Saturday: Services at Beit Daniel

It seems we couldn’t have picked a busier day to visit Beit Daniel, Israel’s largest Reform congregation. This Shabbat had two special qualities. It was Shabbat Shekalim, when the half-shekel tax was recalled with a special Maftir and Haftarah reading, and it was also Shabbat Mevarchim, when we say a blessing for the beginning of a new month. In this case it was the month of Adar, which starts on Sunday and Monday. Not only that, but there was a Bar Mitzvah and an Auf Ruf (blessing for a bride and groom). All through this long service, though, the rabbi and cantor led the prayers in a way that was accessible and welcoming to two separate groups of strangers: us, the American tourists; and all of the secular Israelis who, in witnessing these s’machot, were attending a Reform service for the first time. We even got the first aliyah together as a group.

There were several cultural differences between these services and ours at Temple Emeth. To me the most notable was the fact that the rabbi endured, and at one point even encouraged, applause for the honorees on the bimah. Our German roots at Temple Emeth run too deep to condone such behavior in our sanctuary.