Rating: 4/5- A Beautiful Friday Night Service Lacking In Ruach. 5/5 – Best Saturday Morning Service I’ve Been To In A While
Service Attended: Friday Night Services (8/16/2014) and Saturday Morning (8/23/2014)
Slogan: An Orthodox, Feminist Congregation in Jerusalem
Time of Service: Friday-1:15, Saturday- 8:30am-11:30am
Mechitza: Left-Right, shtender in the middle
Women: Lead Kabbalat Shabbat, Torah Service, read Torah and Haftarah
Meals: They asked at the end of the service for anyone who is looking for a place to go for Shabbos dinner (or lunch on Saturday) to go up front and they would match you up. I had a place to go, so I didn’t take advantage of this.
Frequency: Every Friday night and Saturday morning
Family friendly service
Review:
Friday night: The service I attended was really unlike anything I had attended before. The service was for the most part a typical Carlebach style service, and the congregants sung with some really beautiful harmonies, both from the men’s and women’s sides. The room was half to 3/4 full, and I think that even had the room been full, the size of the room still would have been too big to really have an amazing davenning experience. The service felt very slow, and I could tell that there were individuals who really wanted to pick up the pace and bring more ruach and energy to their davenning, but as a community, it just didn’t get there for me.
The women’s side was more full than the men’s, and for the first time, I actually felt like I would rather have been davening with the women. They just seemed more into the service and to be participating more.
Overall, I would like to go back and see if this was a one time thing, or how they daven.
Saturday Morning: Saturday morning services were wonderful. There was more ruach, and the harmonies were just as beautiful as always. The man who led Shacharit had a beautiful voice, and it was very pleasant to sing along and harmonize to.
Women led Torah service and read part of the Torah reading. What was really special was that there was a Bat Mitzvah, so the Bat Mitzvah girl read the Maftir Aliyah and Haftarah, and she did it beautifully. This was not a sight I thought I would see in Jerusalem, but it was certainly welcome. We threw candy at her after her blessing, and the children present ran up and collected as many pieces as they could.
If you like to sing, Shira Hadasha is the place for you.
Shira Hadasha is located at 12 Emek Refaim Street, Jerusalem. For more information, visit their website.
