Shabbat Shirah

[magid]

I overslept this morning, so I had to rush to make it to shul for Torah reading and haftarah, for the song sung at the sea (by Moses and Miriam, both), and the song sung by Dvorah (a haftarah filled with women who do things; I like that).

I was late, and arrived after the sefer Torah was already out, the reading started. Sort of. There was a lull, and I couldn't figure out why. There was the person reading, the person getting the aliyah, both gabbaim... but nothing was happening. I got to the right page in the chumash, right at the beginning of the fourth aliyah (I'd made it in time for the Song, yay!), and waited, davening what I could to catch up as some people talked, and others sung niggunim. Eventually there was an announcement: there was a problem with the sefer Torah, with a vav that looked like a mem (in sofrut, Hebrew scribal writing, they'd look like the ones in this chart (fourth line, fifth from left, and fifth line, fourth from left). This is Not Good: even one letter wrong in the entire parchment renders the scroll pasul, unfit for use (and needing fixing by a scribe). I don't know how well the Torah was checked before the minyan acquired it, one of a number of rescued sifrei Torah from lost communities in Europe.

More singing, more talk, more catch-up davening, and there was a decision as to how to proceed (I'll note here that the minyan has no official rabbi, though I know that there are many knowledgeable individuals). The laining would continue, each person reading what s/he had prepared, but there would be no more aliyot. The person who had already said the beginning blessing of the aliyah would stay until the end of the reading at the end of the parasha, and say the closing blessing. It felt very strange, with all the middle bits stripped out. It was also interesting because the person who'd been honored with the fourth aliyah was female (as usual when the lainer is female), but she'd be staying up through the rest of the aliyot, which included both male and female readers.

The ripples of repercussion continued through the rest of davening. There was no hagbah and g'lilah; the sefer Torah was wrapped without ceremony. The person reading the haftarah did not say the blessings before and after (I really don't understand this, given that it's not read from the sefer Torah, and was in fact instituted at a time when it was prohibited to read from the Torah.). The sefer Torah was put back in the ark without the usual singing of psalms, nor the usual procession. The ark wasn't opened during Anim Z'mirot. It felt odd and unsettling, though of course any course of action that acknowledged the lack would have felt strange.

I don't know how long it takes to check a sefer Torah; I hope it will be done before the next minyan davening in two weeks. (Or if not, I suppose there's the possibility of a loaner from some other minyan, given that they've got spares that aren't needed for extra readings that week.)


And on a wholly different note, kiddush was sponsored in celebration of a new baby boy, in honor of Tu b'Shvat (there were many fruits, including figs and dates), and to enjoy that other famous holiday that is the first Saturday of February: international ice cream for breakfast day! (An impressive feat, given that there's no freezer at shul.)

Comments

[rethought.livejournal.com]

Oh, no!

I wasn't even there and I feel unsettled.

When you say lost communities in Europe, do you know where abouts?
(We've been discussing scribal error in my PhD comparative Semitics course, so I'm curious...)

[cellio]

Ouch. I hope they can get the scroll checked before it's next needed. (Does spotting a problem impose the presumption that there are others, so fixing that one letter isn't good enough?)

I don't understand the haftarah decision either. I'm curious about the reasoning.

[magid.livejournal.com]

I don't know the history of this sefer Torah, other than it came from Save a Torah, which sounds like it's likely from eastern Europe. I don't know more than that, though.

It looks like they check the sifrei Torah before they're given; I don't know whether they guarantee the checking of the Torah or not.

[magid.livejournal.com]

There's two weeks before the next meeting, so there's a chance, though I don't know whether fixing the found letter is sufficient, or if there needs to be a read through the rest of it, too. I believe it was checked before it came to the minyan from Save a Torah, too.

I didn't ask about the haftarah reasoning, since I didn't end up talking with any of the people involved during kiddush (It was still read out of a book, as usual). If I do next time, I'll definitely report back!

[zahzeh.livejournal.com]

Interesting experience you had there.

Dvorah is my daughter's middle name. I spelled it that way, too, instead of Devorah. It was my grandmother's name.

[magid.livejournal.com]

It was sort of like the Torah being dropped: something you hear about, but never think will happen to you. (And much less known what to do; I assume there are a variety of options...)

Your daughter has a great role model in a judge and leader; I assume your grandmother was also an impressive lady. (Somehow, "Deborah" is fine, as is "Dvorah", but "Devorah" just seems wrong.)

[zahzeh.livejournal.com]

Heh. Actually, my grandmother was an incredible person. That generation of European Jews, and all....

but "Devorah" just seems wrong
Ex-act-ly. ;)

BTW, I won't be coming up this month. :(
vapourtrail will be going to Israel to visit her bf instead of him coming over here.

[magid.livejournal.com]

That generation did so much; I should manage half so much.

Come up later this year, maybe?

Dang. Completely understandable, but my loss...

[zahzeh.livejournal.com]

Heh. My loss too. :)

I might come up in April, but that's always a hectic month for me, so we'll see. But I really want to come up and vapourtrail's bf will be most likely visiting then. So we'll see.