Y"K report
Sep. 27th, 2004 07:50 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
magidPound Hall was set up facing east, which was good. It was very full; by the end of Kol Nidrei, the co-chairs apologized for not having enough chairs or enough machzorim. It didn't seem to be a problem over the rest of the day, though it was rather full.
I took the same seat I had had for R"H, which was now the front row, outside. It gave me access to davening in front, without dealing with having people all around me (plus the top of the upright piano as a machzor-rest; I saved a lot of wear on my wrists)(and had the added benefit of a large potted plant in front of me, which was just interesting enough to look at without actually taking attention away). Even so, at times I could hear a couple of women in the second row talking. I couldn't hear words, but the dominant sounds of English and Hebrew are reasonably distinct. It frustrates me at the best of times, but really gets to me more on Y"K, when I assume people are a bit more focused.
Perhaps because of the new policy about having tickets or ID to get in, there was no "schick gelt"1 talk. Just as well; this year's co-chairs are two undergraduates, whose public speaking skills may not have been up for a carefully crafted speech like that.
Shacharit was longer than I expected, but not in a way that felt like it was dragged out (a former undergrad who's voice is pleasant and able to fill the space, and my impression of his character then made me happy to have him represent the community).
Musaf was also longer than I expected. The one davening musaf had an Israeli accent, and was very very intense, focused on what he was doing. This was good, but I missed some of the traditional tunes he didn't use. We ended morning services around 2:45, which (though quite on time for many places) was later than our usual.
Mincha was led by a friend of mine, who has a lovely tenor voice. What I didn't expect was to think that his voice seemed a bit too polished, in ways that implied to me a bit more performance than davening (this is wholly my impression of his voice). I was impressed with how well he took a change in the davening; it turned out that there'd been a word skipped in birkat cohanim2, so the rabbi said it should be put into mincha, carefully saying it was not a change in minhag3. And then Neilah, led, as usual, by another friend of mine, an older man, whose voice is not beautiful, but his age and experience lends it qualities that seem appropriate for Neilah, the gates about to close.
Torah reading was a bar mitzvah. He read the whole parasha and haftarah, and did a very good job, though his voice was a bit small for that huge space (it meant people were very quiet :-). Afterward, everyone said "mazal tov!", without the usual throwing of candy. And that was that, except I assume that there was a very nice breakfast for the gaggle of visiting boys....
I was too tired to stay for any of the talks in the evening, but I tend not to go home for the break, so I was there when the rabbi gave his short class discussing issues in sefer Yonah4. It was interesting (I'm sure I've forgotten most of it, unfortunately). The most interesting question to me was why Yonah was running away, especially in light of what he tells the sailors, recognizing the Almighty? The rabbi's answer in the end: he runs away because he doesn't agree with the command to prophesy to Nineveh, not wanting the heathens to repent when Israel does not, and not thinking that there can continue to be a relationship when he disagrees, especially since he was not given a chance to explain his objection (see following paragraph). By sending the fish, which is obviously divine intervention saving him from drowning, God shows that there is a relationship, even if there is disagreement. Which is why Yonah says prayer/poetry of rejoicing, rather than petitioning to be gotten out of this big fish [Side note: apparently, in Aramaic, Nineveh is a homonym with a word meaning fish or city of fish, which is a subtle hint to why a fish. Also, three days in the fish, three days to walk across the city.]. The rabbi's thought is that the whole episode with the gourd is for Yonah to be able to air his objections, so he'll see that he can disagree, and yet God will still choose to use his prophecy as previously decided. Note that this interpretation involves an assumption that the whole episode with the gourd is earlier in the text than given.
There was mention of the Sanhedrin6, and how if minority opinions haven't been heard, then rabbis can disregard their ruling, but once minority opinions have been heard and discussed, then their ruling becomes binding. He drew some parallels to today, saying that (a) this implies that it is legitimate to have other opinions on some area of halacha or another, but this doesn't mean one should reject it entirely, for (b) rabbis should listen to these opinions, and listen with an open mind, because (c) it means that all Jews are worthy to be listened to and dealt with thoughtfully. Gah, he put it much better than that, giving a message of inclusion, even if one disagrees with halacha on this topic or that.
I thought it a good shiur, very text-based (easier to focus on when tired, with the text right there), with a message that felt more achievable than being perfect for the coming year...
