Author Archives: Hazzan Steven Hevenstone

Jewish Music, Jewish Prayer

Cantorial Art and the Changing Musical Landscape

This is from October of 2014 – it was on an out-dated blog so I am posting here.  Enjoy:

 

I have recently read a post on a Colleagues face book page and decided to think about the subject through the rest of the holidays. Many are bemoaning the end of the Cantorate, and I feel strongly that this is not the case. Part of the issues have to do with several factors, but the two biggest overall factors, at least in my opinion, are changing musical trends in the Synagogue and the Economy.

The Economy is simple – Synagogues in most cases are facing declining membership, as well as an aging membership who are now on a fixed income. They are also facing a situation where in the past, generations gave to their Synagogues and primarily Jewish concerns. Today this is not the case. People give to any given charity with which they have a connection. Also, with the Economic climate currently being what it is, people do not have the money to give in the same manner as their parents and grandparents.

When faced with the current Economy many Synagogues can, in most cases, afford only one member of the Clergy – and that is going to be a Rabbi. Many can argue the fact that a Cantor can do what a Rabbi does, but the Reality is – if a Cantor can do it then why not become a Rabbi? Many of our Colleagues have chosen this path and created a successful career for themselves.

Also – Cantors today need to do more than sing – as Synagogues are facing these financial issues it is a good idea that Cantorial students also obtain a degree and experience in a secondary skill that would be useful to our community, such as in Jewish Education. We are already expected to teach B’nai Mitzvah students and Adult Education classes, so why not have the credentials behind you. There are many Synagogues who look for a Cantor to also double his/her role as an Education Director. I myself have done this in the past. It was not easy, but not impossible. Some Cantors have a business background and with good organizational skills can work as the Executive Director and Cantor.

With the Economy there has been a rise in Soloists – or Cantorial Soloists. I myself started my career as a Soloist and Education Director until I made the decision that I wanted to study and become a fully Vested Hazzan through the Cantors Assembly – best decision of my life. However many Synagogues that can-not afford a second Clergy hire a soloist who is part-time and might tutor some B’Nai Mitzvah students for extra money. This also crosses over from the Economy to Musical Trends. Does this affect our occupation? Yes, because when a synagogue hires a soloist, they are making a statement that the Cantor’s knowledge is not important or relevant, just the singing of their tunes the way they have learned them is sufficient. And that is sad and such a loss for those synagogues that make that decision.

At one point in our history the Opera Style Cantors were a new thing – and I am sure that the Baal T’fillah all bemoaned the loss of the Cantorate as it was during that point in our history. However the new style grew, many of the past Cantors having success not only in the Synagogue, but also on the stage and through recording. Lines would form outside the Synagogue just to hear these amazing Hazzanim. The Italians had their Opera Stars? Well we had our Cantors!

Many call it the “Golden Age of the Cantor”. I feel personally this is a mistake – we should acknowledge that it was an amazing era for the Cantor and our position, but when you denote “Golden Age” you are almost acknowledging that it was the Pinnacle of our career and anything previous or future is a pale shadow of that age. I truly believe that the best is yet to come.

The musical landscape is always in a state of flux. One moment people like symphonies, the next Operas, then to Jazz, Broadway, Pop, Folk, Hip Hop, Rap, and now Electronic music. The styles are seemingly endless. One commenter on facebook mentions that the next thing we will be expected to do is beat box and rap. This is already being done, and I also have done it.

We as the Hazzanim – we as the Jewish Music Specialists, not only in our specific Congregations, but in the Jewish World, we need to learn to embrace those musical tastes and changes. Musically we need to be able to look in three directions:

  1. The past – Nusach – those amazing Cantorial pieces. There is a place for them, not only in concert but on our respective Bima during services. Not only do we keep the musical tradition alive, but we stay true to our roots, true to our past.
  2. Current trends – we need to listen to and be open to what is current. What are our Congregants – specifically the younger ones with families – what are they listening to? Is there a way that we can create and utilize those current musical trends and utilize them in some of our davening without being disrespectful to the T’fillot and to our communities?
  3. Future trends – How can we look or listen to future musical trends if they have not happened yet? We can see where the musical trends were in the past – where they are today – and we can somewhat forecast those musical tastes. Not easy, but possible. Many musical trends and tastes come back. I know that when our boys were younger, they and their friends were not listening to the music on the radios or what was “Pop” but instead were listening to Led Zeppelin; ELP; Billy Joel; and many others from the 1970’s era. And even the Beatles music is always classic and fresh in every generation.

