Hebrew

I don’t really know how many of you have ever been to a Kabbalat Shabbat service. For those of you that don’t know, it’s the religious service that takes place on Friday nights to begin the Sabbath for the Jewish people. Because of work, I don’t get to go to services as much as I would like, but I usually make Friday nights (Kabbalat Shabbat) a few times a month. At orthodox synagogues the entire service is performed in traditional Hebrew. Hebrew is not, in all truth, a language that I speak. I can read it fairly well, but don’t have the abilities to speak it on a conversational level. In the arena of a religious service, however, that language is almost as comforting to me as a chocolate bar. It’s very hard for me to explain this.

Growing up, my grandmother spoke a great deal of Yiddish to me, but with most of her peers she spoke Hebrew or German. I was exposed to quite a bit of all of these while growing up. I’m not by any means a very “religious” Jew in that I am not horribly active in the community. But while being at Shabbat services, I am reminded of home and really who I am as a person. That being said, being Jewish and all that comes along with it is very much a part of my “identity.” It isn’t something that I consciously do or act upon at work or school. I say prayers in Hebrew under my breath before I eat and a have a mezuzah on my door (if anyone has questions, let me know), but being Jewish doesn’t consume every act that I do in the same way it does for some other people. It’s almost the silent partner in a company that weighs in on decisions without every really saying anything. In the realm of the synagogue while I am surrounded by the singing and chanting of Hebrew, I am allowed to “do” Jew. I have found that when I attend Conservative or Reform synagogues that share English and Hebrew, I have a completely different, more detached, experience.

(Sorry about the late post! I had a difficult time with my internet. I really wanted to respond to question four, but I didn't even know where to start. I was also afraid that if I started talking about it, I might never stop. Is this something we will talk about more in class?)

BethAKnee