From Tuesday 3rd to Thursday 5th October, children in Year 6 visited the historic Singer’s Hill Synagogue in Birmingham, to learn more about the Jewish faith. The visits were extremely informative and all of the children were fascinated and eager to learn more as the tour went on.
On arriving, the children were given a brief history of the synagogue itself, which was built during the Victorian period, restored several times and is one of the most prominent synagogues in the UK. We then entered the children’s room, where our tour guide used the images on the beautiful stained-glass windows to provide the children with a brief history of Judaism.
After that, we entered the main prayer room. The children were astonished by the majesty and beauty of this area of the synagogue. Our guide then explained how Jewish people use the synagogue to pray and discussed various religious festivals and occasions in the Jewish calendar, also explaining how the Bimah works.
Finally, we were brought over to the Ark and showed the Torah scrolls, which, incredibly, are all hand-written. The children were then given opportunities to ask questions, many of which were very insightful and thought-provoking. The visit was a wonderful opportunity for our Year 6 children to explore the faiths of others and celebrate the religious diversity of Birmingham and the UK in general.
“It was so beautiful,” remarked Aseea.
“I learned so much about Judaism and I didn’t realise how similar some things are to Islam like having no statues and reading from right to left,” Hira said.