To continue to be viable we need not only to be able to look in those three directions, but able to competently represent those styles in a worship service. How does one do this? I am only now personally working towards finding this out.

We need to be proactive in our chosen field not only for ourselves, but for the future Hazzanim. We each have the opportunity and responsibility to secure the role of the Hazzan in our synagogue so that the position will stay open and be filled by the next generation. We need to be proactive in engaging and continuing our education ourselves as professionals – presenting ourselves as not only “Singers” but as viable Clergy who work together with our Rabbis as a team in Pastoral duties, Funerals, Weddings, etc. We need to be a resource to our respective Congregants – not only on the music of our people, but on Judaism. We need to be the person whom a Congregant would feel comfortable with to just talk about a problem, or even to approach.

What I am writing about here is not new. This has been a growing issue within our communities for a few generations. It is good that we can discuss and challenge each other in this forum. Every day brings new experiences, new challenges, a new personal connection to a congregant. As a community we can support each other and learn from each other.

Let us join together, as colleagues, as friends, as Hazzanim – and bring the Cantorate to the 21st Century and beyond. So that in 500 years historians can look back at us and say we started the new Golden Age of the Cantor!

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Jewish Music

Jewish Music Introduction

The sounds and tones of music weave through Jewish life as a thread through a tapestry.  This tapestry is rich and vibrant, much like Joseph’s coat of many colors.  But instead of colors, we have tones and harmonies which can lift us up and raise our spiritual identity, helping to fill us with sweet sounds.  We only have to listen, and let ourselves be carried away by these sweet sounds.

Jewish Music has been around for over 3,000 years.  The most common and best known version of music is sung in the Synagogue by the Hazzan (Cantor).  This is the music of Prayer, the chant of the Torah and the Megilloth.  Jewish music of the Synagogue spans the evolution of Cantorial, Synagogal, and Temple melodies since Biblical times.

The earliest Synagogue music of which we have any account was based on the system used in the Temple in Jerusalem. The Mishnah gives several accounts of Temple music. According to the Mishnah, the regular Temple orchestra consisted of twelve instruments, and a choir of twelve male singers. The instruments included the kinnor (lyre), nevel (harp), shofar (ram’s horn), hozeirot (trumpet) and three varieties of pipe, the chalil, alamoth and the uggav.  The Temple orchestra also included a cymbal (tziltzal) made of copper. The Talmud also mentions use in the Temple of a pipe organ (magrepha). No provable examples of the music played at the Temple have survived.  Though there are vivid descriptions of the instruments utilized and the use of music.

After the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD and the subsequent dispersion of the Jews to Babylon and Persia, versions of the public singing of the Temple were continued in the new institution of the Synagogue. Three musical forms were identified by scholars of the period, involving different modes of antiphonal response between Hazzan congregation: the Hazzan singing a half-verse at a time, with the congregation making a constant refrain; the Hazzan singing a half-verse, with the congregation repeating exactly what he had sung; and the Hazzan and congregation singing alternate verses. All of these forms can be discerned in parts of the modern synagogue service.

The Prayers are musically broken up into different Modes, these are referred to as Nusach.  There are many different melodic forms of Nusach.  Nusach (Hebrew: נוסח‎ nosaħ, modern pronunciation nósakh or núsakh), plural nuschaot or nusachim, is a concept in Judaism that has two distinct meanings. One is the style of a prayer service (Nosach Teiman, Nusach Ashkenaz, Nusach Sefard or Nusach Ari); another is the melody of the service depending on when the service is being conducted.

These modes serve as a musical means to identify specific prayer services: Chol (Weekday) Shachrit; Minha; Ma’ariv.  Shabbat Services have different nuschaot – P’zukei D’zimrah; Shachirt; Torah Service; Musaf.  Also Minha for Shabbat has its own specific nusach.

There are three main modes. The three main modes are called Ahavah Rabbah, Magein Avot and Adoshem  Malach. Traditionally, the Hazzan improvises sung prayers within the designated mode, while following a general structure of how each prayer should sound. Over time many of these chants have been written down and standardized, yet the practice of improvisation still exists to this day.

The Ahavah Rabbah mode (also referred to as freygish) – is named after the blessing that immediately precedes the Sh’ma in the morning service.  Musically, Ahavah Rabbah is considered to be the most Jewish sounding of all the prayer modes, because of the interval of an augmented second, contained between its second and third scale degrees.

