Encounter with a Jewish Synagogue

On Thursday 1/9/09, my adventurous J-term class sent me to Madison, Wis. to visit the Beth Israel Center and Synagogue. This opportunity was extremely insightful to me in understanding the practices of certain rituals and beliefs within Judaism. Though the entire opportunity of touring the center and listening to all the meanings and symbols which everything stood for was amazing, there were definitely several things that stood out from all the rest.

The synagogue itself was an interesting sight to behold, it was something different yet understandably familiar to me because of my Catholic background. Many people might say that a church and a synagogue are different, but in my eyes I see the two having many things in common which are necessary to the space in which one may worship. In the synagogue, a few things that were required for them to have were mainly traditional, historical, and practical. At the center of attention was their "Ark" in which behind it's curtains held their most precious and valuable key component of all of Judaism, the Torah. (The equivalent to the Catholic Tabernacle) The synagogue also had a perpetual light behind a decorative stain glass window, and altar for the Torah to rest, a sky light to let in the required natural light into the synagogue, and several other things. Much of my experience was learning how much the items in the synagogue were used for services. It still amazes me that Judaism is a closely related to Christianity through our Old Testament ties, and because of this I find Judaism to be the initial support or foundation of what I believe in.

Another thing that was very insight from our visit to the Beth Israel Center was the ways they interpret their laws and regulations. It can be understood that in any religion their will always be a fight over the actual meaning of a text, whether one takes the text literally or they find a away to interpret them in a different way. At the Center I came to understand that this is also a issue in which many Jews struggle with. Laws, such as Kosher laws, can be very vague in the Torah. Many times, depending from what sect of Judaism you belong to, Rabbis interpret the meaning of the Torah differently. This allows for a constant change of laws and it also allows for more and more laws to be added to the rules which they already have to follow. I found this process to be interesting because it could allow both a positive and negative affect throughout all of Judaism.

Overall, the experience that I had today and the Beth Israel Center was priceless. It became another opportunity to learn, understand, and appreciate what other people believe in, as well as allowing my self to grow closer to my own faith and beliefs.

But until next time, take care....

Emilio