Concerning Intolerance of New Practices in Jewish Prayer, by Reb Zalman Schachter-Shalomi (1989)

It is the responsibility of leadership in every generation to remove stumbling blocks from paths provided for seekers of Hashem. The needs of the faith community have dramatically changed. In our generation, many of the paths to Heaven that used to work very well in the past, don’t work any more. Why is that? For several reasons: . . .

Categories: Liturgical traditions

Tags: 20th century C.E., 58th century A.M., etiquette, North America, pluralism, Renewal, tolerance of difference

Contributor(s): Gabbai Seth Fishman (translation) and Zalman Schachter-Shalomi

Musical Liturgy and Traditions of Colonial American Jews

Early American Jewry’s liturgies and rituals were conducted in a western Sephardi tradition which had developed in the late 16^th and early 17^th centuries in Amsterdam. Although most of the members of the first American Jewish communities were of Spanish and Portuguese origins, their worship evolved in the style of the Dutch Sepharadim. These oral transmissions led to adaptations and variations but Sephardi ḥazzanim (cantors) succeeded in passing their repertoire down to succeeding generations. These tunes are still identified with the American Sephardi tradition. . . .

Categories: Liturgical traditions

Tags: North America, Sepharadi

Contributor(s): Laurie Rappeport

בלוס פון חלה | How the Grateful Dead, Jewish Text, and Worship Explain One Another and Raise Interesting Questions, by Virginia Spatz

I believe that even those who actively dislike the Grateful Dead, or always happily ignored them, will find ideas worth considering in this comparison. “I guess they can’t revoke your soul for trying.” – Robert Hunter Some years ago, my husband and I dragged our kids (then 11 and 13) to see the Dead. The kids asked why the folks in the parking lot were staying outside, even though the concert was scheduled to start: “How do they know when to go inside? Or, is the band waiting for them?” My husband, a non-Jew, noted that he was often similarly mystified by worship services: “How do they know when to it’s time for….?” Not long after that I was part of a small havurah gathering waiting for a minyan, and we got to talking about when we might expect various regulars. This started me thinking about when, how and why Jews show up to services. I realized my husband’s sentiment about worship services – like my kids befuddlement about Dead concerts – is shared by many Jews, even regular service-goers…. Over the years, I’ve been thinking about ways that Jewish text and worship and the Grateful Dead parallel one another. The result is this chart. . . .

Categories: Liturgical traditions

Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., Blues for Ḥalah, Grateful Dead, North America, פרשת שלח parashat Shlaḥ

Contributor(s): Virginia Spatz