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Shabbat
I led services again on Friday night. Overall it went very well. There were a couple of glitches (what else is new?), including one where the rabbi said "we will now chant Magen Avot" and I'd never heard it before. So I didn't lead that one, but I did a credible job of following. Ok, he has to teach me that one before next time; we've never done it while I was there before. Oops.
And while I know, intellectually, that non-professional lay people praising my voice is kind of akin to my mother thinking I'm a math wizard because I can do simple arithmetic in my head, it's still the case that these folks are permitted to stroke my ego any time they like. :-) Every time I lead services there at least one person mistakes me for a professional cantor, which is kind of cool -- though I always hasten to set the record straight.
Saturday morning the turnout for services was much higher than usual (don't know why), and a lot of people stayed for Torah study afterwards. I guess we now have an answer for those who worried about Leviticus scaring people off from the study group.
Dani had people over to play Twilight Imperium in the afternoon (I didn't play). I let myself get talked into a train game (1830) that was described as "not too long" in the evening, but it ended up taking 7 hours. The person who owns the game implied a higher degree of familiarity with the rules than was warranted; instead of him teaching us the game quickly, we all ended up sort of figuring it out together. I'd probably play the game again, but not under the same circumstances. Yawn.
And while I know, intellectually, that non-professional lay people praising my voice is kind of akin to my mother thinking I'm a math wizard because I can do simple arithmetic in my head, it's still the case that these folks are permitted to stroke my ego any time they like. :-) Every time I lead services there at least one person mistakes me for a professional cantor, which is kind of cool -- though I always hasten to set the record straight.
Saturday morning the turnout for services was much higher than usual (don't know why), and a lot of people stayed for Torah study afterwards. I guess we now have an answer for those who worried about Leviticus scaring people off from the study group.
Dani had people over to play Twilight Imperium in the afternoon (I didn't play). I let myself get talked into a train game (1830) that was described as "not too long" in the evening, but it ended up taking 7 hours. The person who owns the game implied a higher degree of familiarity with the rules than was warranted; instead of him teaching us the game quickly, we all ended up sort of figuring it out together. I'd probably play the game again, but not under the same circumstances. Yawn.
Re: Shabbat, Documentary Hypothesis, etc.
But if torah from sinai is rejected, how can you accept halacha?
Right. That's why when I try to explain the various movements to outsiders, I end up stressing that it's not really about observance. It's about what you believe about the Torah and Sinai. Everything else follows from that. (I did my own personal take on this in my journal a couple weeks ago.) Clearly at some level Conservative accepts Torah as truth, else the rest of the halachic system makes no sense for that movement. The devil (as they say) is in the details.
Is there an official statement of principles? I don't know. Nobody gave me a form to sign when I joined my C. Shul...
(Cynical comment about signing a check instead deleted. :-) )
You know, that's a good question. I guess I assumed that JTS or the Rabbinical Assembly had one, but now that you mention it I've never actually seen one. By the way, while browsing the USCJ web site just now looking for one (unsuccessfully), I came across this description of the ideal Conservative Jew. Enjoy. :-)
Quote from Etz Chayim: fascinating! Yes, that does leave quite a few doors open. Which I expect matches the beliefs of many of the active, influential Conservative Jews out there; I'm just a little fuzzy on how the movement goes about making decisions like these in practice. It's a delicate balancing act.
Re: Shabbat, Documentary Hypothesis, etc.
Call me Ishmael. No, wait, that's taken... :-)
You can call me Goljerp. It's an official alias of mine.
I think I'm going to respond to the rest of your comments in a new post in my journal, because we're getting to the point where the amount of whitespace equals the amount of text on my poor little 15 inch monitor!
Re: Shabbat, Documentary Hypothesis, etc.