The Magein Avot (Shield of our Fathers) mode takes its name from a paragraph in the prayer of the same, which follows the Amidah in the Friday evening service. Musically, it most closely resembles a minor scale from the Western classical music. It is used in simple davening, or prayer chant, often by means of a single recitation tone, which the Hazzan utilizes to cover a large amount of liturgical text in a quickly-flowing style.

The Adoshem Malach (G-d Reigns) mode consists of a major scale with a lowered (minor) seventh and tenth. This mode has a majestic feel to it and is used for a number of services that require a grand atmosphere.

In modern times there has been an emergence of modern melodies composed by Contemporary Hazzanim and Jewish song writers that have made their way into the Synagogue service.  Writers like Debbie Friedman; Craig Taubman; Rick Recht; Hazzan Sol Zim; Hazzan Meir Finkelstein; Hazzan Avi Albrecht; and many others.  Most of the new melodies stay true to the Nusach melodic forms, while others go in a different musical direction.  This does not make those melodies wrong.  Instead these newer melodic forms (i.e.: Debbie Friedman’s MiSheberach) add a contemporary sound and style to Modern Synagogue Music.

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Prayer

Hashkiveinu הַֹשְכִּיבֵֽנוּ

In our Siddur there is a wonderful prayer during the Maariv service named: הַֹשְכִּיבֵֽנוּ (Hashkiveinu).  It is the second of the בְּרַכֹת (B’rachot) after the ֹשְמַע (Sh’ma). This prayer is a petition to be able to go to sleep in the evening and to return to life the next day.  During the age of the Talmud in Babylonia, people were frightened of the night.  Most lived in the countryside and it was very dark.  The הַֹשְכִּיבֵֽנוּ was added to the Maariv service to ask G-d for protection.

The הַֹשְכִּיבֵֽנוּ is only recited in the evening and is found after the מִי-כָמֹֽכָה (Mi-Chamochah) which is a prayer for redemption.  The הַֹשְכִּיבֵֽנוּ is also a prayer for redemption where we ask to be freed from danger.  “Guard our coming and our going; grant us life and peace, now and always.” (Siddur Sim Shalom pg 33).

Traditionally the הַֹשְכִּיבֵֽנוּ is first recited in the Synagogue during the Maariv service, then at home as a bedtime prayer.  As an extension to the מִי-כָמֹכָה, the הַֹשְכִּיבֵֽנוּ asks G-d for protection from the terror of the night.  During the time in Babylonia, when the הַֹשְכִּיבֵֽנוּ was initially composed, there was no electricity.  It might be hard for us in today’s modern world to understand the fear people felt living in the country where night was at time pitch dark.  During that time period there were many dangers present to people, not only real dangers like wild animals, wild storms, plague, and even other people, but also imagined dangers.

In this beautiful prayer we ask וּפְרוֹשֹ עָלֵינוּ סֻכַּת ֹשְלוֹמֶךָ (ufros aleinu sukat sh’lomecha) “Spread over us Your shelter of peace…” (Siddur Sim Shalom pg 285).  To be protected as we were protected in the 40 year sojourn of the desert.

Ismar Elbogen, the authoritative source on the subject of the history and origin of our liturgy, traces the source of Hashkiveinu to the Talmudic tractate of Brachot (4b) which outlines the cycle of daily and holiday prayer. Rav Amram, the 9th century sage who produced the first known Siddur has a text of הַֹשְכִּיבֵֽנוּ that is similar in structure to the one found in our prayer book today. Interestingly two possible endings can be found for this prayer; one closer to the Babylonian rite and the second closer to the ancient Palestinian. The framers of our liturgy solved this issu by utilizing the conclusion: ֹשוֹמֵר עַמּוּ יִשְֹרָאֵל לָעַד (shomeir amo Yisraeil la-ad) “Guardian of Your people Israel” (Siddur Sim Shalom pg 284) for weekday version of Hashkiveinu. On Shabbat and festivals the conclusion הַפּוֹרֵשֹ סֻכַּת ֹשָלוֹם עָלֵֽינוּ וְעַל כָּל-עַמּוֹ יִשְֹרָעֵל וְעַל יְרוֹּשָלָֽיִם (haporeis sukat shalom aleinu v’al kol amo Yisraeil v’al Y’rushalayim) “who spreads the shelter of peace over us, over all His people Israel, and over Jerusalem” (Siddur Sim Shalom pg 33).

