|
|
November 1, 2002
Services by committee
Many of the local synagogues offer lay-led prayers.
KYLE BERGER REPORTER
Every month, Cynthia Bluman and her committee spend hours on the
phone talking to members of Beth Israel Synagogue.
They're not chatting about overdue membership dues or promoting
adult education programs; they're discussing next month's Torah
portions and figuring out who will lead different parts of the service
at the next minyan ma'at.
Minyan ma'at is a special service the synagogue started several
years ago that provides an opportunity for shul members to participate
in or lead the Saturday morning Shabbat service themselves.
Ma'at literally means "a few." And while the service,
which takes place in the shul's small chapel, was originally designed
to be for just a few people, it has since grown in popularity and,
when there isn't a bar or bat mitzvah at the synagogue, it is often
more well attended than a regular service.
Bluman told the Bulletin that minyan ma'at was the brainchild
of Betty Nitkin, who felt that because the Vancouver Conservative
synagogue had b'nai mitzvah almost every Shabbat, there was not
enough of an opportunity to enjoy a smaller, more intimate service.
"People parachute in to have a bar mitzvah and with all the
guests you don't have the same feeling that you normally have when
you pray with your circle of friends," Bluman explained.
At that time, there was a short list of people willing to help lead
the smaller service. However, since then, the list has grown as
more and more people are volunteering to help lead the service.
"People like to be involved and participate," she said
of the service's popularity. "And people involved bring their
families."
Minyan ma'at is just one of several opportunities throughout the
Jewish community of Greater Vancouver to participate in a lay-led
service.
At the much smaller Congregation Shaarey Tefilah, Rabbi Ross Singer
said their Shabbat services are led almost entirely by a cadre of
volunteer congregants who bring their own level of spirituality
to the Traditional shul.
Singer explained the value of participating in the leadership of
a service by telling a story about a couple who had been unable
to conceive a child. The couple approached their local religious
leader to ask him to pray for them.
"He said, 'No problem. The numerical value for the Hebrew letters
of the word son is 52. So if you give me 52 rubles, I'll pray for
a son for you,' " Singer explained.
When the couple realized they wouldn't be able to pay the 52 rubles
they announced that they would just pray for themselves.
"That's what he wanted them to do," Singer continued.
"He wanted them to pray for themselves. I think that's the
important message from having lay-led services. We're all here to
pray before God and no one is going to do it on your behalf. If
there is one person who is appointed to do most of the davening
(praying), it can lead to a misunderstanding that we don't need
to pray as individuals."
Similarly to Shaarey Tefilah, Eitz Chaim Synagogue in Richmond is
led each Shabbat almost entirely by volunteers from their Orthodox
membership.
The synagogue has a religious committee responsible for assigning
congregants various leadership roles for each Shabbat. Alan Rees,
the synagogue's president, said it is not a very difficult task
because they have such a high percentage of congregants who are
able to lead most parts of the Shabbat service.
Rees joked that Eitz Chaim's congregants prefer the lay-led service
because, "our rabbi doesn't have a very good voice so it's
always better to hear someone else," he said, referring to
Rabbi Avraham Feigelstock.
"The rabbi does all the sermons, he's the halachic authority
and he sits on the religious committee. But the actual services
are led by the congregation."
At Beth Tikvah, Richmond's Conservative synagogue, most of the services
are co-led by Rabbi Barry Leff and students in the b'nai mitzvah
class. Each week, the shul's office manager, Francie Steen runs
through her list of potential Torah readers looking for volunteers
for that, as well.
The services at the Burquest Jewish Community Centre are almost
always lay-led. However, that is because the congregation does not
have a permanent full-time spiritual leader and they are usually
left with no other options.
Shelley Rivkin, chair of the Burquest ritual committee, said the
volunteers who lead their services enjoy participating. However,
she added that the struggle, and sometimes inability, to find volunteer
lay leadership for religious services often leaves some of the congregants
wanting more.
Except for special holidays, Burquest has one Friday night and one
Saturday morning Shabbat service per month.
"I think those of us on the ritual committee would love to
have regular weekly services but it would be a full-time job to
organize that," she said. "I think the fact that [service
leadership] is voluntary means that the amount of participation
becomes limited."
Temple Sholom Synagogue's Shabbat services are led by Rabbi Philip
Bregman, though they do have volunteers reading from the Torah.
The Reform synagogue also holds morning minyan services Sundays,
Mondays and Thursdays. The latter two are lay-led, organized by
the shul's ritual chair, Jean Fiedler.
For more information about opportunities for lay-led services at
congregations not mentioned in the article, contact the synagogue
offices.
^TOP
|
|
