Shabbat happenings

**This is a little bit of a repeat from my email**

On Friday morning HUC had a "study day." I went to two different classes. The first was on the changing form of ritual. We looked at texts from Deuteronomy, the Talmud, midrash, and modern texts. It was very interesting and there were some great comments throughout the class although I have to admit that it got hard to concentrate towards the end of class (I'm so not a morning person!). The second class was wonderful though! It was called "From Bima to Bonfire: Musical trends in Jewish Prayer." Cantor Tamar Havilio led the session (she is the interim director of the Cantorial program in Jerusalem). We looked at the bima, how it's raised, the seating structure, the Ark at the center, and how many times can feel a bit impresonal in nature. Or rather, there's a distance between the clergy and the congregation. The clergy is in the front facing everyone else, sometimes together at the pulpit, sometimes on opposite sides of the bima. Bonfires are much more intimate in nature because everyone is facing each other, on the same plane. Keeping all this in mind we listened to 4 contrasting pieces of music (one was a choral version of v'shamru, one was a medley of simcha songs, one was a jazz piece, and the last was a song by Kerri Russel) and talking about what setting they were best in, if we would consider the music prayer or not. The discussions were interesting as it was a mix of students and clergy (some cantors, some rabbis). At the end, Tamar asked a question along the lines of what do you think is best? Bima or Bonfire? No one was really answering so I raised my hand and said that it seemed that a cantor needed to find a balance when singing. Some people really connect to hearing the hazzanut in a service while others need Debbie Friedman's Mi Shebeirach. As I was speaking she and a few others started chuckling and she said "it's a good thing that you're a cantorial student!"

After the study session I went home and cleaned the apartment with Amy. We threw out a bunch of trash, mopped the floors, cleaned the bathroom. It's gorgeous now! I think it's going to become a Friday afternoon tradition. We got dressed for Shabbat and at 4:45 we went over to the President of HUC's apartment (Rabbi Ellenson) where we had a very nice welcome reception. We all introduced ourselves, did a little text study, lit the Shabbat candles and went to services. Services were outside on the grass at HUC. The chairs were set up so that we faced the Old City and watched the sun set during the service. It was awesome -- in both senses of the word. We had dinner together and then after a long day I went home to bed.

Saturday morning I was up early to go to services at Kol Hanishama, a progressive synagogue in Emek Refaim. The service was beautiful and was especially cool because there was a bat mitzvah. The Rabbi was wonderful. It was a good morning. After services I went home and took a Shabbos nap and then met up with friends in Liberty Bell Park (Gan Hapaamon) for dinner and havdalah. It was a very fun weekend. I love Shabbat!