Religious Service Essay Example for Free

Religious Service Essay For my last response paper, I decided that I wanted to attend a Jewish service. Since I had missed the pre arranged field trip to go with the school, I decided that I would grab a friend, and make a day out of driving up to Park City to go to the Temple Har Shalom. We set off on our forty minute drive, and finally came upon the Temple. The temple itself was very intriguing to the eye, it was a mix of brick and what looked like maple wood, the architecture was interesting and had a very modern feel to it. The inside was beautiful, and very spacious. There were chairs set up and tables, and fire places, of course there were Israeli flags hanging from different locations. When we first got in, we first just walked around and marveled at how modern and clean the temple felt. People were starting to come in, and greet each other. It was obvious that the community was very close; everyone seemed to know one another. My friend and I were immediately picked out as being visitors, and so some people came to us and wanted to know who we were, and what we were doing there. Upon hearing my reason for being at the temple, a man kindly offered to first explain to us a little about what was going on. First of all he began to tell us that every synagogue must have three things in order for it to be considered holy. One of these things is the Ark, the cabinet where the Torah scrolls are kept. The second thing is a â€Å"sanctuary lamp† or an altar lamp; a light that shall burn continuously. The third thing he mentioned was a 7 branched candelabrum, or menorah. We walked into where the service was being held, and considering that this specific temple is one of the largest in the state, the room was huge. I was told that the congregation was made of over 300 Jewish families, and there was room for everyone to be comfortable. The pews were set up, and they were all blue behind the rows of pews, blue single chairs were set up. The chairs were all set up to face the ark, which was surrounded by beautiful, white blue and grey brick looking stain glass. Again the building is very new and modern, so the lights where very interesting shaped, they reminded me of tire wheels. The wall on the side of the room had slits of the same stain glass that surrounded near the front of the room where the arc resided. The Star of David and a menorah were also present on the walls. The ceiling was very interesting; it was wood pleats and reminded me of an olden wooden sleigh. The Rabbi who was conducting the service was Rabbi Joshua Aaronson. He was a little younger than I was expecting, I would put him maybe around 35 or so. He was wearing a full length white robe with a Tallit around his shoulders, which was a more yellowish collar, and had what looked like leaves to be on it. He was also wearing a Yamaka. He greeted the congregation by saying â€Å"Shalom† which means welcome. I noticed that there was different books all around, there were prayer books, called â€Å"Siddur† which contained Hebrew, and English translations, there was also the â€Å"Chumash† which is the book that has the torah readings in it, each week a different part of the Torah is read, starting in Genesis and going through to Deuteronomy, once the torah has been read all the way through, it starts over again in Genesis. Rabbi Aaronson spoke to the congregation and told some stories about his wife and family, the whole congregation seemed to enjoy him, and he wa s quite funny. Rabbi Aaronson’s sermon was about happiness, he talked about how he had never really thought about the idea of happiness and Judaism going together, of course he was happy, and had studied the religion for many years, the persecution of the Jews, the nature of God, Faith in God, the rules, the laws, he joked that through all the movies he had seen about Judaism he had never left in a happy mood, with Fiddler on the Roof being the exception. He talked about how he realized that happiness was actually found many places in Judaism, the first of which would be the Tanakh or Jewish bible, one of the sons of Jacob is named Asher, meaning happy. He talks about how the word happy is found most often in Psalms and Proverbs, and mentions that the very first word in the very first Psalms is happy, he then repeats the first Psalm, first in Hebrew and then in English. He explains the Psalms which basically says that a person is happy when he or she has a strong moral compass, and is not persuaded by liars and cheaters. He mentions Psalms 84 and mentions that the Psalms is so important that it is the first phrase in one of the most important prayers of the Shabbat, the prayer in English roughly means â€Å"The Happy Prayer†. The point to his message was that being close to God, and more so being religious and studying God and religion brings people happiness. He talks about a poll that was done with 600,000 Americans which showed that people who considered themselves religious or very religious said they were much happier than those who said they were moderately religious or not religious at all. My favorite part of the service was when the Torah was read. The reading of the Torah was done in the middle of the service, Rabbi Aaronson opened the Ark, and it is custom for everyone to stand when the Ark is opened, to show respect. Everyone rose and chanted a verse from the Torah, which I was told again shows their recognition of the importance of the Torah. The different Torahs were all neatly placed in the Ark, which beautiful covers on them, while the Rabbi took them out, I noticed he carried them to the altar almost like a new born baby, which makes sense considering how sacred the Torah is in the religion. He took off the coverings and there were two other people around him who were the â€Å"Torah checkers† they make sure that whoever is doing the reading is not making any mistakes and is there to correct if a mistake is made reading the torah. They carried the torah around the room and people bowed when it came near them, I was told that I did not have to bow if I did not feel comfortable, but felt I wouldn’t get the full experience if I didn’t. There was a whole intriguing ritual in reading the torah, a man went up to do an â€Å"Aliyah† which is Hebrew for going up, this is like a blessing on the torah before the reader read’s that weeks passage. I had never heard Hebrew spoken before attending this service, let alone heard another language in a church so that was very interesting. I had also never seen a book that was so sacred, of course Christians have the bible but it is not transported around the room, while people bow to it. I thought that showed a lot of tradition and strength in the religion. It is clearly a religion that is very important to those who follow it. I would go into more detail about the torah reading, but I left my notes and my program on the pew when I left and didn’t realize until much too late. The book that allowed us to follow along the torah reading was very great, and I was pleasantly surprised that they did the reading in English as well as in Hebrew. The service ended and people came up to me and shook my hand and of course as always, wanted to know what I thought about it. I have to admit this was one of the most intriguing church experiences I have ever had. The sermon was interesting, the people were great, and there was such a feeling of being close, close to one another and close to God and to a religion that I was very overwhelmed with positive emotion. I am very glad that I attended this service, and am glad this class has allowed me to open my mind to different religions.

