Brandon and I went on a date today while the kids went to the annual Festival of trees with their grandma. WE dropped the kids off at 10 and then spent the rest of the day with one another. But today's date was unlike a date most couples would go on. Today Brandon and I went to listen to a service at our local synagogue.
No, we are not Jewish. Brandon had never been to a service before, and the last time I went to a synagogue I was in the 6th grade. One of my dear friends (since 1st grade) is Jewish and she has been inviting us to attend service with her for sometime. Last night we decided that today would be the day.
We walked into a room with only a handful of elderly Jews and the Rabbi seemed shocked to see us. I'm guessing they don't get many visitors, yet we were warmly welcomed. The Room was separated into two sections, a lattice divider half way across the gathering room. Before we were allowed into the room Brandon was handed a kippah to wear over his head. A kippah is a skullcap- Jewish law requires men to cover their heads as a sign of respect and reverence for God when praying, studying Torah, saying a blessing or entering a synagogue. Then he was allowed in, and I was ushered through a door on the other side of the room with the women. Yes, we were sitting on separate sides of the divider for the duration of the service (2 1/2) hours.
The service was lead entirely in Hebrew, and Brandon and I followed along as Larry, My friend's step-father, gave us a translated Torah and songbook for us to read. He would call out page numbers occasionally for us to follow along. The songs were magical. It was as if we were transported to a different country for that hour of song. It was an hour that we were allowed to sit, and read the Old Testament Scriptures and prophets of praise for God.
My friends did end up showing up an hour into the service, and she was pleasantly shocked to see us. I did not tell her we were coming. We were then told (Yaffa Told me on the women's side, and Larry told Brandon on the men's side) that we may not get to read the Torah today as there were not enough men in attendance. There needed to be 13 men present to read the Torah, but they made an exception and would read if there were 10 Jewish men present. There were only 7. Men left, and walked to nearby Jewish home and knocked on the doors until they were indeed able to get 10 men to the service.
They read from Genesis, the Story of Jacob and Esau. And I was able to follow along with the translation and the acquired recollection of the story. (One I read just this morning for my own devotion. Coincidence? I think not.) I loved the Rabbi's parable telling after the reading though. The part of the story where Rebecca (Riffkah) tell Jacob to lie to his father, to deceive him into believing he was Esau in order to receive the blessing that Rebecca was foretold would belong to Jacob and Esau sold to Jacob for a bowl of lentil soup, was beautiful.
That in Deceiving Isaac into giving him the blessing he did what many of us do. We deceive ourself into getting what is rightfully ours. Rebecca could have shared the prophesy with Isaac, but she didn't. Jacob could have explained to his father that Esua sold him the birth right, but he didn't. Instead, he tried to get the blessing by blending in. Looking like the world on the outside but keeping the promise of God on the inside for fear of being rejected.
How many times do we come in contact with an opportunity to minister to others, telling them what God is and does in our own lives because we fear their rejection of the truth. How many times do we dress like, walk like, and talk like the world, because it is easier to blend in than to stand out for the Lord? Jacob was banished, had to run for his life afterwards, and as the rabbi preached it was because God was showing him that it is easier to be Godly apart from man (city) than near them. And God was not done working and wrestling with Jacob just yet.
It was a beautiful message and a wonderful experience, one we wish to repeat in the future. I love digging into the old testament (Torah) scriptures to learn about my faith's roots. And I love reading between the lines and seeing the symbolism of the Old Testament and the correlation to the New Testament.
One thing I have found myself struggling with in my Christian faith is a lack of strong, Christian Men. I marveled at the Jewish custom-if there were not enough men present then there was no service, rather than allowing that to happen the men frantically walked the neighborhood and called their Jewish brother practically dragging them to church. Talk about accountability! Man, what if Christians did that? I liked that the men were separate from the women, removing all distractions caused by sitting with the opposite sex and allowing the women to tend to the children without distracting the men from their worship. I liked the reverence that the men held for the word. Never once did I feel like a second class citizen as some feminist may interpret this. I felt respected. After the service when I went to shake the Rabbi's hand to thank him for welcoming us he clasped his hands and bowed, explaining that men and women do not touch on the Sabbath and the HE never touches anything that does not belonging to him, meaning that he was giving my husband respect in recognizing that I belonged to my husband as his wife. Beautiful. Just beautiful. (how many times have I swatted the back of a teenagers hand or head from showing too much PDA in service?!)
The reverence of God is something many, no most, Christian churches lack.
Many lessons today, and wonderful opportunity to spend time with my husband in the presence of the Lord.
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