The Talmud, as noted above, refers to the הַֹשְכִּיבֵֽנוּ as the Long Redemption. This connection to the prayer for redemption: גָּאַל יִשְֹרָאֵל (Ga-al Yisrael); “Redeemer of the people Israel” (Siddur Sim Shalom pg 32) is underscored by B.S. Jacobson in his definitive work on the daily prayer book. Jacobson cites a Midrash  (Rabbinic Parable) which relates that when the Children of Israel were instructed to remain indoors as the Angel of Death slew the first born of Egypt, they recited a prayer asking for a peaceful sleep, for protection from adversaries and for guidance in their comings and goings this became the precursor of our  הַֹשְכִּיבֵֽנוּ prayer.

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THE CLARION CALL OF THE SHOFAR

“Can you hear it? In the distance is that sound! The Clarion Call of the Shofar. During the Month of Elul the Shofar is sounded – calling us to prepare, to be ready.” – I am a child sitting at a desk in my Hebrew School and my Rabbi has enthralled us with these words – “Prepare. Be ready!” We became excited with thoughts of hearing the shofar sounding out across the classrooms, down the hall, through the sanctuary, out into the street, calling, calling, announcing to everyone that the New Year was upon us, Be Ready!

Though I can’t speak for my classmates – I know that the call of the Shofar resonated deep within me. I always felt an awakening, a sense that something important, something wonderful was approaching.

Even before starting Religious School I remember my father picking me up so that I could not only hear that Clarion Call but actually witness the Baal T’Kiah – the person honored with the blowing of the Shofar.

What is a shofar? A shofar is a musical instrument of ancient origin, made of a horn, traditionally that of a ram, and used for religious purposes. Like the modern bugle, the shofar lacks pitch-altering devices. The Baal T’Kiah uses facial muscles and how he or she holds their lips to the mouthpiece to make different sounds.

In order to master the different sounds, the Baal T’Kiah can change how they use air to create each shofar call. Each call is known as a T’Kiah, or blast. The four most well-known sounds we hear each and every Rosh Hashanah are the T’Kiah (one blast), Sh’varim (broken- 3 short blasts), T’ruah (alarm – rapid series of 9 or more short blasts), and the T’Kiah G’dolah (Great blast – a single unbroken blast held as long as possible).

The shofar sounds, like music, are meant to stir our heart and soul and help us to change our ways:

  • T’Kiah – a steady, clean sound asking you to search your heart and seek repentance
  • Sh’varim –a staccato or quivering sound indicating regret when one realizes their misdeeds and then desires to change
  • T’ruah – a wavelike sound of alarm that hearkens us to return to the mitzvot
  • T’Kiah G’dolah – the last blast entreating us to sincerely change for the better

So why did we blow the Shofar during every day (except for Shabbat) in the month of Elul? Elul is the time to prepare for the Yamim Nora’im. The T’Kiah sounds out to call the community to reflect on the past year individually and collectively. The Clarion Call of the Shofar was heard, usually after the Morning Minyan. This was done through the 28th of Elul, and on the 29th of Elul the day prior to Rosh Hashanah; we do not blow the Shofar. As the month of divine mercy and forgiveness, Elul is an opportunity for t’shuvah (“return” to G‑d), prayer, charity, and increased Ahavat Yisrael (love for a fellow Jew), in the quest for self-improvement and coming closer to G‑d. This is a time to search our hearts and draw closer to G-d in preparation for the Days of Awe. Through the Clarion call of the Shofar our hearts stir, our souls ache, and we begin the process of T’shuvah.

During the year we get lost in our daily lives. Our spirituality takes a back seat to everyday living. What started out as an opportunity to come back spiritually to G-d (T’shuvah) during the last High Holy Days becomes nothing more than a faintly remembered thought. The Clarion call of the Shofar during the Month of Elul awakens our spirit and reminds us to be prepared.

It is for this reason that we marked each weekday of Elul with the sounds of the shofar. It can be said that these series of blasts may emulate the sound of crying, our cry of tears over our past failures and shortcomings. And just as one can feel better after a cathartic cry, we can awaken ourselves to renew and reinvigorate our relationship with G-d.

During Rosh Hashanah we will hear 100 blasts of the shofar with its varying calls. Allow those calls to reverberate within you, feel the sounds stir your heart, allow the calls reach deep within your spirit and join us at DHJC as we begin the New Year of 5776.

