Category — Services and Davening

by Cynthia Peterman

“Hurry up, hospital
Mom. I don’t want to miss Minyan!” “Best part of my morning!” How many Jewish day school educators would love to hear our students talk about t’filah this way? These were comments I often heard from my students during the more than 15 years I led the Havurah minyan at the Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School in Rockville, dosage
MD. What factors account for its ongoing success? These are primarily three: engaging students in community-building; meeting adolescents’ spiritual needs; and, providing opportunities for experimentation and leadership.

The havurah in America serves as a model for this student-centered minyan with its strong emphasis on community. Havurot are by definition non-hierarchical and egalitarian, often run without rabbinical guidance or with rabbis as equal members of the community. Decisions are made by consensus of the community in a democratic process. More informal than typical synagogue services, the havurah service often emphasizes joyous singing, discussion, and alternative paths to spirituality in the form of meditation, guided imagery, and drumming. Individuals come together for important moments in their lives (spiritual, life cycle) into a community that is both voluntary and has a shared purpose (often with a strong social action component). Often havurot experiment with creating new rituals or developing new approaches to existing life cycle rituals.

For teens, creating a sense of belonging to something with a higher goal is critical to their psycho-social development. Our students live in a society that too often values individuality over community, “my needs” over and against “yours.” This is an opportunity to learn and practice how to be a caring community. It has become common in today’s literature on adolescent development to talk of the “Five Cs” (i.e., Competence, Confidence, Connection, Character, and Caring). A havurah is an ideal laboratory in which to practice and develop these characteristics.

The Havurah minyan (grades 9-12) functions as a community of equals, from the youngest student to the oldest. In an atmosphere of z’man kodesh, a goal of the Havurah minyan is to start each day with calm reflection, a sense of holiness, and a respect for community – our own and the greater world in which we live. At the beginning of the new school year, the emphasis is on welcoming new members and bringing them into the community. Older students mentor younger students, veterans mentor new members. Community meetings are held regularly to take the “pulse” of the community. Are we meeting the needs of our members? What are we doing well? What could we be doing better? The role of the faculty advisor is to model compassion, warmth, creative leadership, and spiritual growth. However, the service leaders are the students themselves.

The development of student leadership takes time and resources. The Havurah minyan maintains its own library, a collection of books on spirituality, meditation, as well as a resource box full of ideas for leading creative services. Students are encouraged to sign up to lead in pairs, often with someone who is not a friend, to encourage cross-grade fertilization. Allowing students to assume leadership is very important to developing their creativity and their confidence. Students who are reticent to participate in minyan in September often become active leaders by mid-year under the tutelage of older and veteran students. These relationships also move beyond the minyan, bridging the grade level divide as friendships are fostered that last throughout students’ school years.

Giving leadership over to students requires extra effort on the part of the faculty member. It is more time efficient to be the teacher-director in the front of the room, telling students what to do, than to be a facilitator and coach. Sometimes teachers fear the risk involved in giving leadership to students. Distributing leadership among students, at the heart of today’s educational emphasis on student-centered learning, requires thoughtful planning, supportive coaching, and being able to step in if a student needs help. Though this requires more work on the part of the teacher, the reward is in the faces of the students who – at the end of a wonderful morning minyan – smile with pleasure at their own success.

Student leadership also develops character and fosters creativity. Following the model of havurot, the Havurah minyan encourages experimentation in the service, while maintaining respect for Judaism and for the values the community has set for itself. This may be the first place a student experiences guided meditation during davenning, or a drumming circle on Rosh Chodesh. The flexibility of the Havurah minyan allows for students to engage in God-talk with one another, something that rarely, if ever, takes place in a standard minyan. The Havurah siddur, constructed over many years by students, combines standard prayer, student-created prayers, z’mirot, and poetry. The variety of material in the siddur gives students choices for leading services that make davenning different and unique, another key to the minyan’s success.

Each important moment in the life of a Havurah member is celebrated, or mourned, by the community. At the end of each morning we sing Mi She’Berach for family and friends who are in our hearts that day. Birthdays are celebrated, Shabbat and hagim are special days, and new rituals are created for important communal events, such as when the seniors leave the community. This reminds us that when one member of a community of daily worshipers is impacted, the entire community is affected.

As the havurah continues to grow in popularity in America as dynamic, alternative Jewish community, it will offer a unique educational model for t’filah programming in Jewish day schools for students who are looking for a supportive peer group and a a place to grow Jewishly.

