Bar Mitzvah
We went to our first bar mitzvah today. The third owner of Michael's company is Jewish and his oldest son just turned 13, so today was the day!
I was told ahead of time to dress up, wear dark/modest colors, and the ceremony will be 2 and a half hours and in Hebrew. I was also told that the men and women would sit separately. I was nervous I would be bored since I don't speak/read Hebrew, but they made every effort to translate everything and include those of us who don't know the language. The prayer/praise books had Hebrew on one side and English on the other so we could read in English what was being read/sung/recited in Hebrew at the time. Also, the program for the day explained why the rabbi rocks back and forth while he prays, what the bar mitzvah is for, and so on. It was very helpful!
The three hour ceremony had about 30 minutes of speeches from the boy, the boy's mother, the rabbi. The rest was Hebrew and explaining in English what they're doing and why.
Here's what I learned:
* First of all, it was absolutely beautiful. The love in the room was palpable.
* I learned the reason they do this is not only celebrating the boy entering manhood, which is what I knew going into it, but now I know exactly what that means. He has now graduated from Hebrew school, which he's been in since he was little, but now he is an adult member of the congregation and holds a lot of responsibility. He has chosen his religion and is to go into the world and use what he's learned to be God's light. He's no longer a child, but has the responsibility of an adult.
* The ceremony, in Hebrew, was mostly reciting the Psalms in a certain order. In my Bible studies I've learned so much about what Jewish tradition was back when the Bible was written and getting a glimpse of that was so amazing.
* So, about 2 and a half hours of praise through reciting Psalms in Hebrew, the language it was written in. It was so, so cool to hear the rhyming, the sing-song poetic way it was written, that loses so much in the English translation. Very cool.
* When they brought the Torah out, it was amazing. It stayed hidden in a cabinet they called the "Ark," which I assumed was a reference to the Ark of the Covenant. The Torah, which is in Hebrew, written on scrolls was so cool. I wish Kara could have seen it! She was just asking me if everyone had their own Bibles way back when and I explained to her that it was on scrolls.
I'm sure there was more, but that is all I can think of right now. :-) What a great experience!
I was told ahead of time to dress up, wear dark/modest colors, and the ceremony will be 2 and a half hours and in Hebrew. I was also told that the men and women would sit separately. I was nervous I would be bored since I don't speak/read Hebrew, but they made every effort to translate everything and include those of us who don't know the language. The prayer/praise books had Hebrew on one side and English on the other so we could read in English what was being read/sung/recited in Hebrew at the time. Also, the program for the day explained why the rabbi rocks back and forth while he prays, what the bar mitzvah is for, and so on. It was very helpful!
The three hour ceremony had about 30 minutes of speeches from the boy, the boy's mother, the rabbi. The rest was Hebrew and explaining in English what they're doing and why.
Here's what I learned:
* First of all, it was absolutely beautiful. The love in the room was palpable.
* I learned the reason they do this is not only celebrating the boy entering manhood, which is what I knew going into it, but now I know exactly what that means. He has now graduated from Hebrew school, which he's been in since he was little, but now he is an adult member of the congregation and holds a lot of responsibility. He has chosen his religion and is to go into the world and use what he's learned to be God's light. He's no longer a child, but has the responsibility of an adult.
* The ceremony, in Hebrew, was mostly reciting the Psalms in a certain order. In my Bible studies I've learned so much about what Jewish tradition was back when the Bible was written and getting a glimpse of that was so amazing.
* So, about 2 and a half hours of praise through reciting Psalms in Hebrew, the language it was written in. It was so, so cool to hear the rhyming, the sing-song poetic way it was written, that loses so much in the English translation. Very cool.
* When they brought the Torah out, it was amazing. It stayed hidden in a cabinet they called the "Ark," which I assumed was a reference to the Ark of the Covenant. The Torah, which is in Hebrew, written on scrolls was so cool. I wish Kara could have seen it! She was just asking me if everyone had their own Bibles way back when and I explained to her that it was on scrolls.
I'm sure there was more, but that is all I can think of right now. :-) What a great experience!
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