It felt... well, "churchy." That's because you went to Montreal's Reform Temple which really is, well, a Protestant church. I grew up Reform, enjoy many aspects of Reform, still, and cannot handle going to that Temple. (I'm too lazy to go all the way back through my LJ and find the posts, but a) organ = no!, b) one of the Board members once kicked me out for reasons I still haven't figured out, and c) I can't handle the "listen to the soloist" as opposed to "sing as a congregation with the cantor.") But I really, really strongly feel (and have said many times before) that Montreal's Reform is NOT a good reflection of what Reform is/can be. Before writing it off entirely, I'd recommend going to a service in another city. ...then you can write it off for whatever reason(s). :)
I think, though, that the explicit explanation is helpful for [non-Jewish] people who are in a synagogue for the first time because of this bar mitzvah. They might have been the 13-yr old's friends or neighbours and might not have known what to expect. Esepcially as far as lnegth goes, since most Christian services I've been to are anywhere from 30-60 minutes and our's, as you pointed out, are quite a lot longer. (Though yay for Monday mornings being shorter due to the whole not-Shabbat thang.)
... So between saying the bracha Friday night, and the bar mitzvah, you've had a pretty Jewifull weekend, eh?
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2006-09-04 06:57 pm (UTC)That's because you went to Montreal's Reform Temple which really is, well, a Protestant church. I grew up Reform, enjoy many aspects of Reform, still, and cannot handle going to that Temple. (I'm too lazy to go all the way back through my LJ and find the posts, but a) organ = no!, b) one of the Board members once kicked me out for reasons I still haven't figured out, and c) I can't handle the "listen to the soloist" as opposed to "sing as a congregation with the cantor.") But I really, really strongly feel (and have said many times before) that Montreal's Reform is NOT a good reflection of what Reform is/can be. Before writing it off entirely, I'd recommend going to a service in another city. ...then you can write it off for whatever reason(s). :)
I think, though, that the explicit explanation is helpful for [non-Jewish] people who are in a synagogue for the first time because of this bar mitzvah. They might have been the 13-yr old's friends or neighbours and might not have known what to expect. Esepcially as far as lnegth goes, since most Christian services I've been to are anywhere from 30-60 minutes and our's, as you pointed out, are quite a lot longer. (Though yay for Monday mornings being shorter due to the whole not-Shabbat thang.)
... So between saying the bracha Friday night, and the bar mitzvah, you've had a pretty Jewifull weekend, eh?