The Answer - A blog about Education, Preparation, and Commitment.

YES Prep Brays Oaks Students Ask: Why don’t Jewish People Eat Pork?

January 31, 2011 by Sarah Straub

Why don’t Jewish people eat pork? How did Siddhartha sit forever without eating? Is Shiva evil or just a guardian for people? These questions are questions that I remember having when I was learning about religion – in college. Imagine how impressed I was to hear questions like these coming from the mouths of 6th graders?

My advice in college had been to travel to all of these different places of worship and get the story from people who actually lived, breathed and practiced their religions. Knowing how well it worked for me, I decided to plan the best field trip ever!

We began by going to a mosque where we were privileged enough for several students to be able to climb the ornately carved staircase up to wear the imam delivers his message. We listened to the imam sing the call to prayer in Arabic and soaked in the beautiful scenery while feasting on Turkish candies.

Then, we traveled to a Jewish synagogue, where our students were separated into boys and girls – to maintain authenticity. We saw the huge doors at the front of the worship space open to behold a huge Torah. One by one, students got to go up and stand within one foot of this $4,000 holy text.

Then, we headed down to Stafford to visit a Hindu mandir. We made it just in time, as we were permitted to sit in on their festival of lights. The beautiful marble and limestone building was open to the elements and the day was perfectly gorgeous. The incense filled our noses and we watched the monks ask music flooded the patio and Ganesh and Brahma flanked us on our way in.

After that, we visited a Buddhist temple where a monk taught us the basics of meditation. Can you believe that we had no problem having our 6th graders stay quiet to meditate for nearly 5 minutes!?! Maybe it was the fact that there were literally hundreds of Buddhas watching our progress.

Lastly, we headed to a cathedral downtown where students got to see magnificent stained glass windows, a reliquary and the most beautiful baptismal font ever.

It truly seemed as if YES Prep Brays Oaks had traveled around the world and left Houston far, far behind. Fortunately, we made it back right before the bell rang to end our school day!
 

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