[Israel] Chalek shlishi: davening
Mar. 16th, 2007 12:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
magidCellio (also my parent's rabbi) had mentioned an egalitarian mechitza minyan in Jerusalem, Shira Hadasha, which I wanted to check out. Happily, 12 Emek Refaim was only about a half mile or so from the apartment, so it didn't take long to get there.
The davening is in a school auditorium. The mechitzah goes down the middle of the space from the aron, to the floor shtenders for the baalei tefillah, to the shulchan, and on back. Actually, it's not quite in the middle: the women's section is larger, necessarily so, at least on Shabbat evenings: it was SRO on the women's side, even spilling out the back door. I think there were at least 300 women there, perhaps 200 men. The morning was not nearly so large.
As at Tehillah, men lead davening that has dvarim she-b'kedusha (amidah, barchu, kaddish), and women lead other things (kabbalat Shabbat, psukei d'zimra, Torah service (though I wasn't there early enough in the morning to confirm the latter two)).
Shabbat evening, I arrived in time for mincha. Kabbalat Shabbat was very Carlebach (read: tuneful and leisurely), so I was a bit anxious by the time we got to maariv, since I knew that dinner was starting soon and I still had to walk to the hotel. I liked the davening, but by the end the time concern plus the overcrowdedness was a bit much for me, and I ducked out during announcements. (It was also strange not to see anyone I knew; I'd sort of assumed I'd run into someone or other.)
Shabbat morning I overslept, so I didn't arrive until the middle of the d'var Torah (which was fine by me; I totally needed the sleep). I caught parts of it (more easily because the guy speaking was obviously originally a USian. I always find it easier to follow Hebrew in an American accent), about how one can change many external things, but only through Torah study will one change one's heart. Something like that, anyway. Then the mechitzah was closed again (it's not a translucent fabric, and taller than the mechitzot I'm used to at home) for musaf. I'd forgotten that there would be birkat cohanim, so that was a happy surprise. It also helped that there weren't the crowds of the night before.
After davening there was a large kiddush outside. There were lots of interesting munchies, which I definitely took advantage of. On the down side, pretty much the only people who talked to me were some visiting Cantabridgians (Or are they Somervillians? Either way.).
A group of us walked to the Kotel Shabbat afternoon. I was glad to find I still knew the way to cut through the Armenian to the Jewish Quarter without going by the perimeter road.
I was able to focus well, which surprised me: usually I'm distracted by all the people around, and by the lack of being able to daven with a minyan, and so on. This time, I shut all that out, and the words were there. It was too crowded to daven in front, but there was space after I'd finished to go up and put my hands on the stones smoothed by the touch of so many hands through the centuries.
Unfortunately, when I went back on Tuesday, I had too much on my mind to have anything like that kind of intensity. The comparison almost made me regret returning; it would've been better had I managed it some other time, when there weren't so many things to do in such a short time.
Maariv after Shabbat happened at the Citadel hotel, followed by havdalah. I liked that there were dishes of whole cloves passed around. I didn't like the layout of the siddurim, which had mincha on top, maariv on the bottom, and the same pages for the amidah, because my eye automatically goes to the top of the page, and merely having a horizontal rule wasn't enough distinction.
The other maariv I made it to was at the wedding. I went towards the back, and was surprised that there were men still behind me. No one hassled me, though, which was nice. It wasn't a complete maariv, actually, because I haven't memorized all the brachot between the Shma and the amidah, but my mood was such that davening most of a maariv is better than none. I was told later that a woman davening maariv was very strange, but it made sense to me, an opportunity right there, without any opportunity cost...
The davening is in a school auditorium. The mechitzah goes down the middle of the space from the aron, to the floor shtenders for the baalei tefillah, to the shulchan, and on back. Actually, it's not quite in the middle: the women's section is larger, necessarily so, at least on Shabbat evenings: it was SRO on the women's side, even spilling out the back door. I think there were at least 300 women there, perhaps 200 men. The morning was not nearly so large.
As at Tehillah, men lead davening that has dvarim she-b'kedusha (amidah, barchu, kaddish), and women lead other things (kabbalat Shabbat, psukei d'zimra, Torah service (though I wasn't there early enough in the morning to confirm the latter two)).
Shabbat evening, I arrived in time for mincha. Kabbalat Shabbat was very Carlebach (read: tuneful and leisurely), so I was a bit anxious by the time we got to maariv, since I knew that dinner was starting soon and I still had to walk to the hotel. I liked the davening, but by the end the time concern plus the overcrowdedness was a bit much for me, and I ducked out during announcements. (It was also strange not to see anyone I knew; I'd sort of assumed I'd run into someone or other.)
Shabbat morning I overslept, so I didn't arrive until the middle of the d'var Torah (which was fine by me; I totally needed the sleep). I caught parts of it (more easily because the guy speaking was obviously originally a USian. I always find it easier to follow Hebrew in an American accent), about how one can change many external things, but only through Torah study will one change one's heart. Something like that, anyway. Then the mechitzah was closed again (it's not a translucent fabric, and taller than the mechitzot I'm used to at home) for musaf. I'd forgotten that there would be birkat cohanim, so that was a happy surprise. It also helped that there weren't the crowds of the night before.
After davening there was a large kiddush outside. There were lots of interesting munchies, which I definitely took advantage of. On the down side, pretty much the only people who talked to me were some visiting Cantabridgians (Or are they Somervillians? Either way.).
A group of us walked to the Kotel Shabbat afternoon. I was glad to find I still knew the way to cut through the Armenian to the Jewish Quarter without going by the perimeter road.
I was able to focus well, which surprised me: usually I'm distracted by all the people around, and by the lack of being able to daven with a minyan, and so on. This time, I shut all that out, and the words were there. It was too crowded to daven in front, but there was space after I'd finished to go up and put my hands on the stones smoothed by the touch of so many hands through the centuries.
Unfortunately, when I went back on Tuesday, I had too much on my mind to have anything like that kind of intensity. The comparison almost made me regret returning; it would've been better had I managed it some other time, when there weren't so many things to do in such a short time.
Maariv after Shabbat happened at the Citadel hotel, followed by havdalah. I liked that there were dishes of whole cloves passed around. I didn't like the layout of the siddurim, which had mincha on top, maariv on the bottom, and the same pages for the amidah, because my eye automatically goes to the top of the page, and merely having a horizontal rule wasn't enough distinction.
The other maariv I made it to was at the wedding. I went towards the back, and was surprised that there were men still behind me. No one hassled me, though, which was nice. It wasn't a complete maariv, actually, because I haven't memorized all the brachot between the Shma and the amidah, but my mood was such that davening most of a maariv is better than none. I was told later that a woman davening maariv was very strange, but it made sense to me, an opportunity right there, without any opportunity cost...
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no subject
Date: 2007-03-16 08:46 pm (UTC)(I have my fingers tightly crossed that our friend Sion will get married in Israel and then we'd be 'obliged' to go. :) )
no subject
Date: 2007-03-16 09:57 pm (UTC)Good luck! I hope your friend obliges :-)
no subject
Date: 2007-03-16 10:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-18 04:02 am (UTC)