately, I'm going home to TX soon and then moving to CT, so I won't have a chance to become a regular at one synagogue any time soon, but it will give me the opportunity to explore different ones.