One of the most interesting things about being in Israel is the choice one has of where to go for services on Friday night. I have been here for three Shabbats, and have had three totally different Shabbat experiences. On Friday night services are held early, so that one can go home or to friends for Shabbat dinner afterward (this is a format we will be experimenting with a couple times at Temple Bat Yam in the coming year).The first week I chose to go to Kol Haneshma, a Reform Congregation in the Baka area of Jerusalem. This is one of my favorite prayer services anywhere. The congregation is led by Rabbi Levi Kelman, an American who has lived in Israel for many years, and who established the congregation in 1984. It is a progressive, egalitarian congregation. The service is almost all music, and is lovely, contemplative, and joyful. It was the shul (congregation) where I davened (prayed) most often when I was a student in Israel, and it is always like going home when I go there.
The second Friday my friends and I went to Tel Aviv to Beit Tefilah Israel, which in the summer meets in the port on the Mediterranean Sea. Beit Tefilah describes itself as a “young and fast-growing, liberal and independent community” which was established to reach out to secular Israelis “who are looking for new ways to explore the world of Jewish communal and spiritual life, free of any preconceptions or restraints.” Their service has wonderful music, with several musicians and singers and includes modern poetry and music along with the traditional prayer service. It was very moving to pray with about 700 other people on the shores of the sea. Beit Tefilah is THE place to be in Tel Aviv on a Friday night; families, singles, young and old sat together and sang, prayed, danced, and brought in Shabbat as the sun set over the water. It was an amazing experience.
The past Friday I had a totally different Shabbat experience. I attended a modern Orthodox congregation called Shira Hadasha (which means “a new song”) in Jerusalem. This congregation, although it is Orthodox and does adhere to Jewish halakah (law) actively includes women in the service. There is a mechitza (a curtain down the middle which separates the men and womens sections), but women lead parts of the service. Orhodox prayer books are used; in this congregation there are various editions of the prayer book, and so no page numbers are given out (because everyone is on a different page in their version of the prayer book). One has to know the service to be able to follow along. It is a lovely service.
Three Shabbats, three different experiences. Only in Israel. And yet there is nothing like praying and celebrating Shabbat with one’s own community. I look forward to being with Temple Bat Yam this Friday, as we all, in our special Bat Yam way, celebrate Shabbat.
