Love in All the Wrong Places
This past Friday I had the opportunity to visit a synagogue for the first time of my life. It wasn’t as Orthodox as what I might have liked, but it was Jewish through and through. The invitation was given to the college by Rabbi Moshe who teaches my Rabbinical Thought and Literature class. This is his home synagogue along with another professor from JUC. We arrived at the synagogue a little before 5pm and entered into a rectangular room which initially appeared that only ¾ of the room would be used. In the front of the synagogue there was a large and elegant cabinet with a curtain hiding its contents. There were white plastic chairs along the perimeter of the room in three sections. One on each side, then another towards the back that faced the cabinet and seemed to section off the last ¼ of the room which was nothing but open space.

The service began with a welcoming to all of the JUC students and was followed by singing Psalms and Jewish prayers in Hebrew for the next half hour or so. I adore listening to songs in Hebrew. Whenever I pray at the Western Wall I always end up flocking towards the Rabbi singing the Hebrew Scrolls. The beauty of it is moving and refreshing to me. After the singing was over everyone in the room started stacking all of the chairs and I raised an eyebrow in wonder of what was going to happen next.

It just so happened that this particular Shabbat was the Celebration of the Scrolls, which consisted of praising and singing to GOD for His giving of the Hebrew Bible. Synagogues all over the world are on the same basic calendar. The Torah readings for the week and the holidays are all practiced at the same time in every synagogue. After the chairs were moved we all stood and faced the cabinet in the front of the room. Then some men from the congregation opened the curtain and pulled out the scrolls.

That is when things really started hopping…

For the next two and a half hours the congregation danced in the unused ¼ of the room singing and praising GOD. They danced around in a circle, often having a circle inside of another rotating in separate directions with the scrolls in the center. There were seven “rounds” of dancing with the last round taking place outside. In between each round, was a little breathing break which consisted of a member of the synagogue praying underneath a prayer shawl.

Well, as it appeared the planets must have aligned and there must have been just enough Jewishness in the air, for my Caucasian Gentile self busted out a couple of Jewish jigs. It was during the second round that Rabbi Moshe grabbed and pulled me into the rotating dancing circle. Generally I do everything within my being to get out of having to dance. I can’t stand it. I only dance in front of the bathroom mirror with the door shut and locked. Even then I feel embarrassed and look around to see if someone is watching. However, who can resist Rabbi Moshe who is a direct descendant of Aaron?

The happiness and joy of the people filled the room and when I joined in I couldn’t get the smile off of my face. By the end of the service my face was sore from smiling so much. I joined in on my own free will during the seventh round. After the dancing was complete we entered the synagogue and the Rabbi read a section of the scriptures from the scrolls.

It was an experience that was completely new to me…

Which is sad when you think about it…

Why don’t we do this at my church at home? The general consensus of the "christian church", from my understanding, is this: our beliefs are right and is what is true; if you believe anything different than what we do then you are wrong and believe in lies. I find it remarkable that a church that is “right” and “true” often appears to be dull and complacent. And that a religious group that is often labeled “religious” and “legalistic” has more passion and love for GOD than what I have ever seen in the members of a “right” church.

Interesting isn’t it…?