2.1.1 Physical Arrangements
The outer appearance of the meeting rooms of type ℵ (aleph) can differ considerably. Its believers can meet in private homes, essentially adjusted to their needs, or in public places, hotels, Christian chapels, or own buildings. A private home can be a house or a department in a flat. Some groups meet since years and even decades in private homes and prefer that to any official meeting place.
They only need a few utensils for their services and Bible studies. A sufficient number of chairs serve members, visitors and guests. A simple lectern allows the speaker comfortably to place his Bible and his manuscript for his lecture or exposition. Close to the entrance one can pick up a Hebrew hymn book and Bible, Old and New Testament. Some groups use private homes only for weekdays' Bible studies, others also for Sabbath meetings. Those will also have a set for communion, a jug and one or more cups to hold wine, and a basket or plate for bread. Occasionally one finds a basket for collections near the exit. Type ℵ (aleph) groups will unlikely display typical religious Jewish items, if present at all, like Sabbath candle sticks.
The younger the individuals that use a meeting place are, the more informal can the meeting places become. I remember one impressive meeting in an ancient house downtown Jerusalem. A student inhabited one huge room where he welcomed mostly young Israelis and foreigners. Sitting on beds, sofas and on the ground they discussed the issue, whether Jesus was Israel's Messiah or not. As one could discern by the dress, also Orthodox Jews were present and involved in the sometimes lively discussion.
In hotel-rooms, chapels and other public in-house meeting places one can find overhead screens for the projections of song sheets. The interior of chapels is similar to many Protestant chapels and churches. Some have once been such, but changed ownership and users over time, also due to political circumstances (9/95). Where in chapels one can find a cross, here one will often find a calligraphy of „the Biblical passage known as the Shema (Hear O Israel)” (Donin 1972: 163-164):
Shema Yisrael, Adonai eloheinu, Adonai ehat. Hear O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One. (Deut. 6:4) The Shema is not a prayer in the ordinary sense of the word, but for thousands of years it has been an integral part of the prayer service. The Shema is a declaration of faith, a pledge of allegiance to One God, an affirmation of Judaism. It is the first „prayer” that children are taught to say. It is the last utterance of martyrs. ... it is the expression of Jewish conviction, the historic proclamation of Judaism's central creed (Donin 1980: 144).
'The Shema and Its Blessings” (Donin 1980: 144-166) reminds Jews that they are obliged to love their God with all they are and have.
Israel's relationship to God is described in terms of an eternal marriage between lovers also ... (Hosea 2:21-22) (Donin 1972: 313-314).
As such, the Shema, displayed in Messianic Jewish congregations, is an obvious display of loyalty to Judaism. Such public display appears as an obvious distinction from the otherwise befriended evangelical and other churches and denominations. 15I remember no church that displayed the Shema. Only „Das Juwel des Barocks, die Karlskirche” (Ziak 1964: 178) in Vienna, as a probably rare exception, displays at least in Hebrew the Tetragrammaton, יהוה , above its high altar. Like „black fire on white fire”, the black letters stand in a golden triangle, obviously referring to the Trinity, surrounded by a wide corona of beams of gold. )
A Menorah, with electric bulbs, or no light carriers at all, can be found near the front. Flowers, Bible verses on walls and other „not essential” (Donin 1972: 194) items can be found. As differently these places may appear to the eye, what they all have in common is, that they do not appear like an Orthodox synagogue (Cohen 1985: 57). They lack its most important ritual item, the sifrei Torah, the scrolls of Torah, which are kept in the aron kodesh, the Holy Ark, a distinguished cabinet or recess in the wall (Donin 1972: 93). This absence refers to an Interaction with the Supernatural, which also does not follow Orthodox Jewish patterns or expressions.