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this morning
May. 2nd, 2002 10:57 amThis morning I chanted Torah at Tree of Life. It went very well, and I feel great about it!
When I got there they asked if I wanted to lead the entire service, but I declined. (I'm a little shaky on a couple parts -- can follow but not necessarily lead. Maybe I can do this in six months to a year.) I don't know how many people knew I was going to be chanting Torah; I think it was a surprise to most of the congregation. It certainly seemed to be a surprise to the rabbi.
They gave me the first aliya, so I just walked up there with David (the regular Torah reader) at the beginning of the Torah service. (I took the opportunity to whisper in his ear that I was relying on him to actually find the beginning of the parsha in the scroll for me, which he had already been planning on.) The first aliya went, I believe, perfectly, both in terms of text and in terms of trope. For the second aliya, I had a little trouble finding my preferred starting pitch, and ended up doing it about a third higher than I had intended, but I did it correctly. But it didn't match the first one, and I'm picky about my own music. It's probably not a flaw that anyone else would really call a flaw, but I noticed.
David did the third aliya. I plan to learn that one for next year so I can do the whole thing, but it was too much to bite off for this year. (Initially David wanted me to just learn one, but when I nailed that one pretty quickly he gave me the second -- but too late to then tackle the third, which is much longer than the others.)
I stayed up there after this part of the service and led the concluding prayers (Aleinu etc), which they offered after I declined doing the entire service. That part I can do!
I got lots of compliments on the Torah reading, which made me feel all warm and fuzzy. I'd like to do it again sometime (before a year from now, I mean). David asked me if I wanted to come back and do it Shabbat morning, but I'll be at a Shabbaton. I wonder how he would have handled it, given that I don't know the entire first aliya for Shabbat? (The first aliya for the Shabbat reading is subdivided into three smaller aliyot to make up the weekday reading.)
Now I get to do it again at the Shabbaton on Saturday, except I have to remember to combine these two aliyot into a single one. (Minor trope change -- not hard but I have to remember.)
When I got there they asked if I wanted to lead the entire service, but I declined. (I'm a little shaky on a couple parts -- can follow but not necessarily lead. Maybe I can do this in six months to a year.) I don't know how many people knew I was going to be chanting Torah; I think it was a surprise to most of the congregation. It certainly seemed to be a surprise to the rabbi.
They gave me the first aliya, so I just walked up there with David (the regular Torah reader) at the beginning of the Torah service. (I took the opportunity to whisper in his ear that I was relying on him to actually find the beginning of the parsha in the scroll for me, which he had already been planning on.) The first aliya went, I believe, perfectly, both in terms of text and in terms of trope. For the second aliya, I had a little trouble finding my preferred starting pitch, and ended up doing it about a third higher than I had intended, but I did it correctly. But it didn't match the first one, and I'm picky about my own music. It's probably not a flaw that anyone else would really call a flaw, but I noticed.
David did the third aliya. I plan to learn that one for next year so I can do the whole thing, but it was too much to bite off for this year. (Initially David wanted me to just learn one, but when I nailed that one pretty quickly he gave me the second -- but too late to then tackle the third, which is much longer than the others.)
I stayed up there after this part of the service and led the concluding prayers (Aleinu etc), which they offered after I declined doing the entire service. That part I can do!
I got lots of compliments on the Torah reading, which made me feel all warm and fuzzy. I'd like to do it again sometime (before a year from now, I mean). David asked me if I wanted to come back and do it Shabbat morning, but I'll be at a Shabbaton. I wonder how he would have handled it, given that I don't know the entire first aliya for Shabbat? (The first aliya for the Shabbat reading is subdivided into three smaller aliyot to make up the weekday reading.)
Now I get to do it again at the Shabbaton on Saturday, except I have to remember to combine these two aliyot into a single one. (Minor trope change -- not hard but I have to remember.)
