Jewish gathering at MK

[Maddie2]

We just returned from a quick trip to Florida and we were at the Magic Kingdom this past Thursday. We were near the carousel and walked through the castle from the backside, taking the left path down toward Tomorrowland.

Without realizing it, we ended up walking through the edge of where several Jewish men (probably 100 or so) were congregating. It appeared they were saying their individual prayers.

I’m embarrassed to say I know very little about the customs of people who are Jewish. It appeared that the women were waiting 10 feet or so away.

I don’t recall seeing this before at WDW. Is it done in other parks too? We felt bad when we realized where we were and exited the area. Had we realized that a religious practice was going on, out of respect, we would have taken a different path.

Would appreciate some education on this.
Thank you.

 

[DisneYE]

I'm Jewish (secular) and this is extremely rare. I've never heard of this.
Rare in the sense that you seldom (I never have) see 100 Jewish men congregate for prayer in a public place on a random day (not being the Sabbath or any major Jewish holiday).
I don't think I've ever seen or heard of 100 men praying at the Wailing Wall (the holiest of jewish places) in Jerusalem on a random middle of the week day in the afternoon. Synagogues or yeshivas (religious schools)? Some. But a public place? It's rare and I've personally never heard of that.

Now, religious Muslims, sure. You could see dozens of men stop wherever they are, any day of the week, to pray if they are religious. I've seen dozens of men huddled on a street in Paris and Frankfurt for prayer in the middle of the day.
But Jewish men? 100 of them? Never.

Only thing I can think of is it was a group of Orthodox Jews on an excursion of some sort and if they were super religious they congregated for afternoon prayer (mincha) which, again, only the super religious do.

As to whether it is "done in other parks" comment... it's not something particular to any park and is not intentionally "done" in any of them, or any public place, really. It's just an impromptu gathering of a religious group that happened to take place coincidentally during a visit to the park. It's not something premeditated, I'm sure of that.

And no need to feel bad for them, or anyone else. The same way I wouldn't feel bad if I walked past a group of 100 nuns or Tibetan monks congregated for whatever reason at a park. (Incredibly, I *have* seen nuns at WDW, just not 100 of them)

But your curiosity and desire to learn is appreciated.

 

[georgina]

My first thought was that Friday was International Holocaust Remembrance Day, but you said this was Thursday, so maybe related?

 

[VandVsmama]

Friday was Holocaust Remembrance Day. If they were praying some time around sunset, then that would make sense.

 

[firefly_ris]

What time? I was there and didn't see anything.

 

[mousefan73]

seeing it was only men and women were away. I am guessing orthodox?? did they have hats and long beards?

 

[punkin]

Assuming they were Jewish... they were probably praying. Religious Jews, like religious people of other faiths pray a lot! Ideally, 3 times a day in a group of 10 minumum.
It may have been a tour group or some sort of family reunion vacation. Nothing for you to feel embarrassed about. Walking near them is perfectly ok.

 

[Maddie2]

My first thought was that Friday was International Holocaust Remembrance Day, but you said this was Thursday, so maybe related?

I'm guessing this is exactly what was going on. Just before sundown. As we walked by, I do remember seeing one man who was crying. Thank you!

 

[Maddie2]

Friday was Holocaust Remembrance Day. If they were praying some time around sunset, then that would make sense.

Yes, just before 6pm, so I'm pretty sure this is what it was about. Thank you!

 

[Maddie2]

Assuming they were Jewish... they were probably praying. Religious Jews, like religious people of other faiths pray a lot! Ideally, 3 times a day in a group of 10 minumum.
It may have been a tour group or some sort of family reunion vacation. Nothing for you to feel embarrassed about. Walking near them is perfectly ok.

As others have said, since Friday was Holocaust Remembrance Day, this would likely be the reason. No idea if they were all one group, but they certainly may have been. Thank you!

 

[Maddie2]

My first thought was that Friday was International Holocaust Remembrance Day, but you said this was Thursday, so maybe related?

Most likely. You could feel the emotion from them, even in just the couple of minutes it took to walk past them.

We were inside the WDW bubble for a few days and had not seen any outside news for a while, otherwise, we would have likely have known this. Thank you!

 

[Maddie2]

seeing it was only men and women were away. I am guessing orthodox?? did they have hats and long beards?

I don't recall seeing hats or beards, but in just the few minutes it took to walk past them, I do remember black clothing and yarmulkes. Maybe? Thank you.

 

[Maddie2]

I'm Jewish (secular) and this is extremely rare. I've never heard of this.
Rare in the sense that you seldom (I never have) see 100 Jewish men congregate for prayer in a public place on a random day (not being the Sabbath or any major Jewish holiday).
I don't think I've ever seen or heard of 100 men praying at the Wailing Wall (the holiest of jewish places) in Jerusalem on a random middle of the week day in the afternoon. Synagogues or yeshivas (religious schools)? Some. But a public place? It's rare and I've personally never heard of that.

