My Visit to the Jewish Synagogue

Judaism can be regarded as one of the oldest and the most practiced religions all over the world. As every religion, Judaism has its particular traditions and services. Thereby, I considered my visit to the Jewish synagogue to be pretty surprising and exiting experience. However, to my great surprise, I found Jewish customs, ceremonies, and rituals to be similar to Christian ones. Although, I was convinced I would see greatly different services and perhaps different attitudes of the people attending the temple. Nevertheless, ceremonies in the Jewish synagogue were very reminiscent of the Christian religious tradition. In addition to this, the general atmosphere and friendly peoples made a positive impact on me. Therefore, my visit to the Jewish synagogue was both thrilling and educative experience that forced me to learn more about Judaism.

To start with, I was pretty nervous to attend a religious service, which I did not belong to. Moreover, Judaism was not part of my heritage, and I was not sure how people might react to somebody who was not of their religion. Nevertheless, my curiosity to become acquainted with unknown traditions and ceremonies prevailed and I desperately wanted to learn about an enigmatic to me religion. The first thing that surprised me was a building of the Jewish temple because it had pretty ordinary modern look. It should be noted that a Jewish synagogue remotely resembled a church inside, as well as outside the building. As soon as I walked into the temple, the people seemed extremely friendly and hospitable. Moreover, I noticed that there was a collection of pamphlets prepared exactly for those who knew not much about Judaism, and name cards for newcomers. Firstly, those name cards were pretty awkward thing to me, but soon I found that Judaism tradition was aimed to make people more open to each other and support their interaction. Thus, one woman friendly asked me if I would like to know more about Judaism and a synagogue. Therefore, people's sincerity and openness made a nice first impression of the Jewish temple.

Although the overall atmosphere and frankness of people were surprising for me, stories and explanations of the simply dressed Rabi helped me understand the readings, as well as lectures of the course better. For instance, Jewish religion believes rather in creed than in deed - righteous people will be rewarded in the afterlife. Moreover, it was pretty surprising to hear from the Rabi that Judaism was not about the race it was about people. Thus, there are Jewish people of many different races in the world. The Rabi has also stated that prayer is a favor of the heart, and it is one of the many various ways for people to express their love to God. Furthermore, I have learned that a prayer has a great significance to Jewish people, and swaying back and forth during it symbolizes a connection with the Divine source. In addition, the notion that Jews are aimed to involve their whole essence in the worship prayers causes a feeling of great respect to these people. Thereby, after visiting a Jewish synagogue, I have a clearer understanding of Judaism and its services.

Additionally, my visit to the Jewish synagogue brought me many good emotions, and, what was more important, the curiosity to know more about Judaism. After my acquaintance with a Jewish temple, I can confidently state that there are a lot of things that still remain unknown to me, but I am eager to discover them. People and atmosphere of a Jewish holy place were incentive to learn more about the services and rituals of Judaism. Therefore, I had an unforgettable experience of visiting a Jewish synagogue that was both surprising and illuminant for me.