On the physical side, my feet/lower legs hurt after a while, but other than that, I was ok7. I'm always amazed at the energy that everyone gets towards the end, with the songs getting stronger and stronger, building and building, despite everyone's tiredness. I think Aveinu Malkenu8 being said only at Neilah (due to it being Shabbat) made it all the stronger in intensity. Then the repeated sentences (1-3-7), and the long long shofar blast, and it was done.
Note to self: even if I have lots of energy at the end of the fast, eating dinner tends to make me tired. Don't plan to put the sukkah up then...
1 "Send money."
2 The priestly blessing, only done on certain holidays.
3 custom.
4 The book of Jonah, traditionally read Y"K afternoon5.
5 Towards the beginning of mincha, when I don't need to rest my feet. Every year I think how nice it would be to have a long sitting period almost any other time... Really, time to rethink how much I stand.
6 "Supreme Court"-like body of 71 rabbis; there hasn't been a Sanhedrin since sometime around the destruction of the Second Temple, I think (someone correct me?).
7 Well, except for the air conditioning that felt rather arctic by the end.
8 "Our Father, Our King," a prayer that is usually said many times on Y"K, that has a rather haunting tune for the last line.
I took the same seat I had had for R"H, which was now the front row, outside. It gave me access to davening in front, without dealing with having people all around me (plus the top of the upright piano as a machzor-rest; I saved a lot of wear on my wrists)(and had the added benefit of a large potted plant in front of me, which was just interesting enough to look at without actually taking attention away). Even so, at times I could hear a couple of women in the second row talking. I couldn't hear words, but the dominant sounds of English and Hebrew are reasonably distinct. It frustrates me at the best of times, but really gets to me more on Y"K, when I assume people are a bit more focused.
Perhaps because of the new policy about having tickets or ID to get in, there was no "schick gelt"1 talk. Just as well; this year's co-chairs are two undergraduates, whose public speaking skills may not have been up for a carefully crafted speech like that.
Shacharit was longer than I expected, but not in a way that felt like it was dragged out (a former undergrad who's voice is pleasant and able to fill the space, and my impression of his character then made me happy to have him represent the community).
Musaf was also longer than I expected. The one davening musaf had an Israeli accent, and was very very intense, focused on what he was doing. This was good, but I missed some of the traditional tunes he didn't use. We ended morning services around 2:45, which (though quite on time for many places) was later than our usual.
Mincha was led by a friend of mine, who has a lovely tenor voice. What I didn't expect was to think that his voice seemed a bit too polished, in ways that implied to me a bit more performance than davening (this is wholly my impression of his voice). I was impressed with how well he took a change in the davening; it turned out that there'd been a word skipped in birkat cohanim2, so the rabbi said it should be put into mincha, carefully saying it was not a change in minhag3. And then Neilah, led, as usual, by another friend of mine, an older man, whose voice is not beautiful, but his age and experience lends it qualities that seem appropriate for Neilah, the gates about to close.
Torah reading was a bar mitzvah. He read the whole parasha and haftarah, and did a very good job, though his voice was a bit small for that huge space (it meant people were very quiet :-). Afterward, everyone said "mazal tov!", without the usual throwing of candy. And that was that, except I assume that there was a very nice breakfast for the gaggle of visiting boys....
I was too tired to stay for any of the talks in the evening, but I tend not to go home for the break, so I was there when the rabbi gave his short class discussing issues in sefer Yonah4. It was interesting (I'm sure I've forgotten most of it, unfortunately). The most interesting question to me was why Yonah was running away, especially in light of what he tells the sailors, recognizing the Almighty? The rabbi's answer in the end: he runs away because he doesn't agree with the command to prophesy to Nineveh, not wanting the heathens to repent when Israel does not, and not thinking that there can continue to be a relationship when he disagrees, especially since he was not given a chance to explain his objection (see following paragraph). By sending the fish, which is obviously divine intervention saving him from drowning, God shows that there is a relationship, even if there is disagreement. Which is why Yonah says prayer/poetry of rejoicing, rather than petitioning to be gotten out of this big fish [Side note: apparently, in Aramaic, Nineveh is a homonym with a word meaning fish or city of fish, which is a subtle hint to why a fish. Also, three days in the fish, three days to walk across the city.]. The rabbi's thought is that the whole episode with the gourd is for Yonah to be able to air his objections, so he'll see that he can disagree, and yet God will still choose to use his prophecy as previously decided. Note that this interpretation involves an assumption that the whole episode with the gourd is earlier in the text than given.
There was mention of the Sanhedrin6, and how if minority opinions haven't been heard, then rabbis can disregard their ruling, but once minority opinions have been heard and discussed, then their ruling becomes binding. He drew some parallels to today, saying that (a) this implies that it is legitimate to have other opinions on some area of halacha or another, but this doesn't mean one should reject it entirely, for (b) rabbis should listen to these opinions, and listen with an open mind, because (c) it means that all Jews are worthy to be listened to and dealt with thoughtfully. Gah, he put it much better than that, giving a message of inclusion, even if one disagrees with halacha on this topic or that.
I thought it a good shiur, very text-based (easier to focus on when tired, with the text right there), with a message that felt more achievable than being perfect for the coming year...
On the physical side, my feet/lower legs hurt after a while, but other than that, I was ok7. I'm always amazed at the energy that everyone gets towards the end, with the songs getting stronger and stronger, building and building, despite everyone's tiredness. I think Aveinu Malkenu8 being said only at Neilah (due to it being Shabbat) made it all the stronger in intensity. Then the repeated sentences (1-3-7), and the long long shofar blast, and it was done.
Note to self: even if I have lots of energy at the end of the fast, eating dinner tends to make me tired. Don't plan to put the sukkah up then...
1 "Send money."
2 The priestly blessing, only done on certain holidays.
3 custom.
4 The book of Jonah, traditionally read Y"K afternoon5.
5 Towards the beginning of mincha, when I don't need to rest my feet. Every year I think how nice it would be to have a long sitting period almost any other time... Really, time to rethink how much I stand.
6 "Supreme Court"-like body of 71 rabbis; there hasn't been a Sanhedrin since sometime around the destruction of the Second Temple, I think (someone correct me?).
7 Well, except for the air conditioning that felt rather arctic by the end.
8 "Our Father, Our King," a prayer that is usually said many times on Y"K, that has a rather haunting tune for the last line.
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no subject
Date: 2004-09-27 06:02 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-27 06:26 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-27 07:22 am (UTC)I couldn't have said it better myself. One of the things I try to do at shul is not to talk during davening unless necessary. (I will whisper hello if someone greets me or offer to help people who look like they're lost in the siddur, but I prefer not to do more than that as long as the service is going on.) I know that not everyone has this approach, but I do get frustrated -- partly because I have such a hard time concentrating and quiet helps so much.
no subject
Date: 2004-09-27 07:42 am (UTC)Oh, and the other frustrating part: people who go out during Yizkor to *right outside the hall* and start talking at regular volume. Noise travels, people; move down the hall, into another room, or outside. Or whisper. Or just be quiet. It's so incredibly rude/unthinking, since people at Yizkor tend to be really focused on that, and I can't imagine that the talking outside is anything less than an annoyance, at best.
Btw, we have something at shul with numbers that can be flipped over, to show which page we're on. It's tall enough that most people can see it over the mechitza (ours is about 5 ft or so). Not everyone notices the 'page-turner', but it helps a lot.
I had an incident where I had to talk during repetition, and it frustrated me to have to. There's a huge window in front of the women's section (R"H and Y"K only), which becomes reflective when it's getting darker out. The rabbi's wife closed the open half of the blinds, and someone else came up to open the other side. I motioned not to, and they asked why. I told them one shouldn't daven to one's own reflection, and they left it, but I felt awkward, both having had to talk when I didn't want to, and having to say something that could've been heard harshly or rebukingly. Plus ignoring what the rabbi's wife had done...
no subject
Date: 2004-09-27 07:55 am (UTC)I didn't notice this so much during Yizkor since the setup of the downstairs minyan at our shul pretty much requires that you go outside and close the door behind you whenever you leave the room. There was no downstairs minyan for neilah, however -- everyone was upstairs in the main sanctuary, where the setup is very different and the doors don't close behind you automatically. So there was an incredible amount of noise after neilah because everyone who left stood in the hall right outside to talk. Ugh! Getting through maariv was very difficult, as a result. I couldn't hear a few of the responsive bits and couldn't say amen to some of the brachos because they weren't audible in my corner of the women's section.
>> Btw, we have something at shul with numbers that can be flipped over, to show which page we're on.
We have one of these in the main sanctuary -- it's visible from pretty every part of the room. (It's at the edge of the elevated area in front of the aron, so it can be seen above/through the upper part of the mechitzah.) I tend to rely on auditory input to keep pace with the davening, though, because I like to focus on my siddur so as to filter out all the visual distractions.
>> I told them one shouldn't daven to one's own reflection
A few years ago in Dallas, I found myself seated behind a part of the mechitzah that reflects if the lighting is right during Y"K. (They were doing assigned seating that year, so I was being good and sitting in my designated spot.) I looked up from my machzor for a second and was so startled to see my own image in the glass that I held the book in front of my face for the rest of the day.
no subject
Date: 2004-09-27 08:27 am (UTC)They try to mitigate that at my shul by not only announcing that havdalah is right after maariv, but there will be snacks (aka apple juice and either tea biscuits or sponge cake, depending on the year) for break fast right after maariv. Plus, it's a very fast maariv (faster than I like, actually; at that point I always feel I could wait a bit longer, and wouldn't it be nice to do a really solid, focused amidah?). Luckily, it works pretty well. I've been places where it doesn't. Sorry to hear that's the case where you are. (Side gripe: if people can stand around chatting after neilah (ie aren't rushing to break their fast), why not just do maariv, the first mitzvah opportunity, as it were?).
I like to focus on my siddur so as to filter out all the visual distractions.
I do also, but I do that by standing at the front, so I don't have a crowd of people all around me or in front of me, which I find enormously distracting.
In re: reflections
It's apparently not a well-known idea, actually. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, since shuls mostly don't have set-ups that would be a problem, but still. Most of the years we've davened in this space, the issue has come up. Even knowing that the rabbi agrees doesn't help in the middle of davening when someone wants to see out and doesn't want to listen to why they should be deprived...
no subject
Date: 2004-09-27 08:36 am (UTC)They do something similar at our shul. There was an announcement that they would do havdalah at maariv and also in the social hall, where refreshments were being served. Unfortunately, it didn't work. Note to self for next year: Once neilah's over, move closer to the front for maariv. (I was sitting way in the back for neilah because it was the only seat I could find when I came in. The place was *packed*.)
no subject
Date: 2004-09-27 07:58 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-27 08:19 am (UTC)It can be distracting, too.
no subject
Date: 2004-09-27 08:24 am (UTC)I don't know whether or not I believe in a deity. I do believe in me though. Does that mean I should pray to me? That would be so weird. I mean, what would I say? "Note to Self: You rock. Almighty Self, please help Lulu get over the Bubonic Plague, because she's awfully cute. And those starving kids in Africa mom was always on about - get them some chocolate chip cookies, stat. And please, Self, make Me a better person. Thank you."
no subject
Date: 2004-09-27 08:50 am (UTC);-)
no subject
Date: 2004-09-27 08:58 am (UTC)It's all situational
Date: 2004-09-27 09:08 am (UTC)Re: It's all situational
Date: 2004-09-27 09:17 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-27 08:40 am (UTC)I've seen that once (during a visit to Passaic), and I think it's a wonderful idea. I wonder why it's not more common.
Window: I hadn't heard the rule about reflections, but it makes perfect sense to me. Maybe the person who tried to open the blinds was sitting somewhere where he didn't see a reflection.
no subject
Date: 2004-09-27 08:49 am (UTC)I don't know why it's not more common. I mean, there are lots of shuls where everyone has been going there since forever, but there are still many that have new people on a regular basis. I suspect it's just because no one thought of it, though I could put a better spin on it and say it's to encourage new/clueless people to talk to established/knowlegeable people, getting them into the social fabric just a bit.
It's likely that she sat where there wasn't a reflection; I think it's different people every year (it's a transitory minyan for most), so it's glaringly apparent to me that this comes up almost every year, but for the other people involved, it's the first time each time. Just something else I shouldn't let get to me.
no subject
Date: 2004-09-27 08:51 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-27 08:56 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-27 09:19 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-27 09:49 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-27 10:21 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-27 11:45 am (UTC)Nice, indeed. I could even imagine some sort of Jewish equivalent to the first. Maybe not to that extent, but...
no subject
Date: 2004-09-27 09:31 am (UTC)The orthodox shul I grew up with did have one of those for RH/YK, and did use it.
no subject
Date: 2004-09-27 09:51 am (UTC)I haven't traveled so much; I think I've only been to one or two other minyans that had something posted with the current page number.