Rosh Hashana
Oct. 2nd, 2008 01:56 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
magidAs always, I'm happy to explicate any terms.
I was running late erev chag, so ended up going to the TBS trad minyan, a block away for yom tov in Youville Hospital. Plus compared to last year: signs with the room, and directions to get to the one non-electric (and non-alarmed (Yes, it was very calm.)) door into the building. Services were in a different space, not a room with doors, more of a lounge budding off a corridor, which felt strangely open. I was glad the women's side was on the inside, and looked over a little green courtyard. Added bonus for me: few enough people that there wasn't a crush for space. Plus I got to see people I haven't caught up with in a long while.
Davening was competent, the shatz's voice decent. My only real complaint (which is my own mishegas, I know) is that the RH tune for Yigdal wasn't used (which may not be their minhag, even, but I adore that tune: it fits the day so well, slow yet not dirgelike. Plus it always reminds me of Elka). I tend to forget from year to year that RH mincha and maariv are much closer to regular yom tov than to YK, unlike shacharit and musaf.
First morning I went to Tehillah, this year in the theater in the YMCA in Central Square. It's the fourth time I've been in the space, and I have to say, it does much better for theatrical performance than davening. The lighting was dim, for one thing, and the space was set up facing the stage, which meant we were facing.... west. I know it's only because the last time I was there that ASP set it up "backwards," with backstage under the balcony, that I'd thought of that immediately, but it bothered me that we were oriented (totally the right word here!) wrong; I kept fighting the impulse to turn around to daven.
The most noticeable issue the first day was how long we had to wait until there were 10 women in addition to 10 men. Forty minutes is long any day, but on a day with such long davening, it's particularly difficult. The time was mostly filled with impromptu divrei Torah, which was interesting and informative and all, but not what I was most interested in. I have a limited amount of focus, and it's hard to snap in and out. Another issue was the acoustics, which were challenging, at best. For a while there were fans on, which were rather loud (come to think of it, I don't know how they got turned off, but it helped, and the air moved better just by having the windows open). Even without the fans, though, it wasn't always easy to hear the shatz.
Jason S. led shacharit, and I was amused to hear echoes of Kadden's tunes, years since I've heard Kadden on the high holidays. The woman leading some of the piyyutim in chazarat hashatz didn't seem as competent to me, mostly because I got the impression that she was always choosing tunes over no tunes, and not always appropriate ones at that. I like singing, but some things aren't designed to be sung. And if it's just her soloing, that's more about performance than leading (the way she was doing it, anyway). I had similar issues with the guy leading musaf, actually, and to greater extent. It felt like few, if any, traditional tunes were used, and many other tunes shoehorned in. While I don't love all of the standard tunes, they are at least evocative of the spirit of the day, rather than just reusing a tune that's familiar from other places that didn't always fit the words. It left me feeling that the shatzes were less knowledgeable about the structure and halacha around davening, which is unfortunate (and perhaps not true, though there were a number of other things that I thought problematic). (OK, plus, turning the end of the tefilah right before musaf amidah into an actual bracha, adding in the Name where it isn't in the text of the prayer, which made me pay more attention to his language, which was less accurate than I'd prefer in someone leading davening.) I know that some of my grumpiness was about long slow tunes when davening was going on so long (we ended at 2; started at 8:30).
The baal tokea was pretty good (I would have preferred had he started Laminatzeach aloud each time, so we would all be about in the same place in the seven reptitions, however), and had an amazing shofar, almost straight with a spiral of ridges up the outside, obviously not from the same species that most shofarot come from. The reason I was able to see it so well was that I did hagba with (on? to?) the second sefer Torah, and while I think I should've held it up long and rotated it, I did ok (having had the chance to practice once after davening on Shabbat helped), though I still had massive butterflies before doing it.
The official dvar Torah came at the end, and I would've left had I not found a guest. It would've been my loss, since it was an interesting discussion of the idea of shirah, and the 10 that the Gemara lists (which does not include that of Hannah). Not that I've held onto much more than this.
Lunch was infinitely better for having a guest. It meant that I had a proper meal (conversation!), and made the strange salad that I'd devised while walking the aisles at Russo's: julienned jicama and apple with scallions, and a dressing of lime juice, honey, and chipotle mustard. I might add pomegranate seeds (not used lest it be a shehechiyanu fruit that evening) or walnuts (there's a minhag not to have nuts on RH) next time.
Mincha-maariv were at Youville again, mostly because I was pretty sure my dinner hosts would be there. Again, we had to wait for a minyan, but got one. And again, no big flourishes, but nice, competent davening. In the break, there was a talk by a visiting rabbi (whose name I've completely forgotten) on the pasuk in Breishit 24 about Avraham being blessed in everything. There's a range of opinions what bakol means in this situation, and discussion about why it's here, just before Avraham sends his servant off to find a wife for his son. Ibn Ezra and Rashbam et al stick with the pshat, pseudo-Rashi goes into gematria, and Ramban brings a variety of interesting ideas, about how Avraham didn't have a daughter he'd have to give away in marriage, to perhaps he did have a daughter (named Bakol; not very convincing to me, but there's a midrash...), to a discussion of this being the midda of tzedek, loved as if a daughter (there was more flow to this when it was a forty-five minute talk!), which brought it back to RH, and the idea that we should each love increasing tzedek in the world. This is a very bad summary of a really good talk, mussar about improving without having the feeling of criticizing where we might be now.
