upcoming Shabbat

[cellio]

I'll be leading services this Friday night at my synagogue. This is a big deal; lay people don't generally get to do this except as part of committees (sisterhood, etc), and it's not due to rabbinic absence. My rabbi (and I think the associate rabbi) will be there. My rabbi is undoubtedly expending some political capital on my behalf, and I appreciate the opportunity and the trust he shows in me. He'll greet the congregation Friday and explain what's going on and why I get to do this (because of the learning I've done, including in the para-rabbinic program). I'm thrilled to have the chance to (1) lead my congregation and (2) get constructive feedback from my rabbi.

(He's doing the torah service and concluding prayers, and reading torah. I'm giving the d'var torah and leading the rest of the service.)

Comments

[cellio]

The Wikipedia article provides an overview. The Reform movement makes a couple changes to what they describe; our Friday-night service looks like this:

1. Kabbalat shabbat (welcoming the sabbath), with lots of singing

2. Kri'at sh'ma (aka "the sh'ma and its blessings"), pretty much as described by Wikipedia

3. T'filah (or amidah or shemona esrei), again approximately per Wikipedia

4. Torah service: not usual for Friday night, but the Reform movement does it here as well as Saturday morning (the usual time).

(Our congregation puts the d'var torah, a teaching or sermon, here.)

5. Aleinu and concluding prayers (per Wikipedia).


The Reform movement historically reads torah on Friday nights because that's when people come -- that is, when the movement started in the US, they were in part reaching out to assimilated Jews who wouldn't necessarily risk their jobs by saying "I don't work on Saturdays", and this way they could at least make sure people heard torah regularly. The practice has continued even though most people don't work on Saturdays any more.