Cynthia Peterman is the  Executive Director of The Jewish Teacher Project. The original post can be read here.

by: Andrea Jussim

Want to contribute to your community’s Torah service by serving as a Torah reader, sale but getting tripped up on all the details to memorize with each portion? Andrea Jussim provides a systematic method she developed for tackling the words, generic the vowels, viagra order and the trop, while leyning/chanting Torah at Kehillat Ma’arav in Santa Monica, California over more than fifteen years.

How to Insure a Smooth, Proficient Torah Reading: Methodology and Tips.

Introduction.

This essay on Torah-reading presupposes that you know how to leyn (Torah-read; ie chant the Torah with the proper trope). In order to Torah-read for your congregation, however, you need more than a technical knowledge of the trope. You also need to know how to prepare yourself to chant a portion of the Torah out loud. In other words: how do you study so that you can leyn your portion with confidence? This essay will teach you how. My goal is to teach you a method of studying which, with enough practice, will virtually insure that you read Torah like an expert.

Before You Begin.

Although you certainly need to know the trope in order to leyn, you should also be familiar with the Hebrew text that surrounds it. Make sure before you start practicing your aliyah that you read Hebrew fairly comfortably and that you can sing the trope phrases easily. Also, if your general Hebrew knowledge is low (you don’t know what any of the words mean, and you don’t remember hearing them before), consider taking a basic Hebrew class. It’s certainly not necessary to take a Hebrew class if you are literate, know your trope, and want to start learning your aliyah immediately; but the better you know Hebrew, the easier it will be to leyn.

You will need a printout of your aliyah with Torah script in the left column and Hebrew with vowels and trope in the right column. Or borrow someone’s tikkun (the Torah-reader’s text from which all printouts above are copied).

You should also have for reference a chumash (printed Torah) with both English and Hebrew text. Many synagogues use the Hertz or the Etz Hayim chumash.

If you decide that you want to learn your aliyah from a tape instead of by studying the trope, you can still use the methodology below. Read the steps and then note the second Additonal Tip below.

Don’t be intimidated by the number of steps below; the methodology for learning to chant an aliyah is much easier than it appears. The instructions are detailed instead of terse for the sake of clarity. But do follow all of the instructions (for your first time, at least); the drill they incorporate will virtually ensure a smooth, practiced-sounding Torah reading.

Part I: Get Acquainted with the Reading.

1. Using your chumash, read the entire parasha in English with the commentaries so you know what the context of your reading is.
2. If your Hebrew is good enough, translate your aliyah word-for-word using the English text to help. Now you know what you will be leyning.
3. At this point, put the chumash aside. You will be using your printout or tikkun for the rest of your practice.

Part II: Master the Hebrew.

4. From your printout or tikkun, read the first sentence of your aliyah, using the Hebrew print with vowels in the right column. Repeat this sentence again and again until you can say it fluently.
5. Now read the same first sentence using the Torah script in the left column. Use the Hebrew print with vowels in the right column when you have trouble with a word’s pronunciation. Repeat the sentence in the Torah script until you can say it fluently without vowels.
6. Read the second sentence of your aliyah using the Hebrew print in the right column. Repeat it again and again until you can say it fluently.
7. Now read the same second sentence using the Torah script in the left column. Repeat it again and again until you can say it fluently without vowels.
8. Put the two sentences together, reading them both using the Torah script. Repeat them again and again until you can say them fluently without vowels.
9. Practice the third sentence as you did the other two, first reading it with vowels and then reading it without vowels. Then read all three sentences together using the Torah script, repeating them again and again until you can say them fluently without vowels.
10. Continue in this way until you can read your entire aliyah fluently in the Torah script without vowels.

Part III: Master the Chant.

11. Chant the first sentence of your aliyah, using the Hebrew print with trope marks in the right column. Repeat this sentence again and again until you can chant it fluently.
12. Now chant the same first sentence using the Torah script in the left column. Use the Hebrew print with trope marks in the right column when you have trouble remembering the trope. Repeat the sentence in the Torah script until you can chant it fluently without trope marks.
13. Chant the second sentence of your aliyah using the trope marks in the right column. Repeat it again and again until you can chant it fluently.
14. Now chant the same second sentence using the Torah script in the left column. Repeat it again and again until you can chant it fluently without trope marks.
15. Put the two sentences together, leyning them both using the Torah script. Repeat them again and again until you can chant them fluently without trope marks.
16. Practice the third sentence as you did the other two, first chanting it with trope marks and then chanting it without trope marks. Then chant all three sentences together using the Torah script, repeating them again and again until you can leyn them fluently without trope marks.
17. Continue in this way until you can leyn your entire aliyah fluently in the Torah script without trope marks.

