For everyone who's posted or PMed regarding my statement that Reform synagogue services feel a lot like church services, let me explain what I meant so that you can concede the point graciously.
wink 1. Traditional synagogues (Orthodox, Conservative, Traditional, Jewish Renewal, and Sephardi/Mizrachi/Indian/Ethiopian) have everyone whisper the words along at their own pace. Some will finish very quickly and have time for meditation between prayers, while others will read more slowly (either because they just read slowly, or because they like to take their time over each phrase, considering meanings as they go along) and thus may not be finished by the time the next "section" of prayers comes along -- that is, by the time the chazzan chants the first phrase of the next prayer section so as to help others figure out where they should be by now. It can be difficult for the uninitiated to figure out what's going on. There'll be times when you have no clue, and just have to sit there wondering for ten or twenty minutes until someone will call out "Page 322!" and then you flip one, five, or thirty pages ahead to find the next section that you can get lost in.
In Reform synagogues, the prayers everyone is meant to say are said
together, generally in unison. Sometimes it's in Hebrew, more often in English, but either way, the prayers are said as if everyone is trying to speak together-as-one instead of individually. It's WAY easier to keep up. This is what churches do, too, so a person familiar with church services will think it's just the normal way that all worship goes.
2. In a traditional service (see definition above), there are no musical instruments playing during Sabbath or holiday services. Playing musical instruments on Shabbat and holidays has been forbidden because an instrument may break or go out of tune, and thus someone would be tempted to repair or tune it, which is forbidden on Sabbaths and holidays. There is often vocal music, but only in the form of some congregational chanting of communal prayers (the ones that aren't meant to be whispered "silently" at one's own pace).
There is often/usually a pianist, organist, or guitarist present at a Reform synagogue services, giving ambient music during "silent" meditation time, accompanying the chanting of some of the prayers, and when people are entering or leaving the synagogue before and after services. Churches have this too, for the most part.
I certainly didn't mean that a person could do comparative theology and find Reform (or any other) Jewish services to be similar to that of Christian churches. I only meant that the general "flavor" would feel familiar and comfortable for those who have occasionally attended church.