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Setting Jewish Priorities in our Modern Age

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Our Minyan had a wonderful experience the other evening.  There was a family program in our Synagogue which ended just prior to our evening Minyan.  There were many families who attended this wonderful program.  As I was coming in to set up the Minyan room vehicles were leaving the Synagogue parking lot.  One family however came into the Minyan room.  They wanted to make sure that there would be a Minyan as the roads were once again covered in a little snow and ice.  This family has two children, one recently Bar Mitzvah and the younger still a couple of years away. 

 

What I found inspiring was the younger child asked why they had to stay, and the father noted that it was important to make sure that there would be a Minyan of 10 adults for those who need to say Mourner’s Kaddish.  They were already at the Synagogue, and instead of leaving like the other families, they felt it would be a priority to help make the Minyan. 

 

Today, families find themselves torn in different directions.  What once was a priority no longer is seen as important. When I grew up the Synagogue was an important part of my life.  Families made it a priority not only to belong to a Synagogue and train for Bar/Bat Mitzvah, but to be the center of their Jewish lives.  My Synagogue was a bustle of activity with young families abound, children in the halls, not just for Religious School or tutoring, but for youth events, for concerts, or even just to hang out with the Rabbi and the Cantor.  We wanted to be there.  Not because our generation was extremely religious, but because it was our Synagogue.  It was our second home, a place where we were comfortable. 

 

This comfortable feeling we had for our Synagogue, and our Clergy, was created by our parents who made it a priority to bring us to Religious School, to get us involved with youth groups, to secure in us, the next generation, a strong Jewish identity.  It does not mean that every one of us became Rabbis, Cantors, or Jewish leaders.  What it did was pass down to us, the next generation, those Jewish values which defined us as American Jews.  Though it must not have been easy for our parents to run us to these events at our Synagogue, they felt it important that those values, those traditions, that sense of Jewish self and confidence, be passed on to our generation, L’Dor Vador (Generation to generation). 

 

So what has happened?  Why have the Synagogues, and that strong sense of Judaism become less of a priority?  Where has the succeeding generations of parents failed and where has our movement failed?  These are questions that I am sure others have better answers, or maybe they do not. 

 

This family I speak about above is very much like my family.  Their Synagogue, their Jewish identity, their Jewish values are important, and they pass those values to their children.  They are not extremely religious however the Synagogue is a large part of their lives.  They encourage their older child to be active in the youth programming in the Synagogue, to be active in reading the Torah on Shabbat as part of the Synagogue’s Yad Squad.  They also encourage him to continue to lead services with me when there is no Bar/Bat Mitzvah being celebrated.  This is one family – and I can say that there are others in my Synagogue who share this value.

 

The Jewish identity of our children, of the future generation, starts at the home.  It is not just the responsibility of one parent, but both parents.  Parents should be living by example, making the Synagogue a center of their lives.  In today’s world, with the Internet making the world smaller, with other organizations out there vying for our support, our attention, our time, it makes it that much harder.  However for the next generation to have that connection with the Synagogue, that connection with their Jewish identity, families need to lead by example. 

 

Another issue is even more troubling.  Many Synagogues over the last decade have cut the time of Religious School.  When I was younger my Religious School was three afternoons a week, Shabbat attendance (Friday night and Saturday morning), and Sunday mornings.  However today, families find themselves torn in many different directions.  Instead of standing ground and having our children make the Synagogue the center, we split everything.  Today, if Synagogues do not adjust the amount of time and days that students need to attend Synagogue, families go somewhere else that gives less. 

 

The Synagogues, to keep membership happy, change their programs to fewer days, less attendance at Shabbat, and less learning.  Then when a child comes up for Bar/Bat Mitzvah and they struggle with the Hebrew, they struggle with the Judaic concepts, and the Synagogue gets the blame.  The troubling aspect in this goes with the fact that it was the families which insist on fewer days, less learning, less time, however they are expecting their children to be as knowledgeable as they were when they went three days a week, plus Sunday mornings, plus more Shabbat attendance.  Even in our technologically advanced society that can-not work.  It is a recipe for mediocrity. 

 

So how do we, as leaders in the Jewish Community, as parents raising our children in this modern age, how do we solve this dilemma?  Is there an easy fix?  Can we just go back to the old ways or should we look for more advanced ways to make the Synagogue, and L’Dor Vador, once again, the center of Jewish Life?  These are questions which we need to ask ourselves, not only as leaders of the Jewish Community, but as Jewish Parents. 

