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.