Overview of Judaism

            As the founding faith of the Abrahamic religions, Judaism is very interesting and at times very complex. Coming from a Christian background, I am somewhat familiar with a few of the customs of the Jewish people because of the Old Testament; though there is much I did not know about them until I actually experienced a part of their culture myself.
             During this encounter I visited the synagogue Beth Shalom where I was openly welcomed and participated in what the Jewish people call a Shabbat. Shabbat means to cease or stop; this is in regards to the Sabbath that takes place from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday. The Sabbath is practiced as a Holy day in which the Jews refrain from any work related activities, it is normally spent with family at home resting and relaxing. While at the synagogue I was greeted by a few of the congregation members as well as Rabbi Torap, who is a female Rabbi which is not very popular in Judaism. It's unpopular because it is a fairly new path that Judaism has taken in order to adapt to modern times. The first thing I noticed when I walked in was the stage which had a wooden podium, from where Rabbi Torap spoke from. Also on the stage there were about seven or eight chairs which lined the back of the stage behind the podium where there was a large wooden door. As I sat down I was handed a Siddur which is a prayer book. Unlike most books this book was read from the back to the front. As I familiarized myself with the book I noticed that it was bi-lingual in Hebrew and English and that the book was full of songs and scriptures from the Torah. .
             The service began with a song called "Shabbat Shalom". They also lit the Shabbat candles which represented bringing peace and light into the service. The service lasted about an hour and a half which was spent singing many songs, all of which were in Hebrew. During the course of the service the Rabbi spoke mainly about the Jewish holiday Sukkot which is a week long holiday.