SHABBAT (JEWISH)

One of the requirements for the American Cultures badge is:

1b. Go to a place of worship, school, or other institution identified with one of the groups. Report on what you see and learn.

Four of us had chosen Jewish as one of our cultures/religions. We went to a Shabbat service to observe.

David says:

DJ, Elisha, Isaac and I went to Shabbat services at Beth Hatikvah in Bremerton. I was nervous not knowing what to expect, but I didn't need to be. We sang, the cantor talked about Jacob and Esau, then we sang some more.

It's similar to our church, preaching-wise. They believe in the same God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and everything they said could've been said from the pulpit in our church. It's different from our church because we don't wear yamulkes. And we don't sing in Hebrew, but the Psalms are the same, just in Hebrew.

After the Torah reading, we broke bread. The people were nice. I liked it.

Beth Hatikvah is a Reformed congregation. The differences between the three are that Hasidic is the letter of the law, complete, no exception. Reformed is more spirit of the law, thinking of the Bible more as a guideline rather than God-breathed. Orthodox is more conservative than Reformed, but less so than Hasidic.

Women in Reformed churches dress how they please, while in both Orthodox and Hasidic they would cover themselves. The Orthodox church would probably be most like our church (other than not recognizing Jesus as the Messiah).

There might have been more ritual and everyone would've been differently dressed if the service was either Orthodox or Hasidic.

I would think that they wouldn't be easily accepted when they first came to the USA because they were mostly Christian or non-believers. The Hasidic Jews might have faced discrimination because of their hair and dress. Reformed Jews probably wouldn't have a problem assimilating at all because nobody would really know they were Jewish unless they said it. The morale in America would probably be very good in accepting Jews escaping here in WWII. Their religious practices might have made it hard to assimilate into the culture because some of the things they couldn't eat.

Elisha says:

The room was small, but the chairs were comfortable.

The sermon was similar to our church. The cantor had a good voice. The songbooks were read from right to left. We don't light candles in our church.

The songs were hard to pronounce. I didn't know they lit candles.

Afterward, we broke bread and had grape juice.

The Reformed congregation dressed just like everyone else, except for a yamulke. The other sects would be much more strict in how you dress. The Hasidic women would have to have shirts that cover their elbows, and both Hasidic and Orthodox women would have to cover their hair.

Women wouldn't speak in a Hasidic or Orthodox service, but they were allowed to be part of the service.

If it was a Hasidic service, I would expect them to wear big, puffy hats and have unshaven beards. If it was an Orthodox service, I would expect them to teach about the Ten Commandments and the Torah.

It's harder for a community like the Hasidic Jews to assimilate because they keep to themselves. Some people didn't like Jews because of how they looked, different outfits and hair. Reformed Jews wouldn't have a difficult time assimilating into society because they look just like everyone else; that's kind of bad because the Jewish law says they're supposed to be different.

Duane says: