Synagogue Site Visit

Synagogue Site Visit For my site visit I had stumbled upon Congregation Beth Shalom, a Conservative Jewish synagogue located in downtown Atlanta. Some services Beth Shalom offers are a Jewish educational experience for children from pre-k to 7th grade, as well as teaching adults Hebrew, and how to chant. I was told that the starting Saturday service begins at approximately 9:30am and ends at 12:30pm. The first thing I noticed upon arriving at about 9:26am was that there were about 4 cars parked in the lot, which I found to be interesting as I was expecting a crowd. As I proceeded to enter the synagogue, I noticed the large Star of David mounted atop the building which I later found out to be the main room in which the Rabbi spoke. When I entered the synagogue there was a small gathering of people around a table which I made my way to. The first gentleman who stepped out to greet me was Rabbi Mark Zimmerman; he welcomed me and told me I was more than welcome to observe the service. Rabbi Zimmerman explained to me that the first hour would be leyn, or chanting in Hebrew, and the actual service that was in English would not begin until approximately 10:30am. The Rabbi also explained that Conservative Judaism is going to involve a bit more Hebrew, but not quite as much as Orthodox Judaism. Another woman explained to me that men and women aren’t allowed to sit with each other in Orthodox Judaism. The synagogue also had the Hebrew translation sitting under nearly every English word in the building. The walls were also lined with display cases that contained items of holiday importance such as Dreidels and Menorahs for Hanukah. The synagogue auditorium particularly had a very large scroll in Hebrew that came from Europe many years ago, a reminder of the Jewish heritage.
I was informed to wear ‘casual business apparel’ and attempted to dress the part, so I wore khakis and a button down shirt. Little had I known that most of the men at this particular service would be