Hillel Center Assignment

For this assignment, I went to the Ohio State Hillel Center. The Hillel Center, while close to campus, was rather hard to get to due to the construction in the area. The building is not one that I would assume was a religious one, as there were no religious markers on the exterior of the building. In the foyer of the Hillel Center, there is a table in which the candles that symbolized the beginning of the Shabbat ceremony sat on. Around the table sat many pieces of informational literature explaining the rituals of the ceremony as well as contact cards for the rabbi and other people who worked there. The pieces of literature explained the significance of the lighting of the candles, the blessing of the bread during dinner, and Kiddush. There was also a bulletin board where anyone could post information about gatherings (religious or not) and inviting anyone to come. The congregants of the Hillel Center generally dressed in what some would call “Sunday best,” or on the dressier side of everyday clothing. Both the men and the women were dressed rather conservatively; most wore long pants and long sleeves. It was unclear to me if it was due to the Jewish culture and what is considered acceptable to wear to Shabbat services or if it was weather related. Most of the men wore yarmulkes; some had …show more content…
I went to the Conservative one, which was entirely in Hebrew. The prayers were read by Ohio State students, and at the end of the service, any student interested in reading prayers in an upcoming service were encouraged to express their interest. Throughout the services, there were many ways to see differences in practice of faith, even within the same denomination. While praying, some turned to face east, the direction of the Temple of Jerusalem, while some stood facing forward; other times, some performed a bowing action while reciting prayers, while others stood