Religion
Going to Shul
On the Jewish holidays we didn't go to school, we were expected to go to shul for the religious services. We called it by its Yiddish name shul, the English word would be synagogue or temple. Rosh Hashonah, the Jewish new year and one of the high holidays, occurs around the middle of September*, and that is when we would get new clothes. We were expected to look our best when we went to shul.
In Orthodox Jewish temples the services are conducted in Hebrew, and the men are separated from the women. At the "big shul" the women sat in a horseshoe shaped balcony. During the holidays the seats were reserved, and Pop's seats were down front only one row from the eastern wall, and close to the bimah, the platform on which services are conducted. Mom and the girls would come to shul after Pop and the boys got there, and their reserved seats were in the front row of the balcony. Mom had her prayer book, also in Hebrew, and she would also daven, pray and follow the services.
Although Pop only went to shul on the major holidays, he knew what was going on in the services. We might arrive late at the shul, perhaps an hour or so after the services had started, but he knew in a few minutes where in the prayer book the congregation was davening, praying. Even though the services were in Hebrew, he didn't have to ask anybody where we were in the service. He knew from listening to what was being sung or chanted. On Rosh Hashonah or on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, Pop would get to shul before 9 am and stay till about 5 pm, when the service ended. At the "big shul" the services were continuous right through to the finish without a break.
Not all shuls conducted their services straight through. The shul at the Jewish Children's Home, where Eddie and his grandfather, Mr Hudson, davened, conducted their service differently. As Eddie used to say: "In the morning they race through the service and then take a break for an hour or two at noon. It gives the people a chance to go home and get some rest. Then they can come back at 2 or so and finish up."
* The Jewish holidays are based on the Jewish calendar, which is different from the Julian calendar we normally use.
