Went to Mishkan services ✡️
2019-Jul-27, Saturday 11:15![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dorchadas
I feel a little badly for the woman who kept looking behind her as I was walking, presumably because she thought I was following her. I was, but only because we were both going to the same place. 
I've been to Mishkan twice before, to Kol Nidre at the Vic and to the Purimspiel, but I've never been to Shabbat services before. I was a bit leery of actually going, becuase Mishkan's translations of the Hebrew tend to be a little...loose, let's say...in the past, and they rubbed me the wrong way, so I wasn't sure how well I would take to actual Shabbat services if they were handled the same way. It turned out that I had nothing to worry about.
There was a huge focus on music, with the rabbi and a group of people in the center (the more traditional style--historical the bimah was in the center, not up near the front) playing instruments and singing. A lot of nigunim (one example) between the Psalms and prayers, all of which really made it easy to get pulled in. They had that same minor-key, haunting quality that I remembered from Kol Nidre. In the past I've very strongly resisted being absorbed into nearly any group activity, no matter the context, but within a few minutes I was nodding and singing along. Once I figured the melodies out, because of course they were slightly different than the ones I was used to.
The most exciting part was the pidyon ha-ben ceremony, the symbolic "buying back" of a firstborn son from their duty of serving the priesthood. We haven't had priests or a temple in two millennia, but tradition is hard to eradicate, so the couple brought their son David and a friend who was a Kohen along, and the rabbi performed a, as she put, parody of the ceremony. She'd never done it before and admitted having to go to Chabad's website for some guidance on how it should be conducted. I say tradition is hard to eradicate, but this isn't something that's usually done in liberal Jewish circles.
I had to duck out after the Amidah to go to Starlight Radio Dreams--just this week Jewish Public Media put out a podcast entitled "Can I attend the theatre on Shabbat?" and my immediate response on seeing it was "Just @ me next time, rabbi"--but reluctantly. I really wanted to stay and hear the rabbi's discussion of Parashat Pinchas and of Tisha b'Av, but I had another commitment.
Next time, though, I'll stay through dinner.
I've been to Mishkan twice before, to Kol Nidre at the Vic and to the Purimspiel, but I've never been to Shabbat services before. I was a bit leery of actually going, becuase Mishkan's translations of the Hebrew tend to be a little...loose, let's say...in the past, and they rubbed me the wrong way, so I wasn't sure how well I would take to actual Shabbat services if they were handled the same way. It turned out that I had nothing to worry about.
There was a huge focus on music, with the rabbi and a group of people in the center (the more traditional style--historical the bimah was in the center, not up near the front) playing instruments and singing. A lot of nigunim (one example) between the Psalms and prayers, all of which really made it easy to get pulled in. They had that same minor-key, haunting quality that I remembered from Kol Nidre. In the past I've very strongly resisted being absorbed into nearly any group activity, no matter the context, but within a few minutes I was nodding and singing along. Once I figured the melodies out, because of course they were slightly different than the ones I was used to.
The most exciting part was the pidyon ha-ben ceremony, the symbolic "buying back" of a firstborn son from their duty of serving the priesthood. We haven't had priests or a temple in two millennia, but tradition is hard to eradicate, so the couple brought their son David and a friend who was a Kohen along, and the rabbi performed a, as she put, parody of the ceremony. She'd never done it before and admitted having to go to Chabad's website for some guidance on how it should be conducted. I say tradition is hard to eradicate, but this isn't something that's usually done in liberal Jewish circles.
I had to duck out after the Amidah to go to Starlight Radio Dreams--just this week Jewish Public Media put out a podcast entitled "Can I attend the theatre on Shabbat?" and my immediate response on seeing it was "Just @ me next time, rabbi"--but reluctantly. I really wanted to stay and hear the rabbi's discussion of Parashat Pinchas and of Tisha b'Av, but I had another commitment.
Next time, though, I'll stay through dinner.
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Date: 2019-Jul-27, Saturday 20:40 (UTC)