English Language Learners Essay -- Education, ESL

Presently there is a rising number of English Language Learners (ELLs) entering into classrooms all over the country. According to the three research studies that I utilized, there are several varied assessment approaches for teaching ELLs in reading (Davis-Lenski, Ehlers-Zavala, Daniel, & Sun-Irminger, 2006; Dreher, & Letcher-Gray, 2009; Ebe, 2010). English Language Learners (ELLs) consistently struggle with some aspects of reading because, they lack background knowledge in terms of the generalized text selections, which they are often given (Davis-Lenski, Ehlers-Zavala, Daniel, & Sun-Irminger, 2006; Dreher, & Letcher-Gray, 2009; Ebe, 2010). The data across all three journal documents agrees that there is an achievement gap where ELLs are consistently performing at lower levels than their native-born English-speaking peers (Davis-Lenski, Ehlers-Zavala, Daniel, & Sun-Irminger, 2006; Dreher, & Letcher-Gray, 2009; Ebe, 2010). Researchers seem to vary on how to instruct, and assess st udents who are ELLs. One element that all of the authors concentrated on was seeking out the best practice(s) for using assessments to create effective instruction for ELLS (Davis-Lenksi, Ehlers-Zavla, Daniel, & Sun-Irminger, (2006), Dreher, & Letcher-Gray (2009) and Ebe 2010). There are 4.5 million ELLS currently enrolled in the public school systems in the United States, and the numbers are continuously rising due to the more than 1 million people who immigrant here each year (Davis-Lenski, Ehlers-Zavala, Daniel, & Sun-Irminger, 2006). Many teachers find themselves in unknown territory when it comes to instructing and assessing ELLs (Davis-Lenski, Ehlers-Zavala, Daniel, & Sun-Irminger, 2006). The passing of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) furth... ...lready stated, and all of them also have different assessment approaches included in their articles too. After reading all of the information I must say I think that all of the assessments, and the strategies and tools associated with the articles, are all borne out of research-based instructional, and assessment methods and therefore; they are all relevant to working with ELLs per literacy (Davis-Lenski, Ehlers-Zavala, Daniel, & Sun-Irminger, 2006; Dreher, & Letcher-Gray, 2009; Ebe, 2010). I don’t think any one of the assessments profiled in the three articles I researched, is anything better than the other. However I also think that although all of the techniques discussed are good solid research-based assessment tools; one still has to understand that they will require applications which are well structured, and the most appropriate for that specific student.

