It is one of the great pleasures of being Bnai Keshet’s Rabbi that I know this community’s readiness to courageously innovate is matched only by its thoughtful love and engagement in tradition. Both of these traits have served our synagogue well and helped to cement our Reconstructionist identity. This Shabbat will be a terrific example of both of these qualities.
For the first time we will be trying a new service format proposed initially by Harvey Susswein years ago but developed and approved by the Religious Life Committee and the Kaplan Minyan Sub-Committee. The first goal of this format is to turn up the volume on the cultural and civilizational aspects of Jewish life. Secondarily, the hope is to draw in congregants and others who find it harder to connect to Judaism through prayer. For the time being this will be a once a month gathering typically happening as a parallel experience to our main sanctuary activity for the day. For this first Kaplan Minyan the Religious Life Committee decided to move it to the main sanctuary so that we could expose the idea to the congregation during Shabbat prime time and get broader feedback.
We are also going to be starting our Saturday morning services - shachrit at 9 AM and conclude them by 10:30 AM. I came up with this alternative schedule after informally considering the options with a handful of our regulars. It seemed like the best way to have our customary shachrit service and give our regulars the opportunity to experience this new format. In the future the plan is to keep shachrit in the main sanctuary starting at 10 AM. This Saturday, Kaddish will be said at the conclusion of morning services about 10:25 AM and at the conclusion of the Kaplan Minyan about 11:55 AM.
Saturday morning is at the very center of Bnai Keshet’s culture. It is a delight to see how we have kept adding to and expanding the types of activities we have and the breadth of participation on Shabbat. Our Shabbat services will remain the core of our community practice. Once again I urge anyone interested to partner with me to expand the spiritual landscape or explore a particular aspect of this service in depth.
If you haven’t been to our Saturday morning service recently, I enthusiastically invite you to join us. Every week is different but they are always welcoming, rooted in tradition, filled with spirited prayer and intellectually engaging.
I look forward to steering the evolution of Bnai Keshet’s maximalist Shabbat engagement in partnership with you. I have great faith that our effort in this regard inspires not only our community but is a part of reconstructing vibrant Jewish life for future generations.
Shalom,
Rabbi Elliott
