Friday night was disappointing at first because I didn't realize how early Shabbat started (3:58 candle-lighting time!), so I didn't have time to walk down to Shira Chadasha for services. Instead, I hung around Ahuva's until Alexis arrived, at which point the three of us experimented with porridgey couscous. The result: fried couscous with mushrooms, onions, poultry seasoning, zatar, and whatever other spices Alexis put in there. It was actually really good, and a testimony to what creative college graduates can do if they actually learn how to cook. (Read: a testimony to the awesomeness that is Alexis in the kitchen.)
After dinner we settled down to watch Swing Kids (or rather, let it load on MegaVideo) until Ahuva's roommate and one of her friends came in with Mr. Fuzzfuzz, at which point we proceeded to talk about kitties and tell funny stories from high school. But really, while Friday night was a lot of fun, it's not the main point of this entry. The real reason I was downtown, intruding on Ahuva's hospitality, was that this week was the monthly Reconstructionist minyan, which I am absolutely in love with.
They've said that Reconstructionist services are never the same twice in a row, but I've now attended twice in a row (this Shabbat and Parshat Noach last month) and it seemed pretty similar to me. A lot of the tunes used in Psukei D'zimra were Reform, but there actually was a Psukei D'zimra, as opposed to it just meshing into Shacharit. I was very happy to hear a tune of Elohai Neshama which I know and love from Temple Emanuel. We also did Ahava Rabbah entirely out loud, which I haven't heard since sophomore year at AHA, before Rabbi Stein started valuing time over singing.
The gem of the service, though, was the Torah service. The Reconstructionist minyan in Jerusalem reads only three aliyot, but all of the aliyot are communal. Each one has a theme relating to the portion to be read. I don't remember what the first one was, but the last two this week were for anyone struggling with jealousy or feeling under-appreciated (for Esau's pleading for his blessing) and for anyone who was searching for something (for Jacob's being sent out to search for a wife). After each reading, the gabbi rishon gives a mi sheberach blessing based on the theme - that we should overcome our jealousy and see that we are loved, that we find what we are searching for, etc. It's really moving to stand up there and have someone say a blessing over you, especially one that's produced on the spot and not one that's just being read off a sheet. Before the third aliyah they do the normal mi sheberach for the sick, but they do it in the form of a chant of "ana el na refa na la," the words Moses prayed for Miriam when she was sick, and while it's being repeated people say the names of the people for whom they are praying. This is also really moving because the entire congregation is chanting it at once, rather than just one person standing in the front reading off a piece of paper.
After services is a potluck with lots of good food--mostly carbs. People like to bring pasta to these kinds of things, it seems. That and dessert. This week there were also two different kinds of lentil soup (in honor of the parasha, where Esau sells Jacob his birthright in return for lentil soup), tofu, pumpkin cake, and bread pudding - all of which were very exciting. Lunch was nice; I sat with Noam, Devorah, Alexis, and a rotating couple of RRC students. It's hard to describe, but the potluck is both part of the Reconstructionist minyan and not a part at the same time. I mean, it's a potluck, and a potluck is a potluck is a potluck. Yet, the potluck begins with kiddish and motzi, and if you stay till the end they do birkat, too. But it's not the full birkat, not at first at least. First they do a really interesting alternative birkat:
בריך רחמנה מלכה די עלמה מריה דהי פיתא
(Brikh rakhamana malkah d’almah mareh d’hai pita)
You are the source of life for all that is, and your blessing flows through us.Oh Lord prepare me
to be a sanctuary,
pure and holy,
tried and true.
And with thanksgiving,
I’ll be a living
sanctuary
for you.ועשו לי מקדש ושכנתי בתוכם
V’asu li mikdash v’shakhanti b’tokham
The middle part and the melody are taken from a Christian prayer that's apparently very popular at multifaith gatherings, but it works and it's pretty, especially when combined with with the relevant Hebrew. Our table did the traditional Birkat Hamazon afterwards, but most people just started to clean up. I think that's pretty much indicative of the Reconstructionist minyan; do everything, but maybe in an abbreviated form which still retains the beauty and meaning of the prayer. I think that's what I like about it. It's a nice balance.
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