301 E Jefferson St
Charlottesville, VA 22902
Our Trip to Congregation Beth Israel
Tot Shabbat
We started our day by observing “Tot Shabbat,” a Shabbat service for the preschool program of CBI. The service is lead by Rabbi Rachel, and the kids sing songs, get to look at the torah, recite the steps of Shabbat, and take turns sharing what they want to thank God for this week. As the kids filed out at the end, they all got the opportunity to touch or kiss the Torah.
Sanctuary
After the Tot Shabbat we were able to tour the larger sanctuary, where Rabbi Rachel gave us a tour and answered all of our questions about the symbolism of each part of the synagogue, and what everything was used for. She opened the cabinet that houses the Torahs, and showed us how the Torah is read from right to left and how a Yad is used to point to the words. She also showed us the eternal light, and the commandments written in hebrew next to the altar. Rabbi Rachel passed out Torah commentaries for each of us and we went back into the small sanctuary to do a text study. The text we read was about compassion, and Rabbi Rachel told us about the Hebrew word Hesed.
Challah
Afterwards, we went out to the kitchen and learned how to make Challah from Mrs. Clark. We braided the dough into small loaves of bread, sprinkled cinnamon sugar on top, and then left them to bake while we went to lunch. To further our cultural experience, we ate lunch at Himalayan Fusion, where we tried a variety of Indian foods and enjoyed each other’s company while discussing our intensives experience so far.
Hora Dancing
When we finished lunch, we walked back to the synagogue in time to enjoy our warm, freshly baked Challah and participate in a mini Shabbat service. Mrs. Clark taught us how first the Shabbat candles are lit, and then we drink the wine, or grape juice, and then everyone holds hands and closes their eyes while a blessing is said over the covered platter of Challah. After the blessing, the Challah was uncovered and everyone got to enjoy it together. We finished the day off by gathering in the center of the room to learn an Israeli folk dance and to do some Hora dancing.
Charlottesville, VA 22902
Our Trip to Congregation Beth Israel
Tot Shabbat
We started our day by observing “Tot Shabbat,” a Shabbat service for the preschool program of CBI. The service is lead by Rabbi Rachel, and the kids sing songs, get to look at the torah, recite the steps of Shabbat, and take turns sharing what they want to thank God for this week. As the kids filed out at the end, they all got the opportunity to touch or kiss the Torah.
Sanctuary
After the Tot Shabbat we were able to tour the larger sanctuary, where Rabbi Rachel gave us a tour and answered all of our questions about the symbolism of each part of the synagogue, and what everything was used for. She opened the cabinet that houses the Torahs, and showed us how the Torah is read from right to left and how a Yad is used to point to the words. She also showed us the eternal light, and the commandments written in hebrew next to the altar. Rabbi Rachel passed out Torah commentaries for each of us and we went back into the small sanctuary to do a text study. The text we read was about compassion, and Rabbi Rachel told us about the Hebrew word Hesed.
Challah
Afterwards, we went out to the kitchen and learned how to make Challah from Mrs. Clark. We braided the dough into small loaves of bread, sprinkled cinnamon sugar on top, and then left them to bake while we went to lunch. To further our cultural experience, we ate lunch at Himalayan Fusion, where we tried a variety of Indian foods and enjoyed each other’s company while discussing our intensives experience so far.
Hora Dancing
When we finished lunch, we walked back to the synagogue in time to enjoy our warm, freshly baked Challah and participate in a mini Shabbat service. Mrs. Clark taught us how first the Shabbat candles are lit, and then we drink the wine, or grape juice, and then everyone holds hands and closes their eyes while a blessing is said over the covered platter of Challah. After the blessing, the Challah was uncovered and everyone got to enjoy it together. We finished the day off by gathering in the center of the room to learn an Israeli folk dance and to do some Hora dancing.
CBI has been in Charlottesville since the late 18th century. The Congregation Beth Israel was founded in 1882 and is the oldest used synagoge in the state of Virginia. In addition, CBI is apart of the twenty oldest synagogues in the United States. CBI offers religion classes for over 200 adults and children. CBI has two Rabbi’s, Rabbi Rachel and Rabbi Tom. Rabbi Rachel is the youth educator and Rabbi Tom does most of the services.
For more information visit: cbicville.org
For more information visit: cbicville.org
Judaism is one of the Abrahamic faiths that was founded over 3500 years ago. Their holy book is a scripture called the Torah. A common word in Judaism is “Shalom” which means “peace”.
By: Sam, Caroline, and Maya