Part IV: Practice What You’ve Learned.

18. Practice leyning your aliyah as much as you can. If you learn the aliyah once and then leave it alone, you won’t remember it. You must practice the aliyah again and again to strengthen your chanting memory. Then, when the time comes to leyn, you will find that the words flow (relatively) easily out of your mouth. In sum: the more you practice your reading, the easier you will leyn it.

Additional Tips

Concluding Thoughts

Above I have outlined a method of Torah portion study that breaks down text practice and trope application practice into manageable steps. This approach not only insures that you will “iron out” the hard parts of your portion until you can leyn them smoothly; it also unfortunately insures that you will be studying your portion for a long time! With this in mind, understand that there are five aspects to learning Torah (or anything else).   First: Aptitude (which is handy but optional – not required).   Second: Experience (which is also handy but optional – not required).   Third: Practice.   Fourth: More Practice. Can you guess the fifth? Right! Still More Practice! All of that talk about practice may sound a bit overwhelming – or dull, perhaps? You also have to remember, though, that you are doing holy work. Not everyone can Torah-read; you are doing a mitzvah for your congregation (and yourself) by undertaking this sacred task. So be resolute in your desire to learn the portion well, and get to work. May all of your study sessions be joyful and productive ones!

article reproduced from http://www.freewebs.com/jussim2/layparticipation.htm

By: Richard Heiberger

This kaddish was written in memory of Mary Morris Heiberger (1946-2003). The translation is in contemporary English, information pills and can be recited in synchrony with the Aramaic – the vernacular at the time kaddish was written. The translation maintains the same cadence, assonance, and meaning as the original.

Magnified and sanctified
is the name of Yah
in the world by will created.
May Yah’s governance govern
in your lifetime, and in your days,
and in the life of the Family Israel,
speedily, and in a time come near.
And we say:
Amen.

We praise the Name of Yah, unceasing,
Eternally turning to eternity.

May it be blessed, and it be acclaimed,
and it be gloried, and it be adorned, and it be hailed,
and it be adored, and it be raised, and it be praised
—the name, the Holy Name, Blessèd Be—
far beyond any
blessings and hymns,
praises and solace
uttered in this world.
And we say:
Amen.

May there be abundant peace from Heaven,
and life upon us and on all Israel.
And we say:
Amen.

May the Maker of peace above
continue to make peace
upon us and on all Israel
and on the world wherein we dwell.
And we say:
Amen.

Richard Heiberger has attended the NHC Summer Institute since 1992 and was Treasurer and member of the NHC Board from 2001-2006.

By: Benjamin Maron

Different communities hold by different understandings of what is, abortion
and is not, medical
permitted on Shabbat. At Mah Rabu, pharmacy halachic (legal) issues pertaining to the use of musical instruments on Shabbat were explored. The post is prefaced with:

This post addresses popular misconceptions concerning classical halachic sources about playing musical instruments on Shabbat. The purpose of this post is not to promote a particular stance about halacha (what should and shouldn’t be done) or meta-halacha (how one should determine what should and shouldn’t be done). I’m not suggesting (chas veshalom) that the only (or the best) way to justify one’s practices is by finding a pre-modern halachic text that supports them; I’m just clarifying what those pre-modern texts do and don’t say. Of course, people may have all sorts of reasons for their practices, including aesthetic preferences, mimetic traditions, logical arguments, and cultural/denominational/communal identities. My goal is not to invalidate those reasons, but to knock them off their “halachic” high horse. The intended result is that when we’re discussing questions about musical instruments on Shabbat — in distinguishing one community from another, or talking about where we will and won’t daven, or determining policies for our pluralistic communities — we’ll have to be explicit about those aesthetic preferences, mimetic traditions, logical arguments, and cultural/denominational/communal identities, rather than simply playing the “I’m halachic and you’re not” get-out-of-jail-free card. (No, I don’t think such a card should exist in the first place, whether it’s the “forbidden” card of Stage 1 or the “uncomfortable” card of Stage 2, but I can’t change the world overnight.) If you find factual inaccuracies in the post, please post corrections in the comments (with appropriate citations), and I’ll update the post. If you have a stance on the issue that differs from mine, then that’s swell — I totally support your right to have different aesthetic preferences, mimetic traditions, logical arguments, or cultural/denominational/communal identities, or to come up with new and innovative halachic interpretations.

