Shabbat Review: Kesher Birthright (1)

Yes I know, it's been a long time since an update. There's a lot coming up for the blog (with 5 Shabbat reviews, including this one, some HUC events, and some videos) and for us. Tomorrow, we start the week of orientation, and then on Sunday, we begin our summer session. There is much to be said about all of these things, but that will be for another post. For now, on with catching up with the reviews!

Shul: Hotel at Kibbutz Ma'ale HaHamisha (ascent of the five)

Location: 30 minutes outside of Jerusalem

Date: May 27, 2011

Description: This was a service I led for a Kesher Birthright trip. Now, all of that has to be taken into account. I led the service, so my observations are from the leader's perspective. It was for a Birthright trip, meaning these are mostly unengaged Jewish young adults embarking on a 10 day journey introducing them to the narrative of Israel. And it was a Kesher group, meaning it was being led from a Reform Jewish angle (right in my comfort zone).

After speaking with the group leaders, I realized that this group would be more reminiscent of my birthright group from last year - they didn't know much about the prayers. Plus, as this was their first full day in Israel, many were lethargic. Because my philosophy of service leading is "da lifnei mi atah omed - know before whom you stand," I decided to make this more of a learner's service, making connections between the prayers and the country that they were about to see. Oh yeah, and we had 25 minutes.

I connected L'cha Dodi to S'fat, which they would be seeing later in the trip. I connected the Sh'ma to the Hebrew, lishmoa, to listen, and encouraged them to listen to each other today and listen to the sounds of the country with open ears throughout their journey. I connected their experience as our version of Mi Chamocha, sung joyfully after crossing the sea, about to enter the promised land (yes, I know they were already in Israel, but they had just arrived and hadn't seen much).

Fortunately, they responded really well! At the dinner after, many came up to me and were asking additional questions about the prayers and t'filah in Israel. It was a beautiful moment and I was so proud that I could help this group of young adults and help them see that services could be something other than "please stand and turn to page 301 as we chant 'O Lord, have mercy on us as we endure the most boring song ever written.'" They saw that services can be engaging. Hopefully, they will take that idea home and connect with their home communities and Hillel's.

Something Special: In the Shabbat Amidah (central section of prayers; central in both location and purpose), 13 of the weekday blessings are replaced with one: K'dushat Hayom, holiness of the day. In this passage, there is a selection from Torah that describes Shabbat during the story of creation (in short, God made a day of rest, so you should too). What stuck out for me was that this passage is also read before the Kiddush on Friday nights, which is the blessing over the wine. In two weeks time, Sarah and I would be hosting our first Shabbat dinner in our home with guests. We had Shabbat at our home before (in San Diego), but it was just the two of us. Now, we would have guests. I thought about these words, and what it would mean to host friends in our home. And it made me feel pretty good about our life here. We're creating a Jewish home. Our grandparents would be so proud.

Take-home Value: If your participants don't know much, teach them instead of chanting at them.

Would I Go Again: Um, yes? I still have more Kesher Birthright services to review and lead!