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This past weekend I got a chance to a attend a Jewish service for the first time. Although I have a number of Jewish friends and I’ve dated several Jewish girls (I can hear you saying it DK4), I’ve never attended to a Jewish service. Over the weekend, the gff’s grandfather celebrated his 83rd birthday and decided to have a second Barmitzvah. I was invited along and decided to go. For starters, Upstate NY is beautiful in the fall. I could have spent all weekend walking around and taking pictures. If you haven’t done Upstate NY in the fall, I highly recommend it before it becomes beach front property. The service itself was nothing like I’ve experienced. It is hard to put into words what made it so different. I’ve been to church where there is descent amount of singing and I’ve attended church in Latin so the Hebrew didn’t really get to me even though it was a bit a difficult to read and sing along. I think the atmosphere is really what made an impact on me. Everyone seemed genuinely happy and not just relieved and putting up a front, which is a feeling I often get when I attend church. The relative lack of curiosity about me and my background, though I stood out, was very refreshing. Two parts of the service that stood out the most were when the gff’s granfather mentioned me as part of the family in his remarks, tough I’ve yet to be receive a ring from a certain someone, and when he read a story he had written about the death of his mother when he was 14. It was a very touching piece. It brought a tear to my eye — there goes all my manliness. All in all, it was good a experience and I would do it all again. I’m not sure it’s for everyone but I do encourage visiting a place of worship outside your religion. However I’ve been warned not all synagogue are as "liberal" as the one we attended. Next stop: a Mosque.
And if you were wondering, I wore a yamaka too.
