I decided to attend the Jewish temple Shalom during Saturday morning service for my cultural field assignment. I chose this event because I feel a student’s religion is also important to understand just as much as their language. Understanding another religion other than a religion that I practice will help me connect with students of other faiths. I am not very familiar with the Jewish faith nor do I know a lot of people who practice Judaism. That is why I chose this cultural event to observe and witness. The temple that I visited is located in down town Colorado Springs near the US Olympic Training Facility. I contacted the temple prior to visiting to get permission to observe their service and customs. I was granted my request to observe
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I am myself not a very religious person. I do consider my self a Christian, but not a devolt Christian. I came in with an open mind and without bias. I truly wanted to observe and understand a Jewish service. I did not think it was hard to follow along. Majority of the Hebrew was translated. However, even after this service I do not remember a single word Hebrew that was spoken. It was a very hard language to follow and even harder to read. Reading from right to left in Hebrew did throw me for a loss. It was very hard for me to make that transition. In order to follow along with the service I mostly read from the English translation. From this experience I did learn that listening and observing is not the best way for me to learn another language. I found my self really not paying attention but was more occupied looking around Sanctuary and other people than actually paying attention to what was being said. With a limited religious background that I have, I did not see any major differences from a Jewish service compared to a Christian service. There was a lot more getting up and knelling than what I was used to from experiences in a Christian setting. I did choose attend the conservative service in order to see a more traditional side of the Jewish faith. I did not see anything that stood out to me that I could share. What I can share is that attending this service was interesting but not very informative. However this observation has peaked my interest to learn more and hopefully in time I can do
I am myself not a very religious person. I do consider my self a Christian, but not a devolt Christian. I came in with an open mind and without bias. I truly wanted to observe and understand a Jewish service. I did not think it was hard to follow along. Majority of the Hebrew was translated. However, even after this service I do not remember a single word Hebrew that was spoken. It was a very hard language to follow and even harder to read. Reading from right to left in Hebrew did throw me for a loss. It was very hard for me to make that transition. In order to follow along with the service I mostly read from the English translation. From this experience I did learn that listening and observing is not the best way for me to learn another language. I found my self really not paying attention but was more occupied looking around Sanctuary and other people than actually paying attention to what was being said. With a limited religious background that I have, I did not see any major differences from a Jewish service compared to a Christian service. There was a lot more getting up and knelling than what I was used to from experiences in a Christian setting. I did choose attend the conservative service in order to see a more traditional side of the Jewish faith. I did not see anything that stood out to me that I could share. What I can share is that attending this service was interesting but not very informative. However this observation has peaked my interest to learn more and hopefully in time I can do