Generational Poverty Essay

Special populations refers to â€Å"disadvantaged groups† in our society. It examines the effects society has on person or persons. This can consist of generation poverty, the aged or elderly, and women. These populations face complex challenges in their daily lives. Economic instability, lack of resources, lack of education and lack of unity from society keeps special population groups in hardships. Generational poverty involves special population of poor people. It is cycle of poverty wherein two to three generations were born and lived in poverty. Complex factors are involved that hinders them from striving to attain advantages that other groups may enjoy. People in generation poverty focus on survival and live in the now. They do not plan because they live in the present time and do not plan for the future. They live on day to day survival and live in the moment. Any situation that they are exposed to is met with a reactive mentality. This leads to lack of organization and planning their life and their family’s life for proactive living. Further, their money is for entertainment and to entertain others. They sometimes create and accomplish short term outcomes for immediate gratification. People become their possession, on the other hand, in middle and upper class, they focus on material security. The middle class plans for the future and the wealth plans for the future and involved themselves into politics. Due to lack of a good solid education, many people of generational poverty are unable to communicate effectively therefore they become anger. Parents of poverty do not want their children to receive an education, because they might leave home if they are educated. In addition they have a lack of value in education. Poverty learns from poverty whereas they all adopt the poverty norm. Most parents only have an elementary education and cannot read or do math. They raise their kids not empathizing the importance of an education. Many students do not assign value to school work or to their education. School tardiness and absences are excessive due to transportation issues or parents lack of involvement. Parents who did poorly in school do not put a great emphasis on their children to succeed in school. Students have access to poor quality school resources. They are less likely to find out about the world, obtain job skills, and relying heavily on peers and parents for social and emotional support. Investing in good schools, teachers, lunches, exposure to a structure lifestyle, and relationships could help poor students break the cycle of poverty. As for the lack of an education, families of generation poverty rely heavily on body language to communicate with others and the men constantly display a defensive stance when in public. They do not use specific jargon as like educated people who uses specific words and extensive vocabulary to display their intelligence. Emotions are usually openly displayed. Conflict resolution for the poor is usually physical fighting than verbal fighting or going to court. Likewise, parental poverty effects the motivation of the children. Tools are very limited or do not exist in the socio-environment, so the concept of repair and fix it does not carry any priority in the day to day life activities. Also, food becomes a necessity and valued for its quantity rather than is quality. Many people living in poverty consume a lot of cheap junk food which contributes to childhood obesity. The middle and uppers class eats for quality and presentation. Furthermore, there are a lack of low skill jobs for the poor. They work in manual labor jobs with low wages that do not require specific skills. Due to industrialization, mining and the auto line industry are closing down. Economy shifted from manufacturing to a service economy, those who could not shift to the shift were left behind. Due to lack of education they are unable to perform in the mainstream job market to conduct business transactions, count, and resolve complex problems. Also, culture and genes interact with one another to influence people’s learning and the ability to make a living. Many children are third or fourth generation of poverty. Many just settle for the status quo instead of not taking the education opportuni ty. Some become teenage mothers, drop out of school, and/or drink or take street drugs. On the other hand, many rely on welfare to live and take pride on needed assistance. Some want get a job or do not think they need a job. Also they feel that society owes them a living. Many do not have the access to resources to locate or search jobs as the middle class and the upper class. ————————————————- Must be given the opportunity and resources to break the cycle of poverty. One must be motivated, hopeful, and willing to learn for a better future. A good solid education provides the poor the steps necessary for to open doors they would never been able to open before for a successful life. ——————————– Another special population group is the aged or elderly. The aged or elderly population faces an array of challenges when there is lack of access to employment. The aged are faced with ageism. Many employers are looking to hire younger employees to replace the aged or elder employees with cheaper salary. Younger employees are usually hired for their fresh perspective and eagerness to learn. Many aged workers are solicited by their employers for early retirement with sometimes a substantial payout. Many are retiring before the normal Social Security age of 65-67 years old. Once the aged is retired