I couldn't face another musaf by the same guy at Tehillah, so for the second day went to Harvard Hillel Ortho minyan davening, in Pound Hall, though I went upstairs to one of the balconies, knowing I do better without the distraction of lots of people around. And it was really really good, even with people using the service elevator and wheeling food around. The shatzes both made me feel that they knew what they were doing, the shape of the davening, how to help the congregation in teshuvah while being our representative before the Judge. I admit, it didn't hurt that both had excellent voices, and they managed to be heard even in the hugeness of Pound. Plus I know the baal musaf (not Yossi this year, amazingly (he's done second day musaf for ages) but Jimmy D, who I still think of as an undergrad thought I know he's in his residency at this point), and think well of him. The baal tokea did a good job too (tekia gedolas that went on ascending far longer than I could have imagined, especially). We didn't rush (getting out at 1, again with an 8:30 start, but second day davening is a bit shorter), but I was in much better shape by the end.
There was a dvar Torah here too, starting with the idea of what defines a bracha, which is Shem and Malchut. Which works in the traditional formulation of a bracha, but fails in the first bracha of the amidah, which has the avot, not malchut. The answer in the Gemara (I think it was the Gemara, but I may be wrong) is that the avot are an aspect of malchut (or something like this; I'm getting fuzzy at this point). The main question of the d"T focused on the avot in the RH musaf amidah. If they can be used for malchut, you'd expect them to show up in Malchuyot. But they don't. They're all over Zichronot, instead. There was one idea that Malchuyot is more general, all the psukim being about King over the nation or over the world. And there was another idea linking into Zichronot, and I've lost that bit now. :-(
One thing I'd really like to find: a tune for the "hayoms" at the end of musaf repetition that I actually like. Of the two tunes I know, one goes crazy repeating "hayom" a bazillion times, while the other feels like a circus tune.
As last year, 'ain shichcha lifnei kisei kvodecha' resonated.
I was running late erev chag, so ended up going to the TBS trad minyan, a block away for yom tov in Youville Hospital. Plus compared to last year: signs with the room, and directions to get to the one non-electric (and non-alarmed (Yes, it was very calm.)) door into the building. Services were in a different space, not a room with doors, more of a lounge budding off a corridor, which felt strangely open. I was glad the women's side was on the inside, and looked over a little green courtyard. Added bonus for me: few enough people that there wasn't a crush for space. Plus I got to see people I haven't caught up with in a long while.
Davening was competent, the shatz's voice decent. My only real complaint (which is my own mishegas, I know) is that the RH tune for Yigdal wasn't used (which may not be their minhag, even, but I adore that tune: it fits the day so well, slow yet not dirgelike. Plus it always reminds me of Elka). I tend to forget from year to year that RH mincha and maariv are much closer to regular yom tov than to YK, unlike shacharit and musaf.
First morning I went to Tehillah, this year in the theater in the YMCA in Central Square. It's the fourth time I've been in the space, and I have to say, it does much better for theatrical performance than davening. The lighting was dim, for one thing, and the space was set up facing the stage, which meant we were facing.... west. I know it's only because the last time I was there that ASP set it up "backwards," with backstage under the balcony, that I'd thought of that immediately, but it bothered me that we were oriented (totally the right word here!) wrong; I kept fighting the impulse to turn around to daven.
The most noticeable issue the first day was how long we had to wait until there were 10 women in addition to 10 men. Forty minutes is long any day, but on a day with such long davening, it's particularly difficult. The time was mostly filled with impromptu divrei Torah, which was interesting and informative and all, but not what I was most interested in. I have a limited amount of focus, and it's hard to snap in and out. Another issue was the acoustics, which were challenging, at best. For a while there were fans on, which were rather loud (come to think of it, I don't know how they got turned off, but it helped, and the air moved better just by having the windows open). Even without the fans, though, it wasn't always easy to hear the shatz.
Jason S. led shacharit, and I was amused to hear echoes of Kadden's tunes, years since I've heard Kadden on the high holidays. The woman leading some of the piyyutim in chazarat hashatz didn't seem as competent to me, mostly because I got the impression that she was always choosing tunes over no tunes, and not always appropriate ones at that. I like singing, but some things aren't designed to be sung. And if it's just her soloing, that's more about performance than leading (the way she was doing it, anyway). I had similar issues with the guy leading musaf, actually, and to greater extent. It felt like few, if any, traditional tunes were used, and many other tunes shoehorned in. While I don't love all of the standard tunes, they are at least evocative of the spirit of the day, rather than just reusing a tune that's familiar from other places that didn't always fit the words. It left me feeling that the shatzes were less knowledgeable about the structure and halacha around davening, which is unfortunate (and perhaps not true, though there were a number of other things that I thought problematic). (OK, plus, turning the end of the tefilah right before musaf amidah into an actual bracha, adding in the Name where it isn't in the text of the prayer, which made me pay more attention to his language, which was less accurate than I'd prefer in someone leading davening.) I know that some of my grumpiness was about long slow tunes when davening was going on so long (we ended at 2; started at 8:30).
The baal tokea was pretty good (I would have preferred had he started Laminatzeach aloud each time, so we would all be about in the same place in the seven reptitions, however), and had an amazing shofar, almost straight with a spiral of ridges up the outside, obviously not from the same species that most shofarot come from. The reason I was able to see it so well was that I did hagba with (on? to?) the second sefer Torah, and while I think I should've held it up long and rotated it, I did ok (having had the chance to practice once after davening on Shabbat helped), though I still had massive butterflies before doing it.
The official dvar Torah came at the end, and I would've left had I not found a guest. It would've been my loss, since it was an interesting discussion of the idea of shirah, and the 10 that the Gemara lists (which does not include that of Hannah). Not that I've held onto much more than this.
Lunch was infinitely better for having a guest. It meant that I had a proper meal (conversation!), and made the strange salad that I'd devised while walking the aisles at Russo's: julienned jicama and apple with scallions, and a dressing of lime juice, honey, and chipotle mustard. I might add pomegranate seeds (not used lest it be a shehechiyanu fruit that evening) or walnuts (there's a minhag not to have nuts on RH) next time.
Mincha-maariv were at Youville again, mostly because I was pretty sure my dinner hosts would be there. Again, we had to wait for a minyan, but got one. And again, no big flourishes, but nice, competent davening. In the break, there was a talk by a visiting rabbi (whose name I've completely forgotten) on the pasuk in Breishit 24 about Avraham being blessed in everything. There's a range of opinions what bakol means in this situation, and discussion about why it's here, just before Avraham sends his servant off to find a wife for his son. Ibn Ezra and Rashbam et al stick with the pshat, pseudo-Rashi goes into gematria, and Ramban brings a variety of interesting ideas, about how Avraham didn't have a daughter he'd have to give away in marriage, to perhaps he did have a daughter (named Bakol; not very convincing to me, but there's a midrash...), to a discussion of this being the midda of tzedek, loved as if a daughter (there was more flow to this when it was a forty-five minute talk!), which brought it back to RH, and the idea that we should each love increasing tzedek in the world. This is a very bad summary of a really good talk, mussar about improving without having the feeling of criticizing where we might be now.
I couldn't face another musaf by the same guy at Tehillah, so for the second day went to Harvard Hillel Ortho minyan davening, in Pound Hall, though I went upstairs to one of the balconies, knowing I do better without the distraction of lots of people around. And it was really really good, even with people using the service elevator and wheeling food around. The shatzes both made me feel that they knew what they were doing, the shape of the davening, how to help the congregation in teshuvah while being our representative before the Judge. I admit, it didn't hurt that both had excellent voices, and they managed to be heard even in the hugeness of Pound. Plus I know the baal musaf (not Yossi this year, amazingly (he's done second day musaf for ages) but Jimmy D, who I still think of as an undergrad thought I know he's in his residency at this point), and think well of him. The baal tokea did a good job too (tekia gedolas that went on ascending far longer than I could have imagined, especially). We didn't rush (getting out at 1, again with an 8:30 start, but second day davening is a bit shorter), but I was in much better shape by the end.
There was a dvar Torah here too, starting with the idea of what defines a bracha, which is Shem and Malchut. Which works in the traditional formulation of a bracha, but fails in the first bracha of the amidah, which has the avot, not malchut. The answer in the Gemara (I think it was the Gemara, but I may be wrong) is that the avot are an aspect of malchut (or something like this; I'm getting fuzzy at this point). The main question of the d"T focused on the avot in the RH musaf amidah. If they can be used for malchut, you'd expect them to show up in Malchuyot. But they don't. They're all over Zichronot, instead. There was one idea that Malchuyot is more general, all the psukim being about King over the nation or over the world. And there was another idea linking into Zichronot, and I've lost that bit now. :-(
One thing I'd really like to find: a tune for the "hayoms" at the end of musaf repetition that I actually like. Of the two tunes I know, one goes crazy repeating "hayom" a bazillion times, while the other feels like a circus tune.
As last year, 'ain shichcha lifnei kisei kvodecha' resonated.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2008-10-02 12:11 pm (UTC)Pseudo-Rashi?
no subject
Date: 2008-10-02 01:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-10-03 04:46 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-10-02 01:02 pm (UTC)Shana Tova!
no subject
Date: 2008-10-02 01:28 pm (UTC)Shana tova!
no subject
Date: 2008-10-03 02:32 am (UTC)I couldn't find the avot/kingship passage on a quick search, though I did find a passage in B'rachot where two sages diagree about whether it's kingship or the divine name that has to be there (as if they don't both have to be?).
no subject
Date: 2008-10-03 03:09 pm (UTC)