significant lay participation

[cellio]

Last week one of the morning minyanaires asked if I would lead the service occasionally, and lent me a siddur when I said I needed to learn it better. (There's a big difference between being able to pray for yourself and being competent to lead a congregation.) This morning he asked how it was going ("slow progress", I said), and then he said something about me leading every Thursday (!). I said something like "let me get through it once before we schedule me for a regular slot, ok?". If I can do it correctly I would enjoy that, though.

I've been really enjoying the occasional opportunities to read Torah at my own congregation. (I almost said "periodic", but the cycle isn't regular yet.) I'm glad that we have something like ten people either reading already or interested in learning how. I think this will good for the community -- participation leads to engagement and investment.

I wonder which other religions have comparable opportunities for serious-but-not-formally-educated lay people to take on significant worship roles. My childhood congregation didn't, but that's only one data point.

(Aside: is there a better word than "lay" to describe "just plain folks" in this case?)

Comments

[cellio]

Hello, and welcome to my journal! If we ever end up at the same con (which pretty much means my cost, not yours, because I'm a travel wuss, alas), I hope someone who knows that introduces us. :-)

My own congregation is Reform and many women wear talitot, including me. Most don't, though, and there's no requirement that anyone do so when on the bimah. BTW, "my" talit used to belong to my husband's grandfather, so I didn't have to buy my own. Had I done so, it would have been traditional, not pastel/feminine or "scarf", because that just works for me better. (My husband offered me the t'fillin too, but for some reason that feels weird to me in a way that talit does not.)

In the Conservative shul I go to for weekdays, most men wear talitot but I've never seen a woman do so (other than one bat mitzvah on the day of her celebration). So I don't, because it's not really my congregation and who am I to make waves?, but I wonder whether I should if leading the service. Hmm. I've been the cantorial soloist there for occasional Friday nights and the rabbi offered me a talit for that, so maybe. I guess I should ask.

Wearing a talit speaks to me in a way that's hard to put into words. I guess it's a physical manifestation of "wrapping myself in the divine", or something like that. And strange as I thought the idea was at first, tzitzit (and mezuzot) actually do act as reminders of mitzvot and God's presence. (No, I don't wear a talit katan, or at least not yet.)

But somehow, I can't quite extend this idea to laying t'fillin -- so there's something different about that, but I'm not sure what. Maybe just opportunity -- you don't lay t'fillin on Shabbat and the congregation where I wear a talit doesn't have weekday morning services, so the question has never come up. If I ever saw fellow congregants with t'fillin maybe I'd be inclined that way. (I know that my rabbi lays t'fillin daily, so if we had a morning service I'd see at least one person doing so.)

And didn't buy a CD, drat!

That can be remedied by mail if you're so inclined. :-)

Talit

[psu-jedi.livejournal.com]

Many women in our conservative shul, including me, wear talitot. I see no reason why you shouldn't wear yours in a conservative shul if you choose to do so. Mine was a gift from my in-laws on the occassion of my conversion. It's cream with blue and maroon, so I guess you can kinda call it feminine (but not girly...I don't do girly. ;-)