Take Me to Church (a Jewish Perspective)

Today, we attended a church service at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, GA. Being Jewish, I was admittedly a little apprehensive and nervous since I had never experienced church before. During the service, I looked around and noticed the connections that people seemed to feel with the words and music. It made me think about similarities among different religions. Many of them seem to have a general theme about love and acceptance. This shocked me because we hear people on the news claim Islam is destroying our nation or how Judaism is wrong. Experiencing this service gave me hope.

Later in the day we visited the Center for Human and Civil Rights in Atlanta, GA. This particular museum had an intense simulation interactive exhibit: You would sit at a lunch counter, close your eyes, put your hands on the table, put on headphones, and listen to a reenactment of what a sit-in would feel like. I felt the hot breath of a man threatening to kill me run down my neck. I felt the chair shake every time he kicked me. I felt like I was going to die. Coming from that, I have an even greater appreciation for the people that sat in and risked their lives - one of them being John Lewis. Recently, John Lewis was criticized by President-Elect Donald Trump as being “all talk, talk, talk” and having “no action or results.” Not only is this ignorant, but it is a completely incorrect. If Donald Trump would open up a history book and learn about all of the things John Lewis has done, (including but not limited to, becoming a freedom rider, leading Bloody Sunday, helping plan March on Washington, and elected to Congress) maybe he should think before he says something that ignorant again. 

At the end of the day we were offered the opportunity to speak about our day. This sharing could be a quote we heard, a positive anecdote, or an upsetting story. Although I was nervous to talk in front of a group of students I had just met, I took the opportunity to talk about being Jewish at church. I was so pleased by the overwhelming amount of support I got after telling the story, and I am really encouraged to share more about my feelings and experiences about all we encounter on this trip.

Jack Kalvar, The Park School of Baltimore