Sarah- CP7 (Temple)

For my cultural immersion project, I wanted to go to a mosque with one of my conversation partners, but they only go on Friday afternoons, and weren't sure if I'd be allowed. And I wasn't sure if I could fit it into my lunch break! So instead, I asked my Brazilian Jewish roommate to take me with her to Temple. We tried to go to a Wednesday morning service last week, and we got up early, dressed nice, and went at 7:30 in the morning! Unfortunately though, when we got there the parking lot was suspiciously empty, and sure enough, a lady walking around getting ready for some kind of kids camp told us that the Wednesday morning services are cancelled for summer, but she let us walk around the whole building, and I did manage to get a few good pictures, which is good, because I didn't want to bring my camera to a service anyway.

This adorably colored hand really threw me for a loop. I've seen this before but was completely convinced it had to do with Islam or Hinduism. It has such an "Indian" feel! Apparently I am dead wrong, and this is the Hamsa, or Hand of God, in the Jewish tradition. 

Holocaust Memorial Plaque. Very cool.

On our way out, we asked the camp lady about other services held. She gave us all kinds of information about the Temple, kids camp, and Shabbat services on Friday night. So Shabbat it was.

Last night, I had to forego my plans to see the Appalachee Trio, and yet again dressed up and drove down to Temple Israel. We were late getting there because I had to rush from work and shower etc, and so when we walked in, it was about to start, and all the back row seats were taken. We had to sit up front. I was surprised that a girl was leading it, I guess I had some presuppositions after all, because I was sure there would be an older bearded man up front. And there were quite a few in fact! Just not leading the service. As it began, she told us to open the song books. Again I was thrown through a loop as I picked up the book held it in front of me. I couldn't read the gold lettering that was obviously Hebrew, but just before I opened it to find my page number, I realized there was a bit of English written just above the Hebrew in smaller letters... and it was up-side-down. I imagine I was a funny sight to see, blinking a few times as the realization sunk in that I was in fact holding the book up-side-down, and that Hebrew is read from right to left. My roommate was laughing at me but I think I corrected the issue before anyone else noticed.

We must have spent the next 20-30 minutes reading and singing in Hebrew. We seriously went all the way through page 61, only skipping every one or two pages. The music was fantastic, not because of performance but the melodies were just magical and haunting, and really made me want to move! I actually had to look around to see if anyone else was tapping a foot or dancing in their chairs, and I let loose a little when I found that they were! Twice in the songs my name came up! I know Sarah is a name from the Old Testament, but it was cool to see how they kept referring back to their ancestors. At times that seemed completely random to me, although I'm sure they were not, people kept doing this little pop bow thing. Where they would bend their knees, bow, and stand straight back up all in the matter of half a second.

The woman leading it was speaking so fast, it was almost like she was trying to beat the whole room full of people to the end, and sometimes would skip to another page without telling us. Even if I did speak Hebrew, or understand what she was saying, I don't think I could have ever followed her.

I was impressed by my roommate, who I didn't think was a practicing Jew, because she was singing and chanting along with everyone else. Later she told me that she remembered most of the songs from Jewish school, and that she in fact surprised herself with how much Hebrew she could still read and understand.

As impressed as I was with her, I think one of the particularly old, and particularly bearded men across the aisle from us was just as unimpressed with me. He had one of those enormous booming voices that drowned out the other men in the room as they sang and spoke, and when it got particularly loud and stayed that way, I glanced over to notice he was staring straight at me. I'm pretty sure he understood that I am not a regular Temple goer. I looked over at Carla's book as if I had lost my spot and needed help, but he kept staring. I believe this was the uncomfortable feeling we were supposed to experience through this class project...

I loved the music, and following along with the English translation (Hallelujah) but was still relieved when it was over, because my bearded friend lost interest. The short "sermon" type talk, which has a Jewish name that I can't remember, was really good. The theme really resonated with the songs, as it was all about "remembering who we are as a people". He spoke about Moses leading the people out of Israel (took a long time to figure this out because he was calling him Mosha) and how the tribe of Caleb was the first to step into the sea, for Moses to part it. He said that as descendants of the tribe of Caleb, Jews are the chosen people, and should always put their best foot forward as well, in traffic, in arguments, at work, etc. It was a clever association, and I was again struck by the importance of ancestors and remembering, and how these values lead to such a strong sense of community.

At the end, they served desserts and coffee in the memory of a member who had passed recently. I guess its usually just dinner type food, but this lady apparently had a big sweet tooth. As do I! The foods and desserts were some of the best I've ever had. Some of it was cultural like the rugala (delish!) and some was not like the strawberry (and blueberry and raspberry and banana and kiwi) shortcake. (also delish!) They even had brie cheese and matzoh bread, and I embarrassed myself for going back for not only seconds, but thirds.

The whole experience was fantastic and everyone, with the exception of old bearded man, was very friendly, and I would really like to go back and learn more!