Michelle Arnold
Introduction to Judaism
Monday & Wednesday 9-12

When I visited my first Jewish synagogue, I expected it to be very different. My previous experience with religious ceremonies was limited to a few visits to Baptist churches. The most surprising thing for me at this one was, oddly enough, its similarity to Christian services and rituals. I went into the religious visit expecting an enormous difference in the customs and perhaps even in the attitudes of the people attending the service. What I found instead was a religious ceremony very reminiscent of the Christian ones I’ve been to before. To begin, I was nervous about attending a service for a faith to which I did not belong and which was not even part of
Also interesting was the way the rabbi tied many everyday events and circumstances into the faith. He discussed baseball in relation to the seder, talking about how his father had loved both things and had given him his own love of baseball and of the traditional supper. Again, though I don’t share the religion, I could understand and relate too much of what he was saying, because our parents shape the way that we all grow and learn and change. After the service, we were invited to share in the refreshments that were provided for congregation members. All of the people present were very willing to answer questions and to discuss the religion and were very open and friendly toward me at all times. My experience at the Jewish synagogue was very fun and enlightening. I gained a lot of firsthand knowledge of a religion I had only studied academically before. I’m not sure that I’ll ever have the chance to attend other types of religious services, but I may attempt to do so in the future. In my opinion, a visit like this one to another religion’s place of worship is the best possible way to learn more about a particular religion, no matter whether it’s for a class or simply to further one’s own personal