On October 22, 2018, the best Jewish History class, Kitat Kinneret, went to the Israel Museum. Shortly after most of us arrived by bus, we were shown the model of the Old City of Jerusalem. Afterwards, we walked inside the museum to look at the different customs relating to Life Cycles. Those Life Cycles were Birth, Marriage, and Death. For Birth, we looked at the double seat from Germany used during a circumcision. The seating was arranged where on the right side the baby was held by his godfather and the left seat was reserved for Elijah. For Marriage, we looked at a Huppah Stone from Germany that was used to break the glass at a wedding. For Death, we talked about a Chevra Kadisha. Chevra Kadisha was an organization of men and women that would sit with the deceased Jews until they are properly buried. Then, we roamed over to glance at another exhibit, which was the Illuminated Manuscripts. These manuscripts were extremely fascinating to look at. It was interesting to think of how old they were and how they were still in such good condition.
Once we finished viewing the manuscripts, we went over to each of the four different synagogues. This was my favorite part of the Israel Musuem tiyul. The first synagogue we learned about was the Horb Synagogue. The Horb Synagogue was from Germany and made out of wood covered in paintings and scriptures. The next synagogue we were taught about was one that was originally located in India. The Kadavumbagam synagogue had beautiful wooden carvings on the ark, which held a Sephardic torah. The third synagogue we looked at was the Vittorio Veneto Synagogue from Italy. This synagogue was the most elegant and decorative out of the four. The Tzedek ve-Shalom Synagogue was the last and my favorite synagogue that we went in. The fourth synagogue was initially located in Suriname, formally known as Dutch Guiana. This synagogue was very simplistic with little decoration and actually had sand on the floor for acoustic reasons. Although, the synagogues were all unique in their own way, they each had an ark for the torah and Hebrew scripture. That showed how every synagogue is connected even in all the different parts of the world.
What was the most interesting thing you saw from Jewish life around the world?
The double seat used for circumcisions
Horb Synagogue from Germany
Kadavumbagam Synagogue from India
Vittorio Veneto Synagogue from Italy
Learning about the Tzedek ve-Shalom Synagogue from Suriname
I think that the most interesting thing we saw was either the Sukkah made of wood or all of the Chanukiyot from all over the world and how each of them were so different yet very much the same.
ReplyDeleteI think the most interesting thing I saw was how the synagogues adapted their style to fit the culture of place they were living. I especially liked the synagogue with sand on the floors to stop noise from wooden shoes.
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