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: The Great Synagogue (Saturday Morning)

One of the few remaining synagogues with an old time feel, led by a world renowned Chazzan

Rating: 4/5
Service Attended: Saturday Morning Services (on two separate occasions)
Date: Two separate weekends in July 2014

Type of Service: Orthodox. Chazzan led with all male choir (choir present some weeks). Also a separate Sephardic service.
Time of Service: Saturday morning typically ending by 11:30
Mechitza: Men on ground floor, women on U-shaped balcony
Meals: No mention of offering meals for visitors. No kiddush to my knowledge.
Frequency: All weekly services provided

Review: I have attended Saturday morning services twice at The Great Synagogue, and have enjoyed it both times. To start off with, the building is gorgeous, with stained glass windows, showcases of Judaica lining the walls of the hallway, and the ark held some 20 Torahs. It’s a huge space, which tends to fill up most mornings. People from all different backgrounds attend, from black hatters, to modern orthodox, to youth groups in town for Shabbat.

The first time I attended, a young chazzan was leading, and there was no choir (I was a little disappointed). He led a very nice service, and as most typical chazzan led services, participated where I could. Because of the size of the room however, and the fact that they don’t use microphones, it was hard to hear at times, making it even more difficult to participate.

I made sure the second time I went to go on a week when their Chief Chazzan, the world-renowned Chazzan Haim Adler was leading services. It did not disappoint. Chazzan Adler is one of the few remaining “old-school” chazzanim, and the presence of the choir lifted us to even higher heights. The choir, all male, combined traditional liturgical settings of the music with modern settings of liturgy with a skill that sets them beyond any synagogue choir I’ve ever heard.

The Great Synagogue is a must visit, just make sure you look ahead of time at who’s leading the service. With that said, if you’re looking for a service you can really dig your feet into and sing, this probably isn’t the shul for you.

The Great Synagogue is located at 56 King George Street, ירושלים, 9426222, Israel. For more information, visit their website.

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: Beit Yisrael at Yemin Moshe- Ashkenazi (Saturday Morning)

Rating: 5/5- Friendly, with good kavanah and harmony, and an excellent kiddush

Service Attended: Saturday Morning Services
Date: 8/30/2014

Observance: Orthodox
Time of Service: 8:15am-11am Saturday Morning
Mechitza: To left of men’s section, shaliach tzibur in the middle of men’s section. Sizable women’s section
Women: No leadership
Meals: Known for its kiddush after the meal, which was very nice. No mention of meals at the service, but their newsletter says to email Valerie Adler to request a meal
Frequency: Weekday Shacharit, every Friday Night, Saturday Morning, and Saturday evening
Family friendly service: While there were families, there weren’t too many, and were not a focus by any means
Sermon: English sermon, announcements in Hebrew and English

Review: Beit Yisrael, also known as the Ashkenazi shul at Yemin Moshe, was one of my favorites so far. Great combination of kavanah and harmony, and the voices beautifully filled the space. I went with a female friend (who is conservative), who also enjoys it there. Many English-speaking people daven there, so it can feel very homey for the English speaker.

English sermon, with Hebrew and English announcements. Very friendly people, and I was invited to join them for High Holidays by one of the leaders of the congregation after the service. The highlight is definitely the kiddush afterwards, which had a number of delicious treats, a great lasagna, and some tuna and egg salad.

Come for the food, get some great davening to boot. I definitely recommend Beit Yisrael.

Beit Yisrael is located at 2 Pele Yoetz Street, Yemin Moshe, Jerusalem. There are signs pointing you to the Ashkenazi shul when you get into Yemin Moshe. For more information, visit their website.

SHUL REVIEW: Nava Tehila (Friday Night)

Rating: 6/5- By far the best Friday Night service I’ve been to in my life. Lively, musical, spiritual.

