changing minhag

[cellio]

The 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.

Comments

[magid.livejournal.com]

I've only rarely been in a minyan where they waited until everyone had finished, rather than the majority done. OTOH, they've all been minyanim where the custom is to do repetition and tachanun, which give a lot of extra cushion for people davening more slowly.

Oh, and I've noticed it's usually not too difficult to tell when people are finished, even when they continue standing; there's a change in stance, in looking around, and so on.

[cellio]

Oh, and I've noticed it's usually not too difficult to tell when people are finished, even when they continue standing; there's a change in stance, in looking around, and so on.

True. My own problem with this is that they all insist on sitting in the back third of the chapel (well, except newcomers who didn't get the memo), and my vision isn't the best. Broad posture changes I'll get; a change in where the eyes are focused, no.