I have been working on a welcome pamphlet for our services and hope it will be done soon. The following is the introduction formembers and guests alike. I would love your input and comments:

  

“Welcome to Congregation Beth El: your home for meaningful Jewish prayer, learning and living in central Fairfield County.”

   

Our slogan expresses our hope that your experiences here will be filled with purpose, meaning, prayer and growth. With all of this in mind, we have assembled a brief guide to our services and hope that you will find it useful.

  

Our services strive to be both informal and traditional. They are informal in that much of our davening is lead by lay volunteers and we welcome anyone who is able to lead the service.  Also, our services tend to be led, at least in part, from the aisle rather than from a formal ‘bima.’ We hope this conveys the feeling of intimacy and warmth that we feel so well describes our community. You should feel free in this setting to sing along at full voice, swaying and praying along with us.

   

In the context of this informality (and partially because of it) we often need the help of the congregation to maintain a feeling of prayerfulness. We ask that as much as possible the center aisle and front of the synagogue be left for use by the leader and that conversation in proximity to the chanter or reader be undertaken judiciously. Children and their chatter are almost never a significant distraction. We are always happy to have kids in shul. However, if you begin to feel that the noise level is getting a bit too high, please do what parents must from time to time to remind children of their surroundings. If it becomes necessary for children to leave, we ask that you accompany them. If there are unattended children playing in the halls or outside of the sanctuary who get a bit too loud, they may also need to be supervised or brought in to the sanctuary.

   

During the service there are many different portions which require different levels of decorum and coordination. This can be confusing, especially given that people tend to flow in and out of the service at different times. A good rule of thumb is: Whenever the congregation is standing, please wait at the entrance of the sanctuary and try not to interrupt others’ prayers. It will always be possible to get a book from the rear. And after everyone is seated, you can find a place to sit and make sure you are on the right page.

  

The most focused portions of the morning and evening services revolve around the Shema and Amidah. From the Barchu (the call to worship) through the silent standing prayer (Amidah) we are traditionally asked to avoid all conversation and interruption. There are a number of blessings preceding the Shema and following it, and it is very praiseworthy to answer AMEN to these blessings. If one has difficulty in following all of the prayers, by answering in this way, one can act as a full fellow worshipper no matter your level of Hebrew knowledge. During the silent Amidah, one should attempt to be as focused as possible on the idea that we stand before God in prayer. This is done individually, and yet in the context of community. On weekdays this is the time when we consider our failings, our needs and our hopes for a world of blessing.  On Shabbat and holidays, we focus entirely on the reality of our blessings and we give thanks for the gift of holy days- days when we experience a ‘taste of the world to come.’ The proper posture for the Amidah for those who can stand is with our feet together, facing east (toward Jerusalem). The prayer begins with three small steps forward and ends with three small steps backward– helping us imagine our entrance and exit from God’s immediate presence. In similar physical and spiritual style, we begin and end the first blessing of the Amidah with a bow, as we begin and end the next to the last blessing (modim,hatov) with a bow as well. Throughout, most important is to refrain from any other interactions. 

 

For many services the Amidah is repeated by the leader.  This enables anyone who is unable to pray on their own to listen and answer Amen, and thereby fulfill their obligation.  When we repeat the Amidah, we ask that everyone remain standing, with their concentration still focused, through at least the recitation of the Kedusha prayer. That blessing, the 3rd, is an invitation to join the angelic chorus which was prophetically described by Isaiah and Ezekiel. No matter how we might rationally question the idea of angels, the prayer has us partake in a celestial choir and in so doing, turns us- if only for a moment- into angels as well. It is most important to not walk about or have conversation during this prayer. We stand, with our legs together, to give the appearance of the “one leg” that the angels are imagined to have. The angels, created for only one purpose, do not need two legs to get around. They only have to stand and sing God’s praise. We, who do have many tasks to perform in this world, need two legs to move about. But when we stop to pray, we make that moment our priority and stand, angel like, as those who sing out God’s holiness. One final note on the formal Kedushait requires a minyan. While alone we can surely think and reflect and pray, we can only come to know the fullness of God’s holiness in the presence of others. In fact we, like the angels, sing “zeh el zeh,” one to another, of God’s holiness.

Only joined with our community can “Kedushah – holiness” be fully known.