Rosh Hashahah

So today is Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year. So guess where I was all morning?
At synagogue.
Which isn't a bad thing, but it does bring up some interesting issues to take into consideration.
Some of the members of my synagogue are quite religious and they know all the prayers and can understand them and might even be able to read hebrew. They really take services seriously. And then there is pretty much everyone else. Some of these people can be put in the category of the 'twice a year jew', which means that they only go to temple on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, which are the two major Jewish holidays. This group includes but is not limited to a lot of the kids who graduated from hebrew school with me and their parents who might have only gone to synagogue more before when their kids were getting bar mitzvahed.
So you have to wonder, what are all these people doing in synagogue for 2 to 4 hours?
What compels them every year to listen to songs and prayers in hebrew which they can't even understand. I guess it's the tradition, and also because it's the one time of the year where they can feel spiritual or religious.
Oh, and don't forget the socialization. Services always start late because everyone is catching up with their friends and relatives and people they think are their friends. Also if you didn't show up to these services then someone might realize.........
"Oh, that Judy, what a bad jew, she never goes to services," something kinda along those lines.
So yup.
Those are my thoughts on Rosh Hashanah. Well not all my thoughts, but some of the more critical ones. Of course I like the holiday, and I wish I was a better jew and such.
So yeah.