Shul Options

I have ripped this following list from a large US shul to demonstrate how one (orthodox) shul offers many options for their congregants.  I have tried to protect the name of the shul.  Let me know if you notice any trends that I miss:

Shabbat Services 

Main Sanctuary 9:00AM - This service is the cornerstone of the shul.  The Rabbi’s weekly sermons address timely and timeless issues and speak to the congregants’ relationships with one another and with Hashem. Our Cantor leads the service with melodies and songs that never fail to inspire. 

Hashkama Minyan 7:45AM - This early minyan meets on Shabbat morning. With a close-knit feel, this minyan features a 15 minute shiur taught in conjunction with a hot Kiddush immediately following davening. It is an ideal service for early risers, spouses who want to help acclimate their children to Shabbat morning groups and people looking for a spirited Shabbat morning mini shiur. 

Young Leadership Minyan 9:30AM - This weekly Shabbat morning minyan is the nucleus of the Young Leadership Committee’s social and religious programming. The minyan features a sermon each week followed by a Kiddush which provides a wonderful venue for young community leaders to interact after services every week. 

Carlebach Minyan - This monthly Friday night service meets every Shabbat Mevarchim. Led by our Cantor, this minyan uses the tunes of Shlomo Carlebach to inspire us and transform our Friday night experience. 

Beginners Service 9:30AM - A Saturday morning service designed for people who know little or nothing about Jewish prayer. The Beginners Service is an anxiety free, “no Hebrew-necessary, user friendly” prayer experience that will keep you looking forward to Saturday mornings. Service is followed by Kiddush, refreshments and socializing. 

Sunday and Weekday Services 

On Sundays and legal holidays, Shacharit is held 8:30AM. On weekday mornings, Shacharit is at 7:00AM and 8:00AM. 

Minchah and Maariv - follow the schedule on the calendar. 

Women’s Tehillim 7:15PM - Join us every other Monday evening as we recite the entire Book of Tehillim (Psalms) for those who need our spiritual support and for the safety and well-being of our brothers and sisters in Israel. We divide the Psalms among all members present so that we may articulate a meaningful and complete prayer as a group.

First of all I observe that there are options for early rises and late comers, old and young, beginners and advanced, and those that like to sing and those that want to get it over as soon as possible.

Next, notice that food (no surprise) is a key ingredient to the communal tefilla experience.

Finally, when is everyone together in the same room?  There is a halachik concept of ברוב עם הדרת מלך - "in the great multitude the king's glory is enhanced" - which proposes that it is better for amass more people for a religious experience.  When does this community really get together - to daven or even just to socialize?

Seeking Sublime

I first read seriously about the concept of the sublime when I discovered Kant. One physical location that jumped out from the text was the Swiss Alps. To me, the agency of tefilla is to reach the sublime of life everyday.

I am heading off to see the Alps and looking forward to contemplating the beauty of nature and some vacation. The Alps also remind me of the following story:

It was said about Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch that when he was well into his 70’s he decided to travel from Germany to Switzerland for a vacation. This was in the late 1800’s when cars and airplanes were unheard of. The trip was an arduous trek by train and coach. He was asked, ‘Rabbi, you’re an old man. Why are you taking such a trip?’ Replied Rabbi Hirsch, “After 120 years, I’ll meet my maker and he will ask me, ‘Raphael, did you ever see my Alps?’”

Have a wonderful weekend and hope that you too will see the sublime in life.

A Good Network is Worth.....

It is so wonderful to be connected to amazing and thoughtful people.  As such, I feel it as a need to share some of these resources with you.

Shlomo Ressler started sharing a dvar Torah in 1995 and has continued to do so, week in and week out, with thousands of people.  He called the project the Weekly Dvar - and I encourage you to join the readership.

The latest post, in the name of Rabbi Avi Weiss, captures a simple and poignant message:

Perhaps the most famous blessing is found in this week's Torah portion. The Birkat Cohanim, the priestly benediction is recited by the priest and by parents to their children every Friday night. (Numbers 6:24-26) The benediction is divided into three sentences each containing two important elements; God's blessing, and a prayer to avoid possible pitfalls of the blessing. 

In the first part, the priest states: "May the Lord bless you and keep you." The Sifrei understands this to refer to monetary benefits. But money has the potential to corrupt. Therefore a blessing for money is not complete unless accompanied by an assurance of protection  from its dangers. Hence the last word of the sentence, "May the Lord guard you." 

In the second section, the priest states: "May the Lord cause His light to shine upon you." The light of the Lord is often associated with Torah knowledge (Proverbs 6:23). However, while one can know every word of Torah, one can still lack the ability to interact and engage others in an appropriate manner. Hence, this blessing concludes with the word, ve-hunekah, from the word hen, grace. This last statement is telling us to remain gracious to others because knowledge often makes one insular -- even arrogant. 

In the final part, the priest states," May the Lord lift His face to be near you." This blessing expresses the hope that one should always feel the presence of God, for too often we sense that God's face is hidden from us. (The Hebrew word yeesah, to lift, is the opposite of God being lowered or hidden.) Although we hope to always be absorbed in God's presence, sometimes even that experience can distort one's perception of how to change the world. Too often, people have done dastardly things in the name of God. Therefore, the text concludes, with a blessing of a grounded belief in God, of shalom, coming from the word shalem, whole. 

