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What to expect at a Shabbat service?

Hi all,

I recently signed up to attend a Shabbat service held by the Chabad at my university and wanted to ask what I should expect. I’m Jewish but have never actually attended a service at a synagogue primarily due to rediscovering my Jewish identity later in life and then wavering on my spiritual beliefs and wondering if prayer was even the right way to go in terms of how to practice my Judaism and whatnot (which sounds dumb I know, Im not sure how to better word it), but that’s a story for another day.

The closest I’ve gotten was my bar mitzvah, but that was almost 7 years ago, so I’ve forgotten everything. My family is secular at this point so none of us attend synagogue. I’m nervous that I won’t know any of the prayers or songs or whatnot or won’t be well read enough to understand the parsha, etc. – is there any reading or studying I’m expected to do/should do beforehand? What happens at a service like this? Is there anything I should bring? Should I just kinda sit in the back and follow best I can or is there a structure to these things?

While I’m still quite apprehensive about going to a service, I feel some sort of spiritual pull to go, which I’ve felt before but this feels stronger oddly enough. I’ve had a rough few weeks and kept coming back to the idea that introducing religion or spirituality into my life may give me a renewed fulfillment in my life that’s felt gone.

submitted by /u/Dyljam2345
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