Religion and World Views – visiting the Sinai Synagogue
In March, both Year 3 classes spent a morning at the Sinai Synagogue in Roundhay to complement the learning about Judaism that they had been doing in school with Mrs Russell and Mrs Naz.
The visit began with a talk about the Synagogue, the Jewish faith, particular customs and festivals. It also explored the different practices between Orthodox and Reform Synagogues. The guides were extremely informative and answered lots of questions from the children. During the talk, the children were able to look at and try on a ‘tallit’ (prayer shawl) and a ‘kippah’ (cap).
The children were also shown a Siddur (book of prayers) and they were particularly interested in what they could learn from the illustrations. The children then visited the Ark. Here the Torah scrolls are kept underneath a Ner Tamid (everlasting light), and the children learnt all about how the Torah is written and stored. The children learned the Hebrew word ‘Shalom’ (meaning peace) and were able to use this to decorate their own miniature Torah scrolls too.
It was a very interesting, informative visit for both the children and the accompanying adults. It helped everyone understand more about one of the major world faiths – a faith that is followed by a number of families at Talbot Primary School.