 

Generations from now, if we keep on this track, will the Synagogues only be Museums?  Places people attend on a school trip as an anachronism, a thing of the past.  Is that what we want for our children, and their children, and generations beyond?  Or do we want to pass down our wonderful rich heritage of a full and rich Jewish life which goes hand in hand with our modern, ever changing world? 

 

Make the Synagogue a priority, have your children, your grandchildren, get to know their Rabbi and Cantor.  Have them come to services and participate.  Have them attend their Religious School.  Go to Jewish Museums; take them on trips to Israel.  Celebrate the holidays as if they were each not only special, but life growing experiences for our children.  L’Dor Vador – keep the flame going, don’t let the light go out (as stated in Peter Yarrow’s wonderful song).  Not only as leaders, but as parents, let us work together to bring our wonderful culture, our values, our beliefs, to being number one in our lives.  Not only as something for our children, but for ourselves. 

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The Importance of a Daily Minyan in our Modern World

“One of the 613 commandments of the Torah is the requirement to pray.  The Torah tells us in Deuteronomy that every Jew is required to ‘serve G-d with his whole heart and with his whole soul.’  The Talmud asks, ‘What is meant by serving G-d with one’s heart?’  It concludes that this verse means we are required to pray. “   (THE ART OF JEWISH PRAYER BY Yitzchok Kirzner with Lisa Aiken, The Judaica Press, Inc. New York © Copyright 1991, 2002 pg.20)

This brief paragraph is from one of the books I started reading on my journey to become a Cantor.  I grew up knowing and appreciating the importance of daily prayer along with a Minyan.  There are many prayers that we can only say when we have a quorum, a Minyan of ten adults.  There is something wonderful about joining others from a community in prayer.  As our voices all join together in singing the T’fillah, it is uplifting.

To me, it was always important that whether I belonged to, or worked in a Synagogue, that Synagogue had to have a daily Minyan.  Other than the Mitzvah (as stated above in the quote) to “… serve G-d with his whole heart…” there is something glorious in starting and ending your day with a core group devoted to prayer, to serving G-d with their hearts and souls. 

I have written previously about Daily Minyanim not being just for Mourners.  It is a wonderful way to start and end your day.  In our daily lives we sometimes forget about others, we forget about connecting with people, we forget about G-d.  We wake up, we go to work (or school), we do our duties, we come home, and we go to bed.  True there are other things we do, but in essence that is what we are doing. 

When we start our day with a community in prayer we are awake, we are energized, we can face the challenges the day presents to us.  When we end our day with a community in prayer we have the opportunity, through prayer with a community, to unload the pressures of the day and greet our loved ones with a clearer mind. 

The daily Minyanim in a Synagogue truly represent the heart of the community.  Why the heart?  Daily Minyanim (at least in the modern view) tend to be geared towards making sure there is a Minyan, a Quorum of ten adults available to help those saying Kaddish for a departed loved one, or a time when one goes back for the Yartzeit, the anniversary of the death of a loved one.  When one has experienced a loss, or remembering a departed one, their ‘heart’ is grieving, is feeling that emptiness.  Those who attend the Minyan (who are not in mourning but there to support the community) are the ‘heart’ in that they are there to support the community.  To not only pray together to  “… serve G-d…” but to also be part of the community by supporting those who have experienced loss.  Letting those in mourning know that they are not alone and do not have to be alone. 

Synagogues with daily Minyanim – vibrant, active Minyanim – have a strong heart.  Like our hearts, they support those in grief, they can be grieving, they are compassionate, they are empathetic, and they are sympathetic.  Like a heart they represent the physical pulse of the community.  There is a beat, a tempo, not only in the support of the community but to the prayers. 

Unfortunately there are Synagogues out there that have trouble on a daily basis supporting the Minyan.  They are not able to get their quorum, there Minyan of ten adults.  Many stop having daily Minyanim.  Their hearts whither and pass on.  This, to me, is one of the saddest things to hear.  What happens to those in the community who are grieving and want the support of, not only family and friends, but their community?  They end up either looking for another place within their area with an active daily Minyan, or even worse – they have to go through their grief alone. 

