Two Little Black Girls In Synagogue
Picture two little black girls getting their praise on in Synagogue on a Friday night.
My friend and I had both taken the same Religion in Philadelphia class, which required us to visit churches and experience different religions.
This led us on an adventure to an extremely large, Jewish Synagogue in Philadelphia.
Upon walking into the Synagogue, we clearly didn’t know how to act. Everyone was saying Shabbat Shalom, and we were awkwardly waving hello to the confused members.
As we tried blending in the back, we thought it would be a good idea to open the prayer book and follow along with the service as quietly as possible. However, the service begins in the back of the book, and not the front.
The majority of the service is sung in Hebrew – a language we knew nothing about. We struggled for a good twenty minutes to pronounce the words, until we finally gave up.
We messed up every bow, we stood as everyone kneeled, and we almost touched the Torah with our bare hands, instead of the book.
Clearly, we stuck out like sore thumbs to say the least. Everybody was looking at us like we were crazy – probably because we are.
I wish that more people would get out and experience different religions. Even if you’re not a religious person, you can still take so much from the experience, and see what life is like from another perspective.
I’m a firm believer that there would be less discrimination and racial tension in the world, if people were more open to experiencing different cultures.
In the African American Church, there is a lot of talk about civil rights, the Black Lives Matter Movement, the Philadelphia school system, and other problems facing the African American community.
I was surprised to learn that the Jewish Church does the same thing. Their community discussed the problems in Israel, the two-state solution, and the killing of their Jewish brothers and sisters.
All of the “competing” cultures in today’s society really have more in common than we think.
My cheesy public service announcement for the day is to get out and experience a different culture because it will open your eyes, and give you a new outlook.