Now, religious Muslims, sure. You could see dozens of men stop wherever they are, any day of the week, to pray if they are religious. I've seen dozens of men huddled on a street in Paris and Frankfurt for prayer in the middle of the day.
But Jewish men? 100 of them? Never.

Only thing I can think of is it was a group of Orthodox Jews on an excursion of some sort and if they were super religious they congregated for afternoon prayer (mincha) which, again, only the super religious do.

As to whether it is "done in other parks" comment... it's not something particular to any park and is not intentionally "done" in any of them, or any public place, really. It's just an impromptu gathering of a religious group that happened to take place coincidentally during a visit to the park. It's not something premeditated, I'm sure of that.

And no need to feel bad for them, or anyone else. The same way I wouldn't feel bad if I walked past a group of 100 nuns or Tibetan monks congregated for whatever reason at a park. (Incredibly, I *have* seen nuns at WDW, just not 100 of them)

But your curiosity and desire to learn is appreciated.

Thank you so much for the information. As others have said, it was likely prayers at sundown before the Holocaust Remembrance Day. They may or may not have been of the same group. Maybe it was an impromptu thing or perhaps it was planned to meet there at that time. Either way, now knowing the likely reason, it makes complete sense. Makes me a teary to think of it.

 

[Maddie2]

What time? I was there and didn't see anything.

Just before 6pm. If you are looking at the castle from the front, it was near the little extra structure on the right. With so many people coming and going, unless you walked right past or through, you probably wouldn't notice. So many people all over.

 

[mjkacmom]

I believe it’s yeshiva week, I think lots travel. https://www.jewishbahamas.com/yeshivaweek

 

[firefly_ris]

Just before 6pm. If you are looking at the castle from the front, it was near the little extra structure on the right. With so many people coming and going, unless you walked right past or through, you probably wouldn't notice. So many people all over.

Ok gotchya. I wasn't near there at that time.

 

[bcla]

I can't think of anyone who would get upset that a stranger in a public place might not know what they were doing and walk in through it. I'm guessing they probably just ignore anyone walking through as part of their devotion and then perhaps explain what's happening after they're done.

Once I was socializing after a mass job interview, and I was invited to the hotel room of a fellow interviewee. I actually lived close enough to drive home but since I was there he let met use the sofa bed in the two-room suite (I had one the night before) and a bunch of us went out to watch a movie together. Since I was local I knew a lot more about where everything was in the area. But once I was going to ask him something but he was in the middle of his Islamic prayer. He just ignored me during the prayer, but afterwards said it wasn't a problem since he's dealt with non-Muslims not understanding that he was in his prayers until he could explain it.

 

[Maddie2]

I can't think of anyone who would get upset that a stranger in a public place might not know what they were doing and walk in through it. I'm guessing they probably just ignore anyone walking through as part of their devotion and then perhaps explain what's happening after they're done.

Once I was socializing after a mass job interview, and I was invited to the hotel room of a fellow interviewee. I actually lived close enough to drive home but since I was there he let met use the sofa bed in the two-room suite (I had one the night before) and a bunch of us went out to watch a movie together. Since I was local I knew a lot more about where everything was in the area. But once I was going to ask him something but he was in the middle of his Islamic prayer. He just ignored me during the prayer, but afterwards said it wasn't a problem since he's dealt with non-Muslims not understanding that he was in his prayers until he could explain it.

I think you are exactly right! IMO, It's always nice to learn more about others and their customs and practices.

 

[xjillianpaige]

I believe it’s yeshiva week, I think lots travel. https://www.jewishbahamas.com/yeshivaweek

Yep! It's yeshiva week. Orthodox Jews will travel at this time because schools are on break for every age group across the US, so it's a good time for families to travel/vacation together and with other families.

 

[BTK]

We just returned from a quick trip to Florida and we were at the Magic Kingdom this past Thursday. We were near the carousel and walked through the castle from the backside, taking the left path down toward Tomorrowland.

Without realizing it, we ended up walking through the edge of where several Jewish men (probably 100 or so) were congregating. It appeared they were saying their individual prayers.

I’m embarrassed to say I know very little about the customs of people who are Jewish. It appeared that the women were waiting 10 feet or so away.

I don’t recall seeing this before at WDW. Is it done in other parks too? We felt bad when we realized where we were and exited the area. Had we realized that a religious practice was going on, out of respect, we would have taken a different path.

Would appreciate some education on this.
Thank you.

I was there also. Didn’t see them pray, but we saw a LOT of Jewish people. Based on their wardrobe and hair style we believe they were Orthodox Jews. The women were covered and most either covered their hair or wore wigs. There were even some at our hotel pool who wore pants under their swim suits.

It definitely appeared to be an intentional gathering. There were many different groups there. Not just at WDW, but Hollywood Studios and Universal also. We saw a large group with matching shirts which indicated they were from Israel.