WHAT A “RELIGION” IS REALLY ALL ABOUT

What a “Religion” is Really All About

Jenna Clark
Arizona State University
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In this ethnography I explored what it means to be apart of the Judaism religion. So many

people are quick to judge and quick to put preconceptions on what religions are, but this often

blinds people of the truth to what the people and the religion have to offer.

Throughout my exploration of Judaism in Arizona I came across a lot of information I

was not aware of. I interviewed two people that live locally in Arizona that are involved in this

religion. One of the girls, Arianna, grew up in Arizona and has been actively going to a temple

with her family her whole life. The other girl I interviewed is named Simone, she recently moved

to Arizona for college and got connected in Jewish groups on her college campus right away.

During my secondary research process I watched some youtube videos of 3-D temple and

synagogue tours. Due to my religious status I did not go into a temple myself; however, I had

Arianna walk me through a temple verbally, and it matched up very well with the video tours

available online.

Something that was very interesting to me was that there was so much similarity in what I

found online during secondary research that matched up with the opinions and answers of the

interview questions I got. There is a lot of importance in the objects and symbols. During my

interview with Arianna she explained that the Torah, kippot, and tallit are all important symbolic

items. ​The Torah is written in Hebrew and is the first five books of the Bible. It is also read every

Friday and Saturday during their religious services.​A Kippot is like a hat that is worn to

symbolize being close to God. Depending on the branch of Judaism that someone is apart of, will

also determine if it is custom for them to wear a kippot. The traditional practice is that men wear

a kippot at all times except when he is asleep or bathing. Some members will only wear the

kippot when doing things like praying, or going to religious ceremonies. She describes a tallit as
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a prayer scarf. She said it is something received at a Bar or Bat Mitzvah, which celebrates

coming of a age. While I was watching a video of a Synagogue tour the first thing the man starts

off by saying is that out front of the entrance their of kippots on the table because it is customary

that the hair is covered during times of worship. This matched up perfectly with what Arianna

explained to me during our interview.

The next thing I explored was places that are important in this religion. I did not

physically walk into a synagogue or a temple, but Arianna described them to me. “First every

temple looks different and has different traditions and things for services.” She first talks about

what you first hear and see when you walk into a temple. Sometimes there is music playing in

the background but typically what you hear is chatting amongst everyone before service starts.

She says there are minimal decorations but one decoration that is apart of her specific temple is a

Tree of Life. A Tree of Life is a symbol that represents the “10 Sephirot” and the “22 paths”.

This is representative of a series of good emanations of God’s creations. Once service starts

everyone goes into the sanctuary where they sit in the pews facing the Rabi. Typically the

service kicks off with a Rabbi or Cantar singing a song. She says there can be multiple Rabbi’s

each service. A Rabbi is responsible for the prayer and religious type things. Every service they

read from the Torah and sometimes they focus more on music or on the holiday if there is a

holiday that falls on that day. In the video tour I watched their are kippots and tallits out front of

the synagogue entrance. These are both object Arianna described earlier as the most important

items in the Judaism religion.

Activities are a very big part of the community aspect of Judaism. In most religions there

is a sense of community that grows from the time spent with “brother and sisters” through faith.
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In the Jewish religion this is expressed in the many holidays they practice. There are many

important holidays but some of the most important and popular ones are Shabbat, ​Rosh

Hashanah, and Passover. Shabbat is the Jewish Sabbath day. It begins right before sunset on

Friday and goes until dark on Saturday night. Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year. “in seven

days we will go hungrier, pray harder”, is a quote from a poem called ​Rosh Hashanah​ written by

Alicia Ostriker. Passover is celebrated to celebrate the freedom of the Jews from slavery. During

my interview with Simone she told me about her family’s tradition. ​Her family celebrates for two

nights. The first night they go to a close family friend’s house, and the second night the stay at

her house with her close family. During passover there is a seder plate on the table. The plate has

matzah, haroset, hard boiled egg, shank bone, a bitter herb, and parsley on it. That ritual is then

followed by the main course, israeli food.

The people that apart of this religion are filled with so much love for those around them. I

think in today’s day people get wrapped up in the stereotypes and preconceived ideas about

certain groups of people that their mind closest to what communities really have to offer. The

biggest take away I learned from this community is how important family and time together is.

The abundance of Holidays stuck out to me and I believe that part of why they are so important

is because they bring friends and family together.