Temple

One week ago, this boy and his family invited us to hear him lead last Friday's Shabbat service at our local synagogue.

The very next morning, we attended his Bar Mitzvah.

My family felt very welcomed by the members of Temple Beth Shalom. They were kind, and patient and so willing to share the richness of their faith with us. We were all deeply moved by the things that we heard, witnessed and experienced.

Some of you know that my husband and I have been deeply troubled by the extravagance and the waste we often see exhibited within our church. One such example of this extravagance includes the recent installation of nine large, plasma screens in our church lobby. These screens serve no other purpose than to flash in bold, 21st Century style the names of key ministries within our church.

What we see in our church lobby, what we see in our church sanctuary stands in stark contrast with what we witnessed and experienced at Temple Beth Shalom.

The sanctuary at Temple Beth Shalom was completely without adornment. Unlike many Christian churches with their giant worship screens, ornate crosses, and their elevated preaching/worship platforms, the focal point in a Jewish sanctuary is the Aron Hakodesh.

The Aron Hakodesh is the Holy Ark which houses the Torah scrolls. The Torah, as most people know, is Judaism's most sacred possession. Many Christians often refer to the first five books in the Holy Bible as the Hebrew scriptures. Those five books (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy), constitute the Torah. The Torah is handwritten in Hebrew on a parchment scroll and it rests within the Aron Hakodesh.

The only other defining feature in this Jewish sanctuary, was the Ner Tamid. The Ner Tamid is a lamp which hangs just above the Aron Hakodesh and it represents eternal light. It stands as a symbol of God's eternal presence and is a symbolic connection to the menora of the ancient Temple of Jerusalem.

Like many Christian sanctuaries, Jewish sanctuaries also have pulpit, or bimah. In Judaism, a bimah is always located at the east end of the sanctuary so that it faces Jerusalem, which was the site of the first Jewish Temple. The bimah in Temple Beth Shalom was a very simple wooden pulpit, adorned only by a hand carved Star of David.

Maybe other synagogues have temples which are more ornate, but this temple was very beautiful in its simplicity.

I fear that my church has abandoned simplicity in favor of light shows and worship extravaganzas. Right now, our lobby is over-filled with elaborately decorated Christmas trees and nine large wall mounted plasma screens. Every weekend, I go to church and I watch the fancy worship choir and I see the powerpoint presentations and I listen to the pastor preach, but for me, it has become more like a religious circus than a house of worship.

I feel that we Christians could learn a great deal from our Jewish brothers and sisters. Adopting Judaism's practice of simplicity in our houses of worship and reverence for the word of God would be wonderful places to start.

....but more on that later, I've rambled on long enough for one evening.

Oh, and just in case some of you were wondering about Shari's husband. Well, the cancer was contained, the lymph nodes were clear and a positive prognosis was delivered.

That calls for cheers all around, don't you think?