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What's Temple like?
Uh...
What else is there? It's the only thing I know..

Our temple is quaint, 2 story building. It has a lot of Stone and wood, with big windows in the halls.
Outside the sanctuary is the bin of kippot for those who didn't bring and the rack of tallitot for the same purpose.
It has a nice, big sanctuary. It has a really tall Aron Kodesh and two posiums on the bimah, surrounded with stone walls. The Siddurim are on the shelves under the seats if you get a good seat in the front rowns, but there are shelves and stacks of them in the back for the other seats.
On the other side of the sactuary is the banquet hall for functions and luncheons, by the divider wall is one of those foldable, removable ones so the sanctuary can be almost twice as big for high holidays.
There's also a Chapel.
There's a Kosher Kitchen.
There are offices with cubicles for people who work there.
There's a wing of classrooms for the preeschool and daycamps in the summer.
There's a kids' sanctuary downstairs.

Ooh, and there's a garden outside!

This will take a couple of posts to answer. Here's the first one. smile

What To Wear

Lots of people ask about this, so I thought I'd just put it right here, before we even get near the synagogue.

Jewish modesty laws require that a person be covered modestly. The absolute minimum requirement is to cover at least from just below the elbow, to the collarbone, to just below the knee. This is because the body is (1) holy enough to be worthy to be a vessel for a soul, and therefore deserving dignity, (2) a source of visual stimulation, (3) visual stimulation may lead to sexual arousal, which is lovely within the marriage bedroom but inappropriate in a house of prayer. We don't force people to agree with this philosophy, but we do ask that people respect our right to pray without the distraction of seeing parts of the body that we view as "nakedness" and arousing. As the saying goes, when in Rome, do as the Romans. When in synagogue, do as the regular attendees do. Here's how.

Men's attire generally follows Jewish modesty laws already, so it's seldom that a man has to be told how to be modest. Most don't even realize they're doing it! If attending a synagogue, wear a long-sleeved shirt that buttons to the collarbone, and a pair of trousers. The trousers shouldn't be so tight that we can see your pulse, but rather, loose enough to conceal the contours of the flesh. Try to dress nicely. It's not formal in the sense of white-tie, tuxedo, gloves, and top hat, but do try to dress as if for an important business meeting, or as if you were going to meet the President. We view God as our ultimate King, and we try to show our respect by dressing as nicely as we are able to do. If the best pair of trousers you own is a newish pair of jeans, wear them and don't be at all ashamed -- but if you do have something even nicer, wear it. A jacket and tie, while perfectly acceptable, aren't required. Males cover their heads as a sign of respect and modesty within a synagogue, Jewish or not. Traditionally-observant Jewish men cover their heads at all times beginning from the age of three years.

Women's modesty is often considered more extensive than men's modesty, but only because people don't understand that secular menswear is already conforming to Jewish modesty laws. A woman should also be covered from elbow to collarbone to knee; additionally, unless you're attending a Reform synagogue (very liberal/progressive/modern), that covering should be a skirt or dress rather than trousers. That's because we are not supposed to show the whole world the place where our legs meet in the middle. That part of us is private (hence the term 'private part'), and we should guard it from casual view. Jewish culture considers a woman much more alluring once she has known physical intimacy, and therefore married Jewish women (and even non-Jewish women, in a synagogue) should cover their heads as a sign of respect for God, and also for the sake of modesty, of reserving her sensuality for her husband alone. If you have a hat or scarf that goes with your outfit, wear them if you're married; if not, don't worry about it, just grab a doily near the synagogue entrance (more on that below). Just like men, women should try to dress nicely, as if for a business meeting or a luncheon with someone you respect.

What To Bring

Nothing! No, really, nothing at all, unless you have a medical condition that requires you to keep your medicine or a medical appliance (inhaler, syringe) near to hand. We don't carry on the Sabbath. If you're not Jewish, you're not bound by the laws of Sabbath, of course, but one should try to observe the custom of the majority population. Walk to synagogue if you're able. It helps if you've arranged to stay over with someone who lives nearby. If not, as a non-Jew you could drive, but don't park in the synagogue parking lot, lest people see your car and mistakenly believe that a Jew has driven on the Sabbath.

Especially, note that you shouldn't bring money to synagogue. We don't take up a weekly collection, as is done in churches, because we do not handle money on the Sabbath. That's why we have synagogue dues, paid either monthly or yearly, to support the synagogue operations (building maintenance, lighting and heating bills, office staff, rabbi's stipend). If you really feel strongly that you want to contribute financially, come during the regular week or send a contribution by mail, but it's not necessary for a visitor to do so.

The Building

On (almost) every door frame in the synagogue, there will be a little box nailed to the doorposts, roughly 2/3 of the way up from the ground. If the doors are really really tall for grandeur purposes, the little box will be around shoulder-height to head-height of a tallish woman. This box is a mezuzah case, and inside it holds a scroll called a mezuzah, literally "doorpost" in Hebrew. A devout Jew will reach up to touch the case and then kiss his fingertips as a sign of love for the word of God, which is contained therein. You don't have to do this; I'm just pointing out what it is and what it's for.

