Youth Groups of Jewish Synagogue and Korean Church Come Together to Learn

Leaders of a Jewish synagogue and a Christian church in Los Angeles are collaborating to give their youth an educational experience of other faith communities in the city.

Temple Israel of Hollywood and Los Angeles Christian Presbyterian Church started this collaboration with a joint youth experience on December 6, during which a group of 13 eighth grade students from Temple Israel visited the youth service at LACPC. The two are planning to have another event in February, when youth students from LACPC will be visiting Temple Israel during their youth service.

Pastor Joseph Kim, the youth pastor at LACPC, said his agreement to collaborate with Temple Israel staff to create opportunities like this came from his personal curiosities as well as hopes to provide an educational experience for the youth students.

“I don’t know much about Jewish culture except for what I read in the Old Testament of the Bible, and I’ve never had the opportunity to interact with Jewish people or see how Jewish worship is done in their synagogues, modern day,” Kim explained.

“And for our kids, having this kind of exposure really opens their eyes and would inform them as they grow into adults,” he continued. “Right now, our kids have been going through Old Testament books for the past few months in their personal devotionals, and I thought it would be a cool experience for them to actually interact with the descendants of the people they’re reading about. It would serve as a great supplement to their devotional material, and open their eyes to what the Jewish community is like.”

“I had not been to church before, and there was such a great spirit there,” said Senior Rabbi John Rosove, who accompanied the eighth graders to LACPC’s youth service. “I didn’t have any expectations going in because it’s better to go in with a blank slate and have the experience define itself -- and frankly, I was blown away."

The church carried out the youth service as they normally would during any other Sunday, with worship music, sermon, and prayer. But when they usually had Bible study after the worship service, they replaced it with a panel discussion to give an opportunity for the Jewish youth to ask questions about the Christian community and faith.

For the panel, some of the questions were prepared in advance by the Jewish students and sent to LACPC leders, and some were asked spontaneously at the event. Most of the students asked questions about what the LACPC youth thought was unique about their faith and their community, and how their faith helps them in their struggles.

In response, one of the panelists said friends made at church are not only friends, but brothers and sisters -- a much deeper connection than simply friends. Going to church is like coming home, said another. The community provides a safe haven and support when going through difficult circumstances, they said.

Youths of both Temple Israel and LACPC expressed positive reactions to the experience. The eighth grade students from Temple Israel said the experience “broadened their perspective of the faith community,” as the Christian worship service was very different from that of the worship at the synagogue. Youth from LACPC expressed excitement to visit Temple Israel in February.

“I was very moved by the kids’ responses to the questions,” Rosove said. “And these kids were thoughtful and warmhearted -- to each other and to all of us. I came home thinking, ‘My goodness. This is what all faith communities should be like.’”