changing minhag
Dec. 1st, 2005 09:35 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cellioThe t'filah (aka the amidah), the central prayer of the service, is said silently. It is customary for the leader to wait until everyone has finished before going on with the service, but the morning minyan doesn't do that. As a congregant I found this frustrating but eventually learned to live with it; as a leader I'm now a little frustrated from the other side. So this morning I raised the issue for the first time. (I don't have the authority to make the change unilaterally, but I want to get people talking about it.)
Pro: This is broad Jewish custom. (Halacha?)
Con: But not here, and not only that but their rabbi so ruled. (This isn't just a property of the morning minyan; it's true of all their services.) That makes not doing it "local halacha".
Pro: Slower people feel rushed and/or stomped on now.
Con: If we wait, the last person to finish may feel self-conscious (like he's holding the rest of us up).
Con: It may be hard for the leader (or at least this one) to tell when people are finished, because some just stay standing rather than sitting down only to get back up for the chatzi kaddish and torah service when everyone's done. (Remember that this congregation doesn't do a chazan's repetition of the t'filah, so if you sit down after the silent one it's brief. Some don't bother.)
Obviously, because their rabbi has made a ruling, this discussion isn't about making the change directly but about approaching the rabbi -- which I'll only do if this group agrees on the proposal.
Pro: This is broad Jewish custom. (Halacha?)
Con: But not here, and not only that but their rabbi so ruled. (This isn't just a property of the morning minyan; it's true of all their services.) That makes not doing it "local halacha".
Pro: Slower people feel rushed and/or stomped on now.
Con: If we wait, the last person to finish may feel self-conscious (like he's holding the rest of us up).
Con: It may be hard for the leader (or at least this one) to tell when people are finished, because some just stay standing rather than sitting down only to get back up for the chatzi kaddish and torah service when everyone's done. (Remember that this congregation doesn't do a chazan's repetition of the t'filah, so if you sit down after the silent one it's brief. Some don't bother.)
Obviously, because their rabbi has made a ruling, this discussion isn't about making the change directly but about approaching the rabbi -- which I'll only do if this group agrees on the proposal.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-12-01 04:23 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-12-02 12:18 am (UTC)In the past their metric seemed to be "when the leader is done with his, you go on". When they asked me to start leading I pointed out that I may be the slowest person there. I didn't get "that's ok"; I got suggestions for ways to speed up. Which, now that I think about it, is a relevant indicator.
So I take shortcuts when leading and otherwise try to eyeball it without looking conspicuous. (I never want to send an "I'm waiting for you" signal, after all.)