Another way that the daily Minyan acts as a ‘heart’ to the community is that the people who attend the daily Minyan are part of the community on a daily basis.  Like our own hearts, we sometimes take it for granted.  Our hearts beat, they have a pulse, and they keep up a healthy blood flow.  When we are healthy do we focus on our own hearts?  We take it for granted that it is there, it is working properly, and we don’t really think about it until there is a problem.  Many communities look at the daily Minyan in this way.  And unfortunately, even when there is a problem (like obtaining a proper quorum) people will go on the attitude that someone else will go. 

Like our own hearts – it is important for us to keep that heart healthy.  Keep the pulse going strong.  True – loss of a loved one is a part of life, part of the cycle.  The daily Minyanim are there to support those who experience loss.  However the daily Minyanim are also there for us to “… serve G-d with all of our heart…”, to pray together as a community, to start and invigorate our day with members of our communities in prayer, then to end, and ‘de-tox’ from the daily challenges in the late afternoon with members of our communities in prayer. 

Like anything we start new, it is a habit that can be joyfully created.  The daily Minyanim are not long services, and in the short amount of time it takes to join with our communities in prayer can be so gratifying.  Not only knowing that you are supporting those within the community in grief, that you are serving G-d, but also knowing that you are starting your day by keeping the heart of the community strong and healthy. 

If your Synagogue has a daily Minyan, a heart, join the heart.  Even if you can-not, for whatever reason, commit on a daily basis, find one or two days a week that you can go in the morning and the late afternoon.  If enough people in the community can even do that – they can not only assure the heart of the community will stay strong, but they will build a beautiful habit of starting and ending the day with their community. 

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As I like to say, “I earned my stripes this morning”.  While in Minyan davening Birkhot Ha-Shachar we get to the section of Rabbinic Texts to study.  I usually pick one to meditate on, or I ready something from another of my sources prior to the Kaddish DeRabbanon.  I read the Section from II Genesis Rabbah 38.6

גָּדוֹל הַֹשָלוֹם, ….. הָא לָמַֽדְתָּ: גָּדוֹל הַֹשָּלוֹם וּשְנוּאַה הַמַּחֲלֹֽקֶת.

This is just the opening two words and the end – “Great is Peace….” and ending with “Learn, therefore, that peace is great and strife is hateful.”  I began to ruminate on this small section and started thinking about things going on in the world, things going on in our government.

When we begin looking at what is going on in our government, at least to me it is disgusting.  We vote our “leaders” into office, regardless of party affiliation, to do a job.  And the hope for this is that there is a bipartisan government where all parties will work together for the benefit of the people, their constituents who voted them into office – we the people whom through our voice in the ballots gave them their jobs, gave them their power.  Instead the political process has once again reared it’s head with the current “shutdown”.

You can-not blame one party or the other – this is a situation where no-one from either side is willing to come to the table.  Oh yes… they will “spin” it that the other party is to blame, but when it comes down to it – all of them, every one of the politicians, regardless of party affiliation – are to blame.  From the President on down to the first year Congressman.

But thanks to our Media, and thanks to the “spin tanks” of both parties they do their usual manipulation of the public, thinking that the entire public are unintelligent and will believe everything they “spin”.

For many years my son Nathan has stated that it is time for another party, that the current politicians are all corrupt.  Maybe Nathan has a point – and it can-not be a party that is already around with the same old leaders with the same old partisan beliefs and only interested in their positions and their power.

There are good politicians out there – people like Ted Deutch from Florida is one who comes to mind.  But they are few and far between.  Daily we see our country, not as an example to the world, but as a Reality TV show – what is the big United States Government going to do next?

So what does all this have to do with the Rabbinic Text I ruminated on this morning?

גָּדוֹל הַֹשָלוֹם, ….. הָא לָמַֽדְתָּ: גָּדוֹל הַֹשָּלוֹם וּשְנוּאַה הַמַּחֲלֹֽקֶת.

“Great is Peace…. Learn, therefore, that peace is great and strife is hateful.”

By playing partisan politics and not being willing to listen and compromise with other leaders – our government leaders – whom we the people have voted in – regardless of party affiliation – are doing what is hateful.  It does not matter even your religious views – I am not speaking about a purely Jewish concept here – peace is a part of all Religions (this is not a religious debate here and I am not speaking on fanaticism).

Our leaders need to learn to respect each other.  Our leaders need to learn that there are many ways towards solutions.  To all of our leaders – from the President down to the first year Congressman – you all should be ashamed of yourselves.  “Great is Peace…. Learn, therefore, that peace is great and strife is hateful.”  End the strife and come together in peace and do your jobs.

Great Is Peace

Aside