Temple Beth El Synagogue

The Synagogue in Madison was not what I was expecting. I'm not sure precisely what I expected, but my experience there definitely broke some stereotypes for me and affirmed others.

One of the most interesting parts of the temple, to me, was how plainly it was decorated and the simple architecture of the meeting room. All Jewish synagogues are supposed to have certain characteristics: natural lighting, be directed towards the east, and contain a space behind a curtain for an "ark" with Torah scrolls inside it.

The ceiling had a skylight with a geometric pattern laid into it, where many 6-pointed stars could be seen. Our tour guide, Beth, said he son loved to count how many stars he could find in the skylight. For whatever reason, I thought the synagogue would be more ornately decorated or at least have more elements to it than simply the ark with the Torah, a podium, and a table on which to read the Torah scrolls.

Even though the synagogue was decorated relatively simply compared to the Dyersville Basilica, there were some elements that contained some flair and artistic interpretation. The curtains in front of the ark were decorated with crests of the 12 tribes of Israel: Joseph's, and all of his 11 brothers'. The Torah scrolls themselves were also decorated with covers and silver ornaments as signs of respect. I didn't expect these to be ornamented in any way like this, since I assumed that would be detracting from them in some way. However, they do need to be protected because they are so valuable! Each Torah scroll cost between $15,000 and $30,000.

Even though the design of the synagogue and the decorations there were not what I was expecting, Beth's description of Jewish ceremonies were basically what I had heard from other sources. Their sabbath service lasts at least 3 hours long and is performed completely in Hebrew. Visitors are always welcome, but they will never be asked to participate or convert to Judaism by one of the synagogue's members. This struck me as interesting because it seems like Judaism isn't a very popular religion and they probably need more members. On the other hand, converting to Judaism is a long, lengthy process and I'm not sure it would necessarily be encouraged for people who were not of "Jewish" descent.

One of the students asked who was considered "Jewish," and Beth replied anyone who is descended from the Biblical Abraham, but they may not be practicing. Even in Madison, there is a large group of "Jews" who only come to synagogue on the three holiest days of the year, the two days of Rosh Hashana, and on Yom Kippur. Beth said they normally have about 75-100 people at a Sabbath service, but on those days they can reach 1,000 people in attendance. I think this shows that even Jews, who the rest of the world might consider to be more devoted to their religion or at least have more of an obligation to practice it, can be "lazy" in the worship too, (like Christians that only go to church on Easter and Christmas.)

When visiting their synagogue's kitchen, it seemed easier to understand why people say Jewish life is all about rules. For them, however, all of the rules are like the walls holding their lives together. If you break one or two, eventually they'll all fall away.

Keeping kosher looks like a 24/7 job. As a college student living on my own, it's tough just to throw a meal together some days. Having to put that much thought into what I could or couldn't eat, whether at home or in public, would be extremely hard. I couldn't do it!

To sum up, I learned a lot during our visit to the synagogue. I thought Beth did a wonderful job explaining many little aspects of life that we wondered about, like how the children reacted to certain things. Those little details are often the most intriguing.