Visit to Jewish Temple

Description
The service I attended was a Shabbat (Sabbath) on the morning of Saturday, June 2 at the Beth Shalom temple. I arrived at 9:50 for the 10AM start. The congregants were dressed with varying degrees of formality, and most arrived in family groups. In a modern building, the area of worship was a small chapel with capacity for about two hundred people. On this day, the room was about half full. Arranged like a small auditorium, the chapel had a sort of stage rather than an altar. On the stage was a dais, and behind that was simple piece of furniture covered with a cloth; I later learned this was the arc.
The rabbi and the cantor (singer) were both female. The service opened with songs, which the congregation sang along with as the cantor sang and played from an acoustic guitar. After the initial songs, the rabbi read from the prayer book that was available at each seat, indicating which pages to turn to and when. Many of the prayers involved call and response, whereby the rabbi read a passage, and the congregation would respond by reading the appropriate text in the book. The book was not the Bible but a special prayer book designed especially for this purpose.
Following the readings, the rabbi delivered a sermon about commitment, and referred to the fact that later this day there was a bat mitzvah ceremony. As a precursor to the actual bat mitzvah ceremony, the rabbi asked the bat mitzvah girl and her parents to step onto the stage. The congregation clapped. Then, some more passages from the book were read and the bat mitzvah girl and her parents were instructed to open the arc and remove the Torah from inside. The Torah was large, and it took two people to carry it over to the dais. After some readings, the Torah was returned and the carved wooden doors to the arc were closed. The Shabbat service itself ended with more singing.
Cultural and Historical Context
The Shabbat service, or Jewish Sabbath, is integral to the practices of Judaism. However, there are both culturally and observance-based divisions within Judaism that ensure each Shabbat service will be different (Molloy, 2013). The one I attended was part of the Reform Judaism tradition, meaning that the service was modernized and the congregation does not strictly follow the customs and traditions that prohibit certain behaviors on the Sabbath day. For example, more orthodox worshippers would refrain from “not only from driving a car to synagogue on Shabbat but even from operating electric lights,” (“History and Development of Shabbat,” n.d.). The members of the Beth Shalom Reform congregation did drive to the service and electric lighting was used throughout. These changes signify the way Jews in the diaspora adapted their customs to keep them alive in spite of the dramatic changes taking place in the contemporary world, and through living in different cultures and historical epochs (Molloy, 2013). While there are still many Orthodox Jews who follow the stricter rules sometimes referred to as “stifling restrictions,” practitioners of Reform Judaism have adopted ancient Jewish practices to suit modern lifestyles and attitudes (Rich, 2011).
The Shabbat has been described as “one of the best known and least understood of all Jewish observances,” as well as the “most important ritual observance in Judaism” because it is the only one referred to in the Ten Commandments (Rich, 2011). The importance of the Shabbat service was evident in the sheer number of people in the congregation. What I observed was only a small part of the Shabbat observances, which presumably last the entire day (Rich, 2011). The fact that the Reform temple has both female Rabbi and female cantor, the fact that some of the songs were in English, as well as many of the prayers, and even the fact of there being a bat mitzvah for females, made this a uniquely contemporary and American Jewish religious encounter. Traditional Jewish Shabbat services would not be led by females, and females were not traditionally given the bat mitzvah ceremony. The Reform movement, which started in 19th century Germany, “was born of an attempt to reconcile Judaism with contemporary life and harmonize it with emerging currents in Western thought,” (“History of the Reform Movement,” n.d.). The Reform movement has since flourished in the United States, where a pattern of cultural assimilation became prevalent among many immigrant communities.
Personal Reactions
The Reform method of practice came about as Jews in Europe contended with discrimination and sought a way to reform the practices that made them seem “strange” to their neighbors in order to fit in better (“History of the Reform Movement,” n.d.). Unfortunately, the efforts of the early reformers in Germany failed to earn the trust of the greater society for the anti-Semitism that had always existed in Europe culminated in the Holocaust. I can also see why some of the more conservative and orthodox members of the Jewish community believe that it is better to stay as true as possible to the ancient customs, given the way that reform did not necessarily help Jews adapt to their surroundings.
Overall, this Reform Judaism experience of a Shabbat service shows how communities change and adapt their practices to keep their traditions alive. While I was initially surprised at the almost church-like nature of the ceremony, including the sermon and the English language prayers, I appreciated the way that the Reform movement attempted to make old traditions more relevant and accessible for those who might be otherwise uninterested in too many restrictions on their lifestyle. Rather than give up on their religion and customs entirely, members of the congregation instead opt for a balance between the old and new. I can see how some critics might view the Reform service as being diluted, but I believe that diluting ancient customs is sometimes the best way to pass on traditions to children.





References
“History and Development of Shabbat,” (n.d.). My Jewish Learning. https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/history-and-development-of-shabbat/
“History of the Reform Movement,” (n.d.). My Jewish Learning. https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/reform-judaism/
Molloy, M. (2013). Experiencing the World’s Religions. [Kindle Edition].
Rich, T.R. (2011). The nature of Shabbat. http://www.jewfaq.org/shabbat.htm