This threefold blessing reminds us that there is no absolute good. Every step forward always contains the possibility of unforeseen problems. May we be blessed with this awareness.

On the topic of tefilla, I think it is worth reflecting on the importance of graciousness.  What do you think>

Is There an Age to Start Growing your Spiritual Side?

I think this is a fair question to ask.

This thought was instigated by the reading/hearing of the weekly Torah portion in synagogue.  In Bamidbar, also known as the book of Numbers, we learn about the census of the Israelites in the wilderness.  The criteria for counting the people really is for a military purpose in that the desert was a staging ground for the eventual and supposed swift move to Israel.  Further, the essential criteria is for men "from the age of 20, all those that went to fight" (1:3) was  clarifying who could go out to war.

The tribe of Levi was not counted with their brethren, and were selected out for a different purpose - to serve in the Mishkan (the travelling Tabernacle that was the precursor to the Temple).With a careful reading, one can see that the Levites are counted from one month and older, yet they will only serve in the Mishkan from age 30 to age 50.  Thus their training and education for their spiritual burden begins at a much earlier age as well as their actual career of practice is limited to a period of peek performance.  Juxtapose this to the military men where there is no specific criteria beyond their age (note even physicality), there is a stark difference in their call to duty.

I first digested this point in reading Gideon Weitzman's Sparks of Light a few years ago.  Weitzman, a delightful teacher and scholar on the philosophy of Rav Kook, highlights this differing roles between the national entity and spiritual component and argues that this set up was to guard a balance for the nation to "survive and thrive".

One of the most influential books that I have ever read was As a Driven Leaf by Milton Sternberg - which if you haven't read, then what are you waiting for. The book is a historical fictitious account of the life of Elisha Ben Abuye. Sternberg, in sharing the travails of the protagonist, cites the enigmatic Mishna in Pirkei Avit chapter 4:20:

Elisha the son of Abuye would say: One who learns Torah in his childhood, what is this comparable to? To ink inscribed on fresh paper. One who learns Torah in his old age, what is this comparable to? To ink inscribed on erased paper.

Connecting to the idea presented in the beginning of the post - must spiritual people be nurtured for a longer time and thus before they may be corrupted from complex or negative thoughts?  Is there a latent message in the text promoting the notion of Tabula Rasa?

As a parent AND teacher, tis a daunting task - to raise moral and good children who will strive to care for their world and the people in their community.  And we know that we have to start at a young age to impart habits and values and not just wait to our young people have the physical maturity to "take" responsibility" (I have previously written about the issue with the age of bar/bat mitzvahs). But how can we properly prepare to shape the soulful side and properly measure our effectiveness?

Extra (Musaf) Prayers

The Musaf prayer for the Chagim is a very explicit tefilla.  Perhaps it is because my understanding of the Hebrew is adequate, I find the language of this prayer to be very powerful, acknowledging the special moment that is a Jewish holiday.   "Because of our sins, we have been exiled from our lands...." I think this verse draws a direct link to the purpose of our tefillot in reality lacking a temple to bring a sacrifice.  The tefilla's drawing out of the context allows for a reenactment of the temple service of that Biblical holiday and not only mentions the wish to return to a higher/closer level of worship with language, but evokes the people and spirit of the day. 

Usually I am not into extra prayers; I am of the philosophy that less is indeed more.  There is even an element to the Shabbat Musaf that is routine enough for me that it can pass without exceptional notice.  But I do feel I higher level of enjoyment/simcha when davening on the chagim and wonder if I am the only one.  

חג שמח!

Davening with 40,000

I watched and read from afar about the NY Rally at Citi Field on the dangers of the Internet.  In one article reviewing the event on Tablet, author Michah Stein slipped in the following comment:

The event kicked off (45 minutes late) with a communal reading of psalms and a stadium-wide mincha service. For all the hype and hoopla surrounding the event, the sight of 40,000 people praying together was undeniably moving.

I can only say that this is an interestingly kind observation in otherwise skeptical review. 

Do You Hear the Cry?

This is a famous story in the Jewish world, and was often retold by Rav Yehuda Amital zt"l as one of the founding educational principles of his yeshiva, and I felt inspired to share it here with you:

The founder of Chabad, Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, known as the Ba'al Ha-Tanya, was studying Torah in the end room of a railroad flat.  Two rooms away there was a baby sleeping.  In the middle room, his grandson, the Tzemach Tzedek, was learning.  Suddenly, the Ba'al Ha-tanya, heard the baby cry.  The elder rebbe rose from his studying, passed through the room where his grandson was studying, and went to the next room to soothe the baby to sleep.  Meanwhile, his grandson was too involved in his studies to notice the baby crying.  On returning to his room, the Ba’al Ha-Tanya told his grandson to stop learning.  He proclaimed, “If someone is studying Torah and fails to hear a baby’s cry, there is something very wrong with his learning.” 

I think for teaching tefilla, there is the same standard of application. How do we teach our students this precious lesson?

One way is to really address the power of prayer - not just for the individual, but its effect on other people outside of your personal room.