Shabbat morning--May 13, 2006
Shabbat morning--May 13th
I often go to Yakar ( a small modern orthodox shul) on Shabbat morning but based upon the recommendation from our new friends from Thursday evening, we went to services at Shir Hadashah located in the Youth Center in the German Colony, just off of Emek Rephaim St. This is an unusual synagogue, even by Jerusalem's standards. The rabbi is a woman (whose name escapes me), and is the daughter of the world famous David Hartmann, the founder and guiding light of the Hartmann Institute--one of the most important centers of learning in a city full of wise men and women (both historically speaking as well as of today). This is an egalitarian service, with men and women having equal roles (except as noted below) leading the service and reading from the Torah. What is different though, is the mechitzah or curtain separating the men's and women's sections, but which gets pulled back for the sermon and announcements. The separation of the sexes during services is a mainstay of orthodox services and women never have a meaningful role in the prayers. To have the separation but to also have full participation--well that was definitely unusual, but also very meaningful.
A regular prayer during Shabbat morning services is the Priestly Benediction. It isn't really emphasized in many services in the States, but that is not the case in Israel. Jews, notwithstanding their Ashkenazic (Eastern European background) or Sephardic (Mediterranean heritage) roots, are divided into 3 major camps--the Kohanim or High Priests, the Leviim or Assistants to the Kohanim, and the Israelites (basically everyone else). Your patriarchal ancestry determines your religious sector lineage, while your matriarchal lineage actually determines whether you are Jewish or not. Here in Jerusalem, the men (one of those non-egalitarian issues I mentioned above) who trace their ancestry to the first High Priest in the bible (Aaron, Moses' brother), leave the sanctuary and go outside to bathe their feet; they then return barefooted (or in their socks) and go to the front of the congregation. There this small handful of men, with their prayer shawl or tallit drawn over their heads and completely covering their faces, sway from side to side with their arms outstretched under their tallit--quietly reciting the words to the prayer as they are called aloud by the reader. This swaying enables them to literally "bless" the entire congregation--a truly powerful experience.
I often go to Yakar ( a small modern orthodox shul) on Shabbat morning but based upon the recommendation from our new friends from Thursday evening, we went to services at Shir Hadashah located in the Youth Center in the German Colony, just off of Emek Rephaim St. This is an unusual synagogue, even by Jerusalem's standards. The rabbi is a woman (whose name escapes me), and is the daughter of the world famous David Hartmann, the founder and guiding light of the Hartmann Institute--one of the most important centers of learning in a city full of wise men and women (both historically speaking as well as of today). This is an egalitarian service, with men and women having equal roles (except as noted below) leading the service and reading from the Torah. What is different though, is the mechitzah or curtain separating the men's and women's sections, but which gets pulled back for the sermon and announcements. The separation of the sexes during services is a mainstay of orthodox services and women never have a meaningful role in the prayers. To have the separation but to also have full participation--well that was definitely unusual, but also very meaningful.
A regular prayer during Shabbat morning services is the Priestly Benediction. It isn't really emphasized in many services in the States, but that is not the case in Israel. Jews, notwithstanding their Ashkenazic (Eastern European background) or Sephardic (Mediterranean heritage) roots, are divided into 3 major camps--the Kohanim or High Priests, the Leviim or Assistants to the Kohanim, and the Israelites (basically everyone else). Your patriarchal ancestry determines your religious sector lineage, while your matriarchal lineage actually determines whether you are Jewish or not. Here in Jerusalem, the men (one of those non-egalitarian issues I mentioned above) who trace their ancestry to the first High Priest in the bible (Aaron, Moses' brother), leave the sanctuary and go outside to bathe their feet; they then return barefooted (or in their socks) and go to the front of the congregation. There this small handful of men, with their prayer shawl or tallit drawn over their heads and completely covering their faces, sway from side to side with their arms outstretched under their tallit--quietly reciting the words to the prayer as they are called aloud by the reader. This swaying enables them to literally "bless" the entire congregation--a truly powerful experience.
posted by Scottland at 6:45 PM
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