I've been going to classes at Knesset Israel, which is the synagogue here in Pittsfield, where I'm staying for the summer. They're hour-and-a-half classes once per week, and the series is called "An Introduction to Judaism," or, as Ari calls it "Jew Class 101." So far I've only been able to sit in for two weeks, both of which focused on prayer; the first on prayer as a concept in Judaism and the second on the Conservative prayer book and it's use at this particular synagogue.
I've been interested in Judaism since I knew what it was, which, living in Minnesota, probably the most homogeneously Lutheran place in the country, wasn't until I was about 10 and saw "The Prince of Egypt." There were a couple of songs with bits sung in Hebrew, and I couldn't get over what a beautiful language it was. Flash forward to last year, and I had a total of two Jewish friends, both of whom were at college and somewhat disconnected from their family and their faith, but who still answered many of my questions. Then, about six months ago, I met Ari, and I promptly flooded her with questions about everything, which she graciously answered.
I'm fascinated by the similarities and differences in different religious paths, and especially the commonalities shared by the "people of the book;" Christians, Jews, and Muslims. The more I learn about Christianity and the state of the world during the formation of the early church, the more sure I am that one can't fully understand Christianity without understanding, at least in part, Jewish faith, life, and teachings. And it's with that intention that I'm soaking up as much as I can about all things Jewish while I'm here, in a place with a thriving Jewish community.
The first thing I learned was that, like in Christianity, there are several distinct branches of Judaism with different teachings about different issues, and with somewhat different histories. Just as Luther broke from the Catholic church during the reformation, and the tree began branching out from there, Judaism split during the 19th century in Europe into four separate branches; Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, and Reconstructionist. I won't get into these branches too much, except to say that it was explained to me this way; that Orthodox Jews are the most conservative and adhere most strictly to biblical law, Conservative Jews hold to most of the same teachings, but take everything much less literally (to me, Conservative Jews are to Orthodox Jews as Lutherans are to Catholics), and Reform Jews differ from the first two in that they don't believe Jewish laws taken from the bible to be binding, but they still retain the same values and ethics. I honestly can't say much about Reconstructionist Jews, because I don't know much about them, except that they seem to be more concerned with the preservation of Jewish heritage and culture than religion itself.
Knesset Israel, where I've been taking classes, is a Conservative synagogue, and everyone who's been nice enough to put up with my incessant questioning has made sure that I know that they can only answer for themselves, and to some extent for their synagogue, and for their branch of Judaism, and just as if I asked a Catholic and a Lutheran to explain the Eucharist, there will be different answers if I ask an Orthodox Jew and a Conservative Jew to explain the origin of the Torah.
So anyway, this has been an introduction to my introduction, and I hope to write another post soon about the two classes I've sat in on, and the Hebrew classes I start tomorrow! I've been learning Hebrew on my own for about two months now, but I'm still not really past learning the alphabet (or aleph-bet, as it's called in Hebrew!). Wish me luck, and I'll report back soon!
I've been interested in Judaism since I knew what it was, which, living in Minnesota, probably the most homogeneously Lutheran place in the country, wasn't until I was about 10 and saw "The Prince of Egypt." There were a couple of songs with bits sung in Hebrew, and I couldn't get over what a beautiful language it was. Flash forward to last year, and I had a total of two Jewish friends, both of whom were at college and somewhat disconnected from their family and their faith, but who still answered many of my questions. Then, about six months ago, I met Ari, and I promptly flooded her with questions about everything, which she graciously answered.
I'm fascinated by the similarities and differences in different religious paths, and especially the commonalities shared by the "people of the book;" Christians, Jews, and Muslims. The more I learn about Christianity and the state of the world during the formation of the early church, the more sure I am that one can't fully understand Christianity without understanding, at least in part, Jewish faith, life, and teachings. And it's with that intention that I'm soaking up as much as I can about all things Jewish while I'm here, in a place with a thriving Jewish community.
The first thing I learned was that, like in Christianity, there are several distinct branches of Judaism with different teachings about different issues, and with somewhat different histories. Just as Luther broke from the Catholic church during the reformation, and the tree began branching out from there, Judaism split during the 19th century in Europe into four separate branches; Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, and Reconstructionist. I won't get into these branches too much, except to say that it was explained to me this way; that Orthodox Jews are the most conservative and adhere most strictly to biblical law, Conservative Jews hold to most of the same teachings, but take everything much less literally (to me, Conservative Jews are to Orthodox Jews as Lutherans are to Catholics), and Reform Jews differ from the first two in that they don't believe Jewish laws taken from the bible to be binding, but they still retain the same values and ethics. I honestly can't say much about Reconstructionist Jews, because I don't know much about them, except that they seem to be more concerned with the preservation of Jewish heritage and culture than religion itself.
Knesset Israel, where I've been taking classes, is a Conservative synagogue, and everyone who's been nice enough to put up with my incessant questioning has made sure that I know that they can only answer for themselves, and to some extent for their synagogue, and for their branch of Judaism, and just as if I asked a Catholic and a Lutheran to explain the Eucharist, there will be different answers if I ask an Orthodox Jew and a Conservative Jew to explain the origin of the Torah.
So anyway, this has been an introduction to my introduction, and I hope to write another post soon about the two classes I've sat in on, and the Hebrew classes I start tomorrow! I've been learning Hebrew on my own for about two months now, but I'm still not really past learning the alphabet (or aleph-bet, as it's called in Hebrew!). Wish me luck, and I'll report back soon!
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