SHUL REVIEW: Shira Hadasha (Friday Night and Saturday Morning)

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.

SHUL REVIEW: Kol Rina (aka the Bomb Shelter Shul) (Friday and Saturday Morning)

Rating: 5/5- Beautifully sung Carlebach service that gave me chills more than once

Services Attended: Saturday Morning and Friday Night
Date: September 20, 2014 and October 17th, 2014

Observance: Orthodox
Time of Service: Mincha 20min after candlelighting on Friday, and 8:30am-11:15am Saturday Morning
Mechitza: Behind men’s section, shtender towards back of men’s section
Women: No leadership
Meals: Meals offered at least for Friday night, no mention on Saturday
Frequency: Every Friday Night, Saturday Morning, Holidays
Family friendly service: While there were families, there weren’t too many, and were not a focus by any means
Sermon: Sometimes all in Hebrew, sometimes in Hebrew and English. Announcements in Hebrew and English

Review:

Friday Night: Friday night services were what I’ve come to expect from Kol Rina. The shul was packed and people came ready to sing and dance. Tunes are Carlebach. Great energy, and great way to bring in Shabbat. They were also able to set me up with a wonderful meal afterwards. See below for my original full review.

Saturday Morning: In 2008, when I was on Alexander Muss High School in Israel, I went to a shul that we referred to as the “Bomb Shelter Shul”. It was honestly a life changing experience, as I had never davened like that before, and I unfortunately didn’t know it’s actual name. That was until a few days ago, when a friend pointed me to Kol Rina. My hopes were high that this was indeed the shul I was looking for, and I was not to be disappointed.

Upon arriving, just outside the shul, I was flagged down by a man asking if I would be the 10th man for their minyan. I agreed, and asked to which shul he belonged. Kol Rina, he said. What a lovely coincidence. I admit I was a little concerned, as I had showed up some 20 minutes late, and they had no minyan yet? As you’ll find out, this was the only reason I didn’t rate them a 6/5.

As I walked down the stairs and into the shul, an immediate sense of nostalgia and recognition overtook me. I had finally found it! And it was not to disappoint. The Carlebach style minyan was led beautifully, and those who were there joined in such a way that I felt like I was part of a live choir, supporting a shaliach tzibur with made up harmonies on the spot. I can’t really describe the feeling other than to say you have to experience it yourself. At various points I even got shivers from the beauty of the davening. Had the room been full, and not half full, I think I would have given this minyan a 6/5. In addition, the women’s section was rather lacking, both in voice and in numbers.

Simchat Torah: I attended Kol Rina erev Simchat Torah, and it was great. Lots of singing and dancing, and it went on quite a long time. It was pretty packed to start, but around the 3rd Hakafah people started to clear out for dinner, which meant there was more room for dancing. One of the Torahs was passed back to the women’s section each hakafah so they could dance with a Torah as well.

For those that love Carlebach, singing, and harmony, there’s not a better weekly Shabbat minyan in Jerusalem.

Kol Rina is located at 26 Be’er Sheva Street, Nachlaot, Jerusalem. Known also as the Bomb Shelter Shul, it has a surface level entrance and goes straight down a flight of stairs. There is a common area with couches, and then the left door is for women and the right for men. For more information, visit their website.

SHUL REVIEW: Leader Minyan (Amika de-Bira) (Saturday and Holidays)

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My favorite Saturday minyan, Leader sings every page in the siddur, and every person is there to daven and have fun

Rating: 6/5
Service Attended: Saturday Morning, Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur
Date: October 18th, 2014, Rosh Hashana 2014, Yom Kippur 2014

Type of Service: Very Modern Orthodox. Tons of singing, lots of different tunes from different traditions (anything from Sephardic to Carlebach)
Time of Service: Saturday morning- 8:00-1:45, Rosh Hashana- 7:15-3:45, Yom Kippur- 7:00-End of Neilah
Mechitza: Left-Right half mechitza, no one really enforces (or cares) if someone has to go to the other side for a minute
Meals: No meals because of length of service, but very serviceable kiddush at 11:30
Frequency: Every Shabbat Mevarkhim, the Shabbat before Rosh Hodesh, some Holidays
Sermon: Sometimes all Hebrew, sometimes English translation as well
Family friendly service: There are a number of families that attend, but due to the length of the service, many come late and/or leave early
Women: Almost full leadership. Women lead services, read Torah, have Aliyot, etc. I say Leader is pretty much as egalitarian as you can get while still having a mechitza. Some women wear tallitot.

Review:

Saturday: Leader minyan is for people that like to sing and enjoy their davening. The service started at 8 with the morning blessings, and they spend around 2 hours on P’sukei D’zimrah, singing every word of every page. They had three guys alternating leading the different psalms, each with a very different style. One had a very earthy, grounded tone, another a kind of hybrid Ashkenazi/Sephardi vibe, and the third had a very distinct Sephardi sound (and tunes).

After Shacharit, around 11:30, we broke for a pretty large kiddush in their courtyard. The people there are great, and most speak English and are very friendly. There’s always plenty of alcohol, and many of the guys like to use this opportunity to recharge for the rest of the service.

They happened to be celebrating one of the member’s daughter’s Bat Mitzvah that day, so she read rishon-shlishi, as well as the Haftarah. By the time Musaf came around, there was around a dozen men still left, and maybe 20 women still remaining. Still it was a nice feeling, and the service ended around 1:45.

Holidays: Leader also has select services on the High Holidays. I attended First Day of Rosh Hashana and part of Yom Kippur services while shul hopping (they also had Second Day services). Literally every page of the Machzor was sung, and sung by the whole kahal (community). It was really an incredible feeling to be present in a community where every single person is davening with intense kavanah, and really participating in the service.

Rosh Hashana, the service lasted until around 3:45 with an extensive kiddush in the middle, and they went all day on Yom Kippur (I left for another service at 4:00 and they were half way through Musaf repetition). I definitely recommend it for the Holidays, although the tunes will probably not be like they are at home.

As I said at the start, the Leader Minyan is my favorite traditional minyan in Jerusalem, and for any person that really wants to sing and enjoy themselves while they’re davening, I highly recommend it.

The Leader Minyan is located in Ha-Merkaz la-Umanuyot ha-Mizrah at 17 Hizkiyahu ha-Melekh Street, Katamon, Jerusalem, Israel. For more information, visit their website. You can find a link there to sign up for reminder emails, or find them at Amika de-Bira on facebook.