Service Attended: Friday Night Services (September 5, 2014)

About: Egalitarian and inclusive, they use varied instruments and meditation type melodies to elevate prayer
Time of Service: Friday, 6:00-8:00 pm
Mechitza: None, open seating
Women: Full participation
Meals: No mention
Frequency: One Friday per month, plus select High Holiday services, see calendar here
Language: All kavanot (talking) in Hebrew and translated in English

Review: Nava Tehila is the idealized vision of prayer and instrumentation coming together in joyful bliss. Rabbi Ruth Gan Kagan set the tone for the night by specifying that there would be absolutely no talking between prayers, but only singing and silence, and that if you came to just sit around, you were in the wrong place. The kehilla was comprised of a very young crowd, and I recognized a number of students from the Conservative Yeshiva and Pardes present.

The seating was comprised of concentric circles (which fill up fast), with the majority of the inner circle belonging to the Nava Tehila band. One of the things that made Nava Tehila unique was the variety of instrumentation; there were guitars, an upright bass, flute, saxophone, cajon, and bongo, along with a number of singers. For Kabbalat Shabbat, they used selected lines from each of the psalms set to original tunes, in a meditative, repetitious way that lent to the entire kehilla singing and harmonizing together. Each melody would last 5-10 minutes, and there would be absolute silence for a number of seconds between each prayer. Bookending these psalms were the full versions of Yedid Nefesh and Lecha Dodi.

Kabbalat Shabbat ended around 7:30, and at that point the option was given for people to leave if they wanted, or stay for Ma’ariv, and many people left, which made it kind of an awkward transition, where by Ma’ariv was made less important. Instruments were put away for Ma’ariv (I would have preferred they be kept, since they had played into Shabbat already), but it was nice davening as well. It ended with the usage of instruments for one last song at the end.

All said, while the traditionalists out there might not enjoy this, those willing to experiment with an alternative type davening will have a transformative experience that will have them wishing Nava Tehila met every week.

Nava Tehila is located In Kol Haneshama at 1 Asher Street, Jerusalem, in Speitzer Hall. Nava Tehila is also a band, so check out their music. Also, be sure to check the calendar as they play occasionally at Tachana Rishona on Friday afternoons. For more information, visit their website.

SHUL REVIEW: Kol Haneshama (Saturday Morning)

Rating: 2/5- As a friend of mine so eloquently described it, it was just “bleh”

Service Attended: Saturday Morning Services
Date: September 6, 2014

Observance: Reform
Time of Service: 9:15am-11:30 am on Saturday Morning
Mechitza: None, open seating
Women: Full participation
Meals: Very light kiddush (two cakes). No offer of meals
Frequency: Every Friday Night and Saturday Morning
Family friendly service: Friendly to families. There’s a play area at the side of the sanctuary for kids
Sermon: Hebrew sermon, announcements in Hebrew and English
Neighborhood: Baka’a

Review: Kol Haneshama is one of, if not the only, Reform prayer community in Jerusalem, and one of the few in all of Israel. It’s located in a beautiful building in a beautiful sanctuary that fits around 150 in Baka’a. Unfortunately, it was maybe a third full on this morning, and the crowd gathered was rather aging.

I arrived before the beginning of the service, and we waited until there was a minyan. While the people there were very friendly, and I was given an aliyah, I found the service very disjointed and the nusach (melodies) very inconsistent. We’d start by reading a prayer together out loud, getting to a line where someone at some point wrote a song using those words, and then we stared singing the song, regardless of whether it fit into any nusach. In the span of P’sukei D’zimrah and Shacharit, we covered ‘Stand By Me’, multiple Carlebach songs, some tune that sounding like it could have been taken from a musical, and other tunes to which I found it quite hard to sing along with, let alone harmonize with. Keeping with the more American style davening, prayers were typically sung together, as opposed to the more Israeli/Orthodox style of davening out loud at your own pace with in a framework. The entirety of the service was, as my friend who grew up reform described it, just kind of ‘bleh’.

If you are looking to be a part of an egalitarian service with somewhat non-traditional nusach in line with the American Reform movement, than you might consider Kol Haneshama. It also starts later than many congregations, so that is nice.

Kol Haneshama is located at 1 Asher Street, Jerusalem, in Baka’a. 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: 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.

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.