Read the full post for a point-by-point look at the myths and facts about using instruments on Shabbat if your community is considering using instruments, if your community wants to study the possibility, or if you have questions about the practice.

Does your havurah or minyan use musical instruments on Shabbat? Why or why not? What is your own preference?

Benjamin Maron attended his first NHC Summer Institute as an Everett Fellow in 2006. He is on the NHC Board of Directors. He is chairing the 2010 Chesapeake Retreat.

By: Benjamin Maron

Many of our communities start off meeting in a living room or other non-synagogue space. While this provides a level of intimacy and comfort for community members, patient it also often means that we are scrambling for resources. A common phenomenon is the “BYOS” (bring your own siddur (prayer book)) service, price where participants are encouraged to show up for services with their own prayerbooks, sildenafil and havurah or minyan organizers who have extras bring those too.

The resulting hodgepodge selection of siddurim (prayer books) means that people will participate in services with a familiar siddur, but this can provide some unwanted confusion in calling out pages. “We’ll start with Yedid Nefesh on page… uh….” One solution is to make a grid for siddurim (prayer books), listing prayers or other liturgical markers down one side, the various siddurim across the top, and filling in all of the page numbers in the grid. It can be a lot of work to compile these. Luckily, much of the work has already been done for you.

For Friday night services, Kol Zimrah has prepared this grid [doc] showing ten different siddurim.

For Saturday morning services, Minyan Tikvah and Segulah have similar grids to hand out. You can find the former here [xls] and the latter here [xls].

Tremont Street Shul has their grids for both Friday nights and Saturday mornings on their website.

Feel free to use these as examples for your own minyan or havurah. You can add any additional siddurim to them, or remove any that are not used in your community.

Benjamin Maron attended his first NHC Summer Institute as an Everett Fellow in 2006. He is on the NHC Board of Directors. He is chairing the 2010 Chesapeake Retreat.

By: Benjamin Maron

A collection of resources for helping you and your community further supplement and explore prayers and Torah, physician plan services, misbirth and more:

• Gather The People is a downloadable resources for preparing divrei Torah (words of Torah) and more.
• Mechon Mamre lets you print sections from the Torah side-by-side in Hebrew and English, medical and in several other formats.
• ScrollScraper lets you print a tikkun page (page for preparing to chant/learn Torah) for your Torah Reading.
• Siddur Chaveirim Kol Yisrael, by the Progressive Chavurah/Siddur Committee, is a Friday night and Festival Evening siddur. It features transliteration, traditional text, gender neutral translations, and a multiplicity of voices in the commentary.
• Siddur Eit Ratzon, by Joe Rosenstein, follows the same format as Siddur Chaveirim Kol Yisrael and has many kavvanot and meditations, as well as guideposts for learning and experiencing Jewish prayer services.
• L’chu N’ran’nah is an egalitarian bencher used at the weddings and in the homes of many NHC members.
• Az Yashir Moshe is a printable bencher in PDF format.
• Green & Just Celebrations is a booklet published by Jews United for Justice, containing specific suggestions for how families can make purchasing choices for weddings, bar/bat mitzvahs, etc., in ways that are mindful of workers’ rights and environmental impact.
• HebCal is a perpetual Hebrew calendar that can be localized to your ZIP code.
• Shabbat People, is a web application for signing up participants for services.

Benjamin Maron attended his first NHC Summer Institute as an Everett Fellow in 2006. He is on the NHC Board of Directors. He is chairing the 2010 Chesapeake Retreat.

By: Benjamin Maron

Many havurot and minyanim have their policies or guidelines available on their websites, viagra dosage as handouts available at services, patient or as documents that are sent to new members of their email lists.

Looking through them, one can get a feel for the variety of models that our communities use for governance, membership, services, and more. Feel free to peruse the following examples, discuss them in the comments below, and make use of them as guidelines for your own community.

• Havurah Norms [doc] outlines one anonymous havurah’s mission statement, history, and policies.
• Kol Zimrah’s FAQ and guidelines for service leaders [doc].
• Tikkun Leil Shabbat’s Footnotes for the Perplexed: glossary, guidelines, and frequently asked questions.
• Ben Dreyfus wrote guidelines for giving a d’var Torah (word of Torah) at Hadar [doc].
• Q’s and A’s about Fabrangen: what to expect as a new member and how to get involved