SHUL REVIEW: Moreshet Yisrael (Friday)

Rating: 3/5- Typical American Conservative service, with participation in the service likewise

Service Attended: Friday Night Services
Date: 8/29/2014

About: Fully Egalitarian, Masorti (Conservative) congregation
Time of Service: 6:45pm Friday night
Mechitza: None, people can sit wherever
Women: Full participation
Sermon: English on Friday Night, Hebrew (same sermon) on Saturday Morning
Meals: No mention of offers to set people up
Frequency: Weekday mornings, every Friday night, Saturday Morning
Family friendly service: Yes, Rabbi gave out treats to the younger kids present.

Review: Moreshet Yisrael is one of the only fully egalitarian, Masorti (Conservative) synagogues in Israel. The space is beautiful, but unfortunately acoustically lacking. On the evening I was there, there were around 30 people, which is around 1/4 of the total size of the synagogue, so it was also lacking in the energy necessary to fill the space fully.

As such, it was a typical American Conservative shul in many ways. Seating was spacious, and prayers mumbled or quietly sung in contrast to the typical Israeli loud kavanah. They used a guitar (and a tambourine) for Kabbalat Shabbat, and put it away for Ma’ariv. The shlichei tzibur led a very nice service, but they were largely on their own in the davening.

In the end, if you’re looking for a place that resembles a service back home where men and women participate equally and can sit together, check out Moreshet Yisrael.

Moreshet Yisarel is located at 4 Agron Street, Jerusalem, as part of the Fuchsberg Center Complex. For more information, visit their website.

SHUL REVIEW: The Kotel (Friday)

Rating: It’s the Kotel. What more needs to be said?

Service Attended: Friday Night Services
Date: September 19, 2014

Time of Service: Services start at candle lighting, and new minyanim start every few minutes
Mechitza: Men’s and Women’s sections, separate services
Women: Lead women’s services
Meals: YES! See special section below review
Frequency: All services, every day
Family friendly service: Definitely friendly towards families

Review: The Kotel. The Western Wall. The Wailing Wall. All of these are names for perhaps the single most holy place on earth for Jews. Jews from all backgrounds gather daily to daven at the place where the Beit HaMikdash, the Holy Temple, once stood.

Upon arriving at the Kotel (men on the left side, women on the right), I grabbed one of the free Kotel Siddurim and immediately began to wander around looking for a minyan to daven with. I love Kabbalat Shabbat, so I like to go around to a few different minyanim and daven KS a few times before proceeding to Ma’ariv (call me a heretic). Another of my favorite parts of Kotel davening are the soldiers that show up in large groups and have their own minyanim. They start with a spirited ruach session filled with singing and dancing, things like Am Yisrael Chai, and proceed into typical davening (the soldier minyan I davened with for a while was using Carlebach style tunes). It’s amazing to see Haredi Jews singing and dancing and praying alongside soldiers, in a way that is uniquely Israeli.

Whether you’re in Jerusalem for a week or a year, the Kotel is a place where you have to daven on a Friday night at least once in your lifetime.

Meals: If you’re looking to be set up with a family for a nice Shabbos meal after your davening, then Jeff Seidel is your go to guy. If you’ve heard of someone going to the Kotel and receiving a famous “Kotel Meal”, chances are Jeff is the one who set them up. If you have the foresight early in the week, you can contact Jeff by email or by phone at (02)-628-2634 to give him a heads up that you’re looking to be set up for a meal, or you can find him at the Kotel on Friday Night and introduce yourself.

At some point in the night (it was 7:20pm the week I went), he’ll tell you to meet just outside of the men’s section in the plaza. You know you’re in the right place if dozens of 20 and 30 year olds are standing around in a circle waiting. Once there, you wait around patiently until Jeff places you with a family, and from there you’re home free with a fantastic Shabbos meal. Oh, and don’t forget to thank him on your way out.

If you’re looking for Jeff, he looks like this:

To find out more information about Jeff Seidel or shabbat meals, visit www.jeffseidel.com or www.getshabbat.com.

SHUL REVIEW: Yakar- Downstairs Minyan (Friday and Saturday)

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Rating: 5/5- Beautiful harmony that is perfectly resonant in their space

Service Attended: Friday Night and Saturday Morning Services
Date: Septemeber 26th/27th, 2014

Slogan: Authentic open-minded Judaism, rooted in the riches of tradition and relevant to the issues of the present day
Type of Service: Orthodox with Carlebach tunes
Time of Service: Friday- Begins 30 min after sundown. Saturday- 8:15-11:30, with kiddush and class ~9:15 and Torah Reading around 10.
Mechitza: Front-back, shaliach tzibur in the back of men’s section
Women: No leadership
Meals: No mention of setting anyone up for meals
Frequency: Every Friday night and Saturday morning
Sermon: Friday- Sermon in Hebrew by Rabbi. Saturday– There were two breakout shiur options (short learning sessions) in the middle of the service led by congregants, one in Hebrew and one in English, instead of a Rabbi’s sermon.

Review:

Friday- I didn’t find the downstairs minyan at Yakar to be quite as friendly as its upstairs counterpart, but I enjoyed the davening more. Shabbat began as we were ushering Rosh Hashana out, so they did an abbreviated Kabbalat Shabbat, which was still really nice. The room reverberated from the power of the harmony, and although the shaliach tzibur was quiet, he had a great voice and set the tone for the packed room. The tunes were a little slow at times, so if you want a more upbeat minyan, check out the upstairs minyan. There are very few places however that can beat the feeling in that room.

Saturday- Saturday’s service had very much the same feeling, but was lacking a little bit in participation from the previous night. I think this was due to the difficulty of singing with the particular service leaders for that day (they were in and out of tune), but it was still a really nice service, and I gave it a 5/5 for its potential.

Before the Torah Service, we took a 10 minute break for Kiddush and a 30 minute break where we were given two choices of shiurim (classes) to attend instead of a sermon, one in English and one in Hebrew. The shiur I attended was very well done and interesting.

Both of Yakar’s minyanim seem to be great, and you can find pretty much anything you want there, making it one of my favorite congregations in Jerusalem.

Yakar is located at 10 Halamed-Hey Street, Jerusalem. The entrance is actually off of Kovshei Katamon Street. The women’s entrance is immediately to the right inside the gate, and the men’s is around the back past the stairs. For more information, visit their website.