A week ago this past Friday (sorry for being so slow to put up the post, but Happy belated Thanksgiving, everyone!) a fellow NATE intern Michael and I made the trek to New Jersey to celebrate Shabbat at Ted's home congregation, Temple Sholom. The congregation immediately felt very homey: the service was in a small but cozy chapel, and everyone who passed by us wished us Shabbat Shalom, of course greeting Ted especially enthusiastically as he is beloved by all who go there!
This visit definitely emphasized what I have known all along about different congregations, that even ones that belong to the same movement of the same religion can have unique elements that distinguish them from similar congregations. Temple Sholom was, I think, the most similar to my home congregation out of all the synagogues I've been to in recent memory. Both places are warm and welcoming, with a strong sense of community. The services include plenty of English, with both Rabbis clearly passionate about what they are saying and directly engaging with the congregation in an interactive and meaningful way (and not just saying that because both of them are followers of this blog!!) However, despite numerous similarities, there are still very definite differences between the two places.
The most notable difference to me was the lack of instrumental accompaniment to the prayers we sang. Ted and I have discussed the use of music in services fairly frequently; while I enjoy it for the most part and feel as though it is almost essential in the Reform services I attend, I know that he is not a fan. The experience was interesting to me though, because many of the melodies at Temple Sholom were the ones that are used in my home congregation, and it felt strange to be singing them without piano or guitar in the background holding everything and everyone together. I feel that music would have added something to many of the songs and enhanced the prayer experience, but I can assume from the conversations that Ted and I have had that it would not have had the same effect for him. It is intriguing how congregations that are so alike can go down separate roads and establish such different traditions that, in turn, influence how their members perceive assorted aspects of Jewish practice. I wonder, if the congregation in which I grew up did not use music in its services, would I still feel as though music was an important part of Shabbat? I'd still like music outside of temple, clearly, but would a service still feel incomplete without it?
Another major difference is that at Temple Sholom, they chant Torah every Friday evening. When Ted first told me this, I wasn't sure how I felt about it, as at my congregation Torah is usually chanted on Friday evenings only for a special occasion. However, I found that I really enjoyed having a brief Torah service as part of my Shabbat evening experience. Often, I do not experience the Torah portion of the week or hear commentary on it, and doing so during the service definitely enhanced my Shabbat and prompted learning and self-reflection. To Ted, it was natural that the Torah would be read, but to Michael and I it was not, as that is not what we are used to. Ted also told us that it is customary at his congregation to wear tallit on Friday night, and while that practice was unfamiliar to me as well, I know that he gains meaning from it.
It was a very interesting experience to be in an environment that was so comparable to the one I am used to, yet established these certain different practices and traditions. It was definitely a real-life example for the concentration I created for myself in college, "Religion and Theater as Text and Interpretation", in which I studied how individuals and communities take the same texts and make them their own throughout time. One might think that Reform congregations of similar sizes with similar environments would celebrate Shabbat in the same ways, but clearly each community practices in its own way. Even the base of the service differed: my congregation created and uses its own siddur (prayerbook), while Ted's uses the Reform siddur but made its own song book that we also read from during the service. However, the order of the service, the melodies and the prayers said were practically the same. While each group has its own customs, ultimately we are united through the words our people have been saying for thousands of years. This also relates to the conversation we had after services about Klal Yisrael, which Ted mentioned in his previous post...I'm sure we will get to that in more depth at some point.
Attending Shabbat services at Temple Sholom provided me a window through which I could see a community very similar to my own observe Shabbat in its own special way, a way that has influenced its members and become significant to them. It was very interesting to see first-hand the congregation Ted comes from, as I have been hearing about it for almost a year now! I think it is very special to be a part of a place that is so beloved, and that has shaped many lives in a profound way. The Shabbat we attended also happened to be an evening honoring long time members of the congregation, and I could see that, though the community is relatively small, each person was very happy to be there, and to have contributed to the synagogue in his or her own unique way throughout many years of membership. My congregation uses the phrase "makom shelibi oheyv", "the place that my heart holds dear" to describe itself, and, despite the differences in the service, that phrase could definitely be applied to Temple Sholom, as well.
Temple Sholom (Reform Jewish congregation)
Located at: 74 South Martine Avenue, Fanwood, NJ 07023
Telephone: 908-889-4900
Service lead by: Rabbi Joel N. Abraham, with singing assistance from lay choir member standing in for Student Cantor
Dear Maya,
ReplyDeleteIt was great to have the three of you there - and I can probably commiserate with Rabbi Dreskin that I was rather interested in this review. I do want to make one apology. Usually, we do have musical accompaniment. In fact, one of our requirements in student Cantors (and we have been a part of the student Cantor program at HUC for more than the 13 years I have been at Temple Sholom)is that they can accompany themselves on guitar. However, for good reason, our student Cantor was on maternity leave. Heck, if you'd been there two weeks later, you'd have been overrun by the musical accompaniment of every child (and many adults)on tamborine, shaker egg, etc.
An interesting story - when I got to HUC in Jerusalem, the woman who became my wife was disturbed by the piano at the HUC services. Being from California, where the only real synagogue music was guitar, she thought it sounded "Christian". Raised as I was, in a suburban NJ synagogue, I was used to piano and organ and thought it was Jewish as Jewish could be. So, I resonate with your point - the styles that we grew up with are "real Jewish" and anything else - takes getting used to.
Anyway, it was a joy to meet you all - best of luck with HUC. I look forward to seeing you as a colleague in the future (and for you to keep Ted in line).
Rabbi Joel N. Abraham
the aforementioned Temple Sholom of Scotch Plains/Fanwood