or laid off it is difficult to find work elsewhere due to active age discrimination. Many employers view the old employers especially the baby boomers as too rigid, failing health, lack of enthusiasm, afraid of new technologies, do not want to learn new training (stuck in old ways), and expensive to keep. Many aged people are viewing job advertisements with pictures of younger employees. In addition, the aged are facing high cost of medical insurance and healthcare. With the obstacles in the job market, the aged could possibly experience social isolationism, low self-esteem, and financial hardship. ————————————————- On the same token, women face unique challenges that throughout their different life stages that places them into the Special Population group when compared to men. Women still face challenges today in areas of social, economic, sports, political and cultural despite the fact that there has been success in empowering women and shattering the glass ceiling for employment promotions. They live 7 years longer than men, make up majority of the world’s population but yet they are greatly ignored. Some women are subjected to part time jobs and lower wage position than their male counterparts. Likewise, women face ageism and sexism in the media on the average profile of a woman. —————————————- Singled and divorced women are most likely to have low paying jobs than men. This causes a financial strain on the women to pay for households bills and to pay for childcare. Women still earn less than their male counterparts. A man would be hired most likely to be promoted and/or receive a managerial or executive position than a woman. ————————————————- In regards to young girls they face ageism whereas people may think they are untrustworthy, shifty and unreliable. Girls who want to play sports especially on a boys team may be assessed by the players and coach as incapable of keeping up too weak to play the sport. In school, boys are judged as good in math and girls are not. ————————————————- If a woman is in her child rearing age, she could face pregnancy discrimination. With 12 weeks paid leave, the woman could face repercussions from co-workers or administration. Some women feel that having a baby would be putting their career on hold. Most women have to take on the role of raising and caring for the children. Most single parent household are run by women. ————————————————- Also, women in their 20-30s are subjected to domestic violence. Domestic abuse is on a decline, however, women are still at a high risk for abuse. Women in this age group are usually majority of the time victims or assault and battery and rape. ————————————————- Women married for 30 plus years are unable to provide for themselves if they spouse leaves them. For years that have adopted their husband’s identity as their own. Therefore, these women have difficulty with self-independence. If a women because ill, it is more likely that her spouse will abandon her. Women mostly likely will stay and provide health care and nurturing to their ailing spouse. In addition women over 50 will most likely care for their ailing parent and handle the parent’s finances. Older women are seen as unhealthy and sexless. After age 50, women are seen as invisible. They start to believe that their voice or concern is no longer valuable. However, they are viewed as ineffective and dependent on others during their later years. Women have more chronic illnesses than men; men usually acute illnesses. Medical coverage usually covers health care treatment for acute illnesses that men usually acquire. Therefore if a women requires long term care in a nursing home, medical coverage may run out or does not cover the stay. All in all, Special Populations could be apply to any person; everyone has unique needs and advantages/disadvantages from another person or group. We all have challenges; some people are apparent, whereas others are not. Their challenges affect their life adversely. My perspective is that I am going to be cognizant of everyone’s physical challenges and establish cultural competence. My goal will get them to live a more vigorous, productive, and striving lifestyle. I have to effectively assess the needs of my clients and how they are underserved in their community to utilize the tools necessary to address their needs. I want to relate to my clients that having and education and a productive lifestyle is attainable. Everyone is accorded the same rights and opportunities regardless of your challenges. Some people may requires special services to help them attain those rights.

How Philanthropy Is An Effort Or Act Of Good - 1247 Words

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For more information about the Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation’s programs or how to support them, review the Foundation section of this Alumnae Association Manual or visit www.kappa.org/foundation. Reading Is Fundamental Kappa Kappa Gamma adopted Reading Is Fundamental as our national philanthropy in 2004. RIF’s goal is to serve the nation’s underserved children and families through the development and delivery of literacy programs and campaigns that motivate youth to read regularly. Formed in 1966, RIF’s highest priority is reaching underserved childrenShow MoreRelatedBp ( British Petroleum )1344 Words   |  6 PagesBP did extensive test to assure the public that this new pipeline posed no hazard to the environment and that there was an intense level of commitment and focus (Thorne, p. 587 2014). 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