Introduction to Congregation Beth Israel and Judaism
Judaism is an Abrahamic religion that was founded over 3500 years ago in the Middle East. Judaism revolves around the belief that there is a single God who created the world and that he proclaimed a set of 613 laws to Moses that the religions followers most uphold through out their day to day lives. There are 3 sections of Judaism; Orthodox, Conservative and Reform. The sections differ in the severity to which they follow and uphold the 613 laws. The Jewish people believe that the torah, which is the 5 books of Moses, is the tree of life. Along side the Torah, the Jewish people also have the Tanakh which is a book of Hebrew scriptures.Jewish people worship in a Synagogue, which is led by a Rabbi. The Rabbi is a teacher in the peoples eyes and has learned from both the Torah and the Tanakh. Community life is incredibly important within the Synagogue and members often gather to celebrate the different Jewish holidays and to participate in different rituals.
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Congregation Beth IsraelJewish Families have resided in Charlottesville since the late 18th Century. The foundations for Congregation Beth Israel were laid in 1882. In 1904,The government purchased the property that would be used for a post office and the congregation was moved piece by piece to its current location on Jefferson Street. The congregation is currently led by Rabbi Alexander and Rabbi Tom. The congregation has a rich community life, with members celebrating holidays and special occasions together. The Synagogue runs a small pre school which encourages the many teachings of Judaism from a young age. The Pre schoolers participate in a shabbat service every Friday and are exposed to different traditions through child-friendly activities. Once the adolescent members of CBI have completed their torah study, they have a bar or bat mitzvah. The Bar or Bat Mitzvah happens at age 13 and signifies the adolescent becoming a man. It is the first time they are allowed to read from the Torah at the bema in front of their congregation. This is a joyous occasion for all involved that is celebrated by dancing and the community coming together to honor the mitzvah. The vibrant community life of CBI is representative of the joy within the Jewish Tradition that comes from understanding the significance of community.
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What We Did
The day we spent at Congregation Beth Israel was filled with rich learning experiences regarding the vibrant and deep traditions of the Jewish faith. We started our day by learning about different religious symbols that are used during holidays like Shabbat and Hanukkah. As we walked up to our next destination, we briefly viewed the pre schoolers participating in their shabbat rituals which was adorable and showed how passionate the congregation members are from a young age. We reached our intended destination, a small hallway containing different religious relics. We held and examined copies of the Torah as well as learning about Tallits, prayer shawls that are used when a Jewish person is reading the torah at the bema. We also heard tales about the 613 laws, an interesting fact we learned is that the pomegranate, an important fruit in the Jewish faith has 613 seeds. We then entered the main sanctuary, for a Torah text study. We got to follow the typical service process, using the Yad instead of our fingers to follow along and both singing and reading sections of the Torah. We got to admire the intricately designed stained glass windows which portrayed different symbols of Judaism. After that we went to a small room and were able to ask Rabbi Tom questions. This was a great opportunity as it gave us all a chance to garner a deeper understanding of our previous studies regarding Judaism. We then broke for lunch. After our lunch we returned and baked challah. We got to braid the bread ourselves, and once it came out of the oven we participated in a model of a typical shabbat ceremony in a Jewish household. We then got to dance the hora with Haya, a pre school teacher. That was a highlight for many as the dancing was joyous and spirited.
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Religious Significance behind our trip
Shabbat is a Jewish tradition that occurs every Friday. Shabbat is hebrew word meaning rest and the word for it in english is Sabbath. Shabbat is the day of rest, when God created the earth he set apart the 7th day for rest. Shabbat begins at sundown on Friday and ends on sundown Saturday. At sundown, Jewish families must come together to celebrate the day of rest. They have a feast, filled with challah and wine. It is a day where they can put aside the business and stress of their lives to come together and enjoy being in each others company. Shabbat is also a day where the Jewish people can take time to connect with God instead of being concerned about outside troubles.
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During the first part of our trip, we learned about the Jewish holiday, Hanukkah. Hanukkah celebrates the oil burning in the temple after the maccabian revolt. After the maccabees reclaimed the temple, their was a small amount of oil that burned for eight days. A menorah, the candle holder contains 9 candles. The 9th candle is in the middle and is used to light the others. The holiday lasts 8 days and jewish children get a present on every day.
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Citations:
"What Is the Difference Between a Hanukkah and a Menorah? » Hanukkah Fun." Hanukkah Fun. N.p., 04 Dec. 2011. Web. 15 Dec. 2015.
"Judaism 101: Shabbat." Judaism 101: Shabbat. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Dec. 2015.
BBC News. BBC, n.d. Web. 14 Dec. 2015.
Jewish Genealogy Society of Buffalo." The. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Dec. 2015.