Once inside, you'll see a box of kippot (pronounced kee-POAT; it's the plural of kippah, pronounced kee-PAH, meaning "dome" and signifying the little round skullcap that Jewish men wear). If you're a man, it would be proper for you to take one and wear it while you're inside the synagogue. There may also be another box holding lacy circles, about the size of a dinner plate. These are for married women who didn't wear a hat or scarf. If you are a married woman, take one of the doilies and a clip or bobby pin (also provided) and just pin the doily to the crown of your head.

Most synagogues will have an entry way, a social hall, and a sanctuary. Some also have a smaller chapel, but only if the sanctuary is truly huge. Some synagogues have separate classrooms for learning outside of prayer services, while others hold their classes right in the social hall or even in the sanctuary, though sanctuary classes are definitely not within the norm.

The seating in the sanctuary will be facing the direction of Israel; within Israel, sanctuaries face Jerusalem; within Jerusalem, sanctuaries face the Temple Mount, the site on which our Holy Temple once stood. More on sanctuaries in the next two posts.

The 'Flavor' of Reform Services

If you're accustomed to churches, a Reform service will feel fairly familiar. A Shabbat morning service typically begins, officially, at 9:00 Saturday morning. Some folks will arrive early to schmooze, while others won't get there till five or ten minutes after the hour. Either way, the service won't usually begin until about 9:05 or 9:10, giving the stragglers the opportunity to sit down and get focused. You'll grab a kippah from the box if you're a man, and a prayer book from the table right outside the sanctuary, and head on inside. Don't, however, pick up a prayer shawl to wear. Wearing a prayer shawl is one of the things that a non-Jew should not do at all, ever. Even a convert who is nearing the time of conversion shouldn't wear a tallit, though he can buy one to wear for morning prayers after conversion. This is because the fringes on the prayer shawl are a reminder of the 613 commandments (mitzvot, singular mitzvah) incumbent upon Jews to keep. Non-Jews are only commanded to keep the seven Noachide commandments.

Sit anywhere (aside from the spots next to the wheelchair access spot or the hearing-impaired headphone spot). I suggest near the back, so you can watch what others are doing, and do what they do. It may also help to find someone and ask if you can sit near them so that they can help you find your way in the prayer book. This happens an awful lot, because there are frequent visitors. Some will just be curious about Judaism and synagogues; some will be converting to Judaism; some will be Jews who have never even set foot in a synagogue; some will be guests who come to see a co-worker receive an honor, or a classmate become bar mitzvah or bat mitzvah. Don't be embarrassed about not knowing what to do, because you definitely won't be alone.

There will probably be a pianist or organist providing music as people mill about, socialize, and find seating. He or she also usually will play during "silent" prayer/meditation time, and sometimes even accompany chanted prayer with appropriate chords.

Things begin when the rabbi or the chazzan (cantor) steps up onto the bimah (raised dais), faces the congregation, and says, "Shabbat shalom!" Then they'll ask you to turn to page in your prayer books. They may also explain how to read responsively: "The speaker will read the normal text, and then the congregation responds with the italicized text." You don't have to do it if you don't want. You're welcome to pray, of course, but not obligated. You can, if it's more comfortable for you, just sit silently and observe. That's perfectly fine.

The order of service is fairly easily understood, especially if you're familiar with churches, who borrowed much of their liturgical order (though not details) from Judaism. It goes like this:

Opening song (Reform Jews only)
Morning Blessings
P'sukei d'Zimra, Verses of Song
Shema and its blessings and related passages
Amidah, The Standing Prayer
Hallel, Praises, if appropriate
Torah reading
Sermon (optional, but I've never heard it omitted at a Reform service)
Closhing prayers: Aleinu, Ashrei (Psalm 145), Mourner's Kaddish

Let me explain what those are.

The Opening Song is usually a version of "Hinei Mah Tov," which translates to "How good it is, and how pleasant, for brothers to gather together as one." Sometimes instead we sing a niggun, a wordless melody that we sing just to make us feel ready to pray; a different niggun every week, sometimes. I've only ever encountered this in Reform Jewish settings, not in Orthodox, Sephardi/Mizrachi, or Conservative.

Morning Blessings are the blessings which thank God for making us what we are: our humanity, our gender, our membership in the family of Israel (don't say this blessing if you're not Jewish), our status as free people instead of slaves, and so on. They also thank God for raising the fallen, healing the sick, giving sight to the eyes, giving hearing to the ears, clothing the naked, and giving the rooster wisdom to distinguish between day and night (so we can wake up in time for prayers).

P'sukei D'zimra are verses of Psalms, sort of a vocal and spiritual warmup to get us ready to utter our prayers with proper focus and attention, so that we're not just reciting syllables by rote. Many Reform congregations eliminate or truncate these prayers, because they are long and can have the opposite effect on some people. Normally, in Reform congregations, this is replaced by "a moment of silent meditation," in which the pianist plays something suitably pretty, solemn, and mindless in order to allow people's minds to wander towards their own specific spiritual concerns.

Shema, or Sh'ma, is the verse that goes "Listen, Israel: Hashem, our God, is God alone!" or some similar translation (translations are many, varied, and all beautiful); plus the following verses which speak of the love we should have for Hashem; the fact that words of Torah should be as a diadem before/between our eyes and a sign upon our hand; and the fact that we should speak words of Torah (the Five Books of Moses) every day and night, whether we're home or traveling, and should teach them to our children for all generations. The next paragraph details what will happen for us if we do this, and what will happen if we don't. The final paragraph reminds us that Hashem has given us the miracle of freedom by rescuing us from slavery in a foreign land, brought us to our own land and given it to us, and all he's asked of us in return is that we obey his commandments. It reiterates that Hashem himself is our God. When we talk about "the Sh'ma and its blessings," though, we mean a few blessings that come before and after the Sh'ma, too. The ancient sages wanted to 'introduce' the Sh'ma and then to offer us a gentle letdown when we were finished speaking it, sort of like having Neil Patrick Harris being the host of the Oscars instead of just having people come up and say "The award for ABC goes to XYZ!" It would be very abrupt if we just walked into synagogue, said the Sh'ma, and walked back out.

Reform synagogues usually have another "moment of silent prayer" here. In non-Reform synagogues, this time is used for the individual's "silent" (that is, whispered) recitation of the Amidah.

Amidah means "standing," and that is how we say this prayer. The weekday Amidah contains nineteen blessings, some of which are praises, some requests, and some thanks (and I've never known of a Reform Jew who prays the weekday Amidah); the Shabbat Amidah contains only seven blessings, only one of which is a request, and the rest are praises and thanks. Amidah begins with the Barchu ("Bless Ye," that is, the call to worship). In non-Reform services, this is where the chazzan reads the Amidah aloud, and the congregation only has to say "Amein" after each blessing. This practice was instituted by our sages so that those who didn't know the Amidah by heart and couldn't read it would at least be able to fulfill their prayer obligation by hearing someone else and responding appropriately. The Amidah, additionally, is what we use as our verbal substitute for the sacrifices of animal, grain, wine, oil, and incense.

Hallel means "high prayers," and in fact, the word hallelujah translates to "praise God." Many churches rightly teach that "hallelujah is the highest [form of] praise." Not every day do we pray Hallel, only on certain festivals. Sephardi congregations typically do this after the Torah reading, not before.

Torah means "teaching," and the word applies to the Five Books of Moses, also known as the Pentateuch ("Five Books) in Greek, or the Chumash ("Five") in Hebrew. The reading of the Torah is done in traditional congregations on Monday, Thursday, Shabbat, and festival mornings; in the Reform tradition, it is done on Friday night and Saturday morning as well as the synagogue-centered festivals. Torah reading, Amidah, and Sh'ma used to be the totality of the ancient prayer services. In Reform services, the entire Torah portion isn't read, only a few paragraphs at most. It is followed by the Haftarah ("additional") reading, which is to say, a reading from the books of the Writings or Prophets (the parts of the Hebrew Bible other than the Torah itself).

The sermon is sometimes called the midrash, drashah, or just drash. It's entirely optional, but I've never seen it omitted in a Reform synagogue service, and only once in a non-Reform service (and only when the scheduled speaker was attending his wife for the birth of a child, several weeks early). Usually, the speaker will talk about the weekly Torah and/or Haftarah portion that was just read, and try to relate it to current events, common practices, elements of Jewish culture or observance, and so on. If there was a bar mitzvah or bat mitzvah being honored that week, the speaker might relate the portion to the child's personality and offer them a blessing for their life, based on the portion.

Aleinu means "upon us," and it's the first word of the prayer that essentially states, "Upon us -- the direct recipients of God's miracles and favors and blessings -- is the duty of praising, thanking, glorifying, and acknowledging those favors and blessings." It's longer than that, but that's the general essence of it. Ashrei means "fortunate" or "happy," and it refers to a bit of Psalm 145, "Happy is the one who..." yadda yadda, trusts in God, thanks God, studies the teachings of God. smile The Mourner's Kaddish is the final prayer in the Reform synagogue service, and it is said every week, with everyone standing, because everyone is praying for all the Jewish dead over the centuries, especially for those who have no one left to mourn for them personally.

The service usually closes with a song such as Adon Olam (Master of the World), or Ein Keloheinu (None Like Our God), something upbeat and happy.

Then there's more schmoozing while people gather up their prayer books to put back on the table outside, and then schlep into the social hall for challah and wine/grape juice, usually followed by coffee, tea, and cookies.

Whoa, whoa, whoa; Hold on there!
I did not insult you yet today!

In my school I used to have to stand at the back of a Methodist church, as I had to go to chapel every morning, but I (for obvious reasons) couldn't take back in worship. I did this for... roughly five years.

I can tell you now - churches are to Reform and Liberal shuls, as motorcycles are to stuffed animals. The differences are vast

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.

Well Catholic and Catholic Lite denominations aren't what I'm familiar with so I wouldn't know.
I've been to a Lutheran church where the minister used a Powerpoint to preach, though. Talk about weak.