FAITHHACKER
| The Shuls Are A-Changin' | |
 by Jordana White, May 14, 2007
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I want to call everyone’s attention to a recent JTA editorial by Edgar M. Bronfman on the need for changes in the synagogue. When I saw the title, “Synagogues must experiment to remain vital in Jewish life,” I got all excited because I, like many of us out there, get bored sitting in shul for hours and end up showing up at 10 to cut into the drudgery.
But reading on a little bit, I got confused by some of his suggestions:
In the world of Orthodoxy, why wouldn’t a rabbi experiment with some forms of gender equality? Even within the limitations of Orthodox Jewish law, why wouldn’t a rabbi try to propose that instead of a minyan of 10 men, there should be one of 10 men and 10 women?
Um, excuse me? Has he been in any Orthodox shul outside of New York recently? In my shul, we have a minyan signup sheet because attendance is so low, and still on most days the only names on the sheet are those of the rabbi and the cantor. If we can’t get 10 people to show up, what makes Mr. Bronfman think we can get 20?
He goes on with another suggestion, and here’s where I really get steamed up:
Why wouldn’t a rabbi in a Reform congregation experiment with dispensing of the Torah reading as it is done now, ask the congregants to read the parshah before the service begins, and then have a discussion involving any congregant who wants to be involved? Perhaps the same rabbi would refrain from giving a sermon to allow time to thoroughly discuss the Torah reading.
Come on now. Get rid of Torah reading altogether, but only possibly get rid of the sermon? And, based on his later observations that people don’t want to spend that much time in shul, how many people does he think are actually going to read the parshah at home? A discussion with one congregant isn’t a service, it’s a tutorial.
I agree we need to change, but these types of changes lead to one thing, which even Mr. Bronfman hints at in his editorial.
The Evangelical churches burgeoning across the country prove that if done properly, congregational life can be meaningful and relevant to the lives of people and a source of communal identification.
I’ve never attended an Evangelical service, but from what I’ve heard, they basically consist of singing some Gospels and listening to the preacher. If we eliminate the davening and torah reading from shul, we’re eliminating some of the very things that separate us from the other religions. If we sell Judaism to young people by saying, ‘our services are just like the Church’s,’ then soon the only reason they’ll have to choose shul over church is a preference for sleeping in on Sundays.
Torah Reading: If it's gone, what's left?
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Jordana White is a freelance editor in Nashville. She's a new home owner and a newlywed: so much excitement in such a short time! More... |
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Michael Nehora
Question on Evangelical services
Jordana's description matches what I've seen on TV, but never having visited an Evangelical church myself, I don't know whether regular, non-televised services are like that, i.e. congregational singing plus sermon, but no spoken prayer. Can anyone familiar with Evangelical worship answer this? Just curious. Thanks.
Tamar Fox
Megachurch
Yeah, when I wrote about the Bronfman article last week I had a whole list of things I thought he did wrong. He's just completely out of touch.
ANyway, a guy from my program wrote a piece about megachurches that's pretty interesting. It's called Churchtastic and you can find it at http://www.sportsline.com/spin/story/9582620. And frankly, it doesn't make an evangelical church sound like anything I'd be even remotely interested in.
Anonymous
change
Why not change the main service day from Satuday to Sunday, drop the hebrew and have the service in german (strike that I meant english) only. Oh wait, we tried that already...
sara
it's already happening...
there are already orthodox synagogues that require 10 men and 10 women to have a minyan and are expirementing with gender equality...within what halacha allows...they are called partenership minyanim and they are being started throughout america, israel, australia, and canada.
Uriah
but we're already like that kinda...
Okay, so at my schul (reconstructionist) we have comment time. We go through services, have the Torah reading, and then the sermon, and then, when the rabbi's in town, she asks if we have anything to say. It's a very great thing, I think. I like getting her opinion (or the opinion of whichever congregant is leading the services at the time) and being allowed to give my own. Whenever I get to attend services I am extremely happy with them and my attention is absolutely captivated by them, although I think we could daven more, and whenever I don't get to go I am extremely sad because I don't get everyone's opinion on the parshah except that of Rashi's and a few other rabbi's.
Anonymous
partnership minyanim
Sara,
That sounds like a great idea in practice. I'm all for permitting everything that's permitted. But, I don't understand the concept of a partnership minyan in practice. If they have only 10 men and 8 women show up, do they skip the parts of the service where you need a minyan? How does this work in practice (where numbers are limited). Perhaps this is a NY/Israel thing where there is not a problem with numbers.
Jordana White
It doesn't have to be one or the other
Uriah,
Thanks for proving exactly what I'm talking about. It sounds like your shul is still reading the Torah and then having a question and answer period. That seems like a fantastic way to get the congregation involved without completely eliminating one of the tenets of the service.
Anonymous
another appoach
At one shul where I used to live, between each aliya, the Rabbi says a few words about what was just read and then invites discussion or questions. Sometimes he will also ask a question or two. This makes for a longer service, but what else are you going to do on a long summer Shabbos.
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