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Religious Communication: Spring '08 Religious Service #2 Attendance
Religious Service #2: Jewish Faith Tradition Institution: Congregation Ahavath-Achim When: Saturday, April 12, 8:30am Location: 3501 South Donnybrook, Tyler, TX MapQuest Directions: Click here Contact: Rabbi Learner at 903.561.4284 Evaluation Question: How did rhetoric work to constitute establish religious identity/solidarity for this particular religious community? Shalom [from] Barbara Forzano : "Upon entering the synagogue, you might be greeted with one of two greetings ... either "good Shabbos" or "Shabbat Shalom," along with a handshake. These are both typical greetings and both are wishes that you have a good and peaceful Shabbat. When you enter the synagogue, you will see a tree on the front wall with brass leaves. This is our Tree of Life, which is used to honor people or commemorate events. It serves as a way to acknowledge others and is a fundraiser for the synagogue. The Torah is also called the Tree of Life and the saying above the tree on our front wall refers to the Torah.
As you walk down the hall to the right
of the entrance, you will see, on your left, yahrzeit boards. These
boards are used to remember our loved ones who have passed away and
also serve as a fundraiser. The plaques have the person's name and
date of death in both English and Hebrew and the date reflects both
the Gregorian and Hebrew calendar dates. At our Friday evening
service, the list of people who have passed away during the coming
week is read. If those people have a Yahrzeit plaque, the light
next to their name will be turned on and left on until the following
Friday. If you will notice, the first panel has a list of poeple
who have the same date of death. These are all family members who
perished in the Holocaust. In services, when you hear the leader
ask those who are saying the Mourner's Kaddish to stand, this is
when the relatives of those people on the list will stand and recite
a special prayer. This is recited twice during the Saturday
service. For the Mourner's Kaddish to be recited there must be 10
adult Jews in attendance.
At the far end of the hall we have a six
branched menorah that commemorates the six million Jews who perished
in the Holocaust. This menorah remains lighted at all times.
On your right is the entrance to the
sanctuary. To the left of the entrance will be the booklets that
you will need for services, along with an 'order of services'
sheet. You will each need 2 booklets and the extra services sheet.
The services sheet refers to the black prayerbook, called a Siddur.
The other book is a Chumash and contains the contents of the Torah,
the five books of Moses, along with writings of the Prophets. To
the right of the sanctuary entrance is a bin with several kippahs or
yarmulkes, which are to be worn by all males while they are in the
synagogue. These are worn to show respect or reverance for God. To
the right of the bin is a cupboard. This holds the tallits, that
are worn by adult Jews. All adult male Jews are commanded to wear
one and it is an option for Jewish females.
Once in the sanctuary, you will see
stained glass windows. They were donated by different families
several years ago and commemorate our major holidays, along
with Shabbat and the Messianic Era. The front of the sanctuary is
called the Bimah and the table on the left side is called the Bimah
table and this is where the Torah scroll will be opened and read
during services.
The ark is in the middle of the wall and
the doors are decorated with Jewish symbols, as well as a cityscape
of Jerusalem. The ark contains the Torah scrolls and you will need
to stand whenever the doors and curtains are opened. The Torah
contains the holy word of God and we stand in its presence, out of
love and respect. Once the scroll is seated, you will be instructed
to sit down. We have 5 scrolls and each one is covered with a cloth
cover and adorned with a silver breastplate and crown. When the
Torah is taken out for the reading, it is carried around the
synagogue in a procession, so that all the worshippers have a chance
to kiss the Torah, which is another gesture of love and respect.
When the Torah is returned to the ark, the procession goes in the
opposite direction from when it was removed and gives the
worshippers a final chance to kiss the Torah, before it is put
away until the next Shabbat.
Above the ark is the Ner Tamid, eternal
light, which remains lighted at all times. Our sages interpreted
the Ner Tamid as a symbol of God's eternal and imminent Presence in
our communities and in our lives. It is also related to the
constantly burning incense at the altar in front of the original
ark.
To the right of the ark is a seven
branched menorah, which is described in the Torah. The ark door
decoration also contains a seven branched menorah. This depiction
is taken from the menorah in Jerusalem and more accurately follows
the description from the Torah.
To the left of the ark is a saying in
Hebrew. The translation is "know before whom you stand."
At the end of our service, we go into
the social hall and do a prayer over wine or grape juice, called
Kiddush, which sanctifies the Shabbat. We are commanded to remember
Shabbat; but remembering means much more than merely not forgetting
to observe Shabbat. It also means to remember the significance of
Shabbat, both as a commemoration of creation and as a commemoration
of our freedom from slavery in Egypt. Below is the blessing."
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