USF Jewish Studies Jews Judaisms and Jewish Identity Discussion

Sha’ar Zahav

Each of the FTPs should be an analysis, not a summary. For example, students should not attend a synagogue service and merely describe the experience. Rather, if you attend the celebration of a Jewish holiday (the weekly Sabbath or Shabbat is actually a weekly holiday in the Jewish tradition), analyze the specific elements of the event that most closely relate to what we discuss in class. How does the experience of attending a synagogue service help us understand the complexity and diversity of Jewish identities? What stood out to you as particularly interesting or compelling about the experience? How might things be different if you attended a service in person rather than online? What about the experience relates to what we have been discussing in class or what we read in the textbook? Your analysis should be scholarly and relate to the topics covered in lectures, course readings, and discussions. Think of yourself as an ethnographer, a scholar doing fieldwork in the Jewish community in order to better understand them (and yourself). 

Aside from the questions above, analyze how different this synagogue is from the previous one you visited. In what ways is it similar or different? How does the LGBTQI+ character of the synagogue emerge through the service you attended?