Different Traditions

Evening folks. Tonight we'll hit on a topic of a different nature that you're generally accustom to reading on my blog (and yes, I know...the topics are, if nothing else, random). Today I went to my cousin's bat mitzvah (I think that's how it's spelled, if not you have my apologies). For those of you who don't know, when Jewish boys and girls "come of age" in their faith they have a special service wherein various members of the congregation (is it called a congregation?) bless the person and they become an adult in the church/faith. This ceremony is known as a bar mitzvah for boys and a bat mitzvah for girls; today I went to my cousin's bat mitzvah.

Being raised a Christian, and going on to become a self-proclaimed Agnostic (for the most part anyway), I'm not what you'd consider well-versed in the ways of the Jewish faith. I don't know much of their history, nor their rituals, and I'm certainly not what you'd consider at all familiar with the Hebrew language. No, instead I went to show support for my family member. The whole process was, despite being unnecessarily long and at times confusing, rather interesting. I never realized how much a Jewish service differed from a Christian one. Everything is highly ritualized, as it is in the Church (the "Church" meaning all of Christianity, not just Catholicism), but they don't really talk very much; they sing all of their prayers and blessings. 

As I said, the whole experience was very interesting. The ceremony and party lasted for most of the day (the actual ceremony started at 930 and I didn't leave to come back to my parents' house until nearly 9pm) which wasn't what I'd expected at all. I thought the ceremony would be an hour or so, then brunch after for an hour, and then I'd be back here by noon at the latest, giving me plenty of time to do some homework and study for the test I have on Tuesday.

In any case, if you ever get the opportunity to attend such an event, I'd strongly encourage you to go...it's a very different, interesting process. You'll no doubt get lost a few times, unless you've been to one before or know the language/customs, but it's neat to see a 14 year old person reading from the Torah as well as the Rabbi...at least I was impressed.

And with that, I take my leave. It's been a long day, and my bed is calling me - a call that I'm not willing to resist. 

Be well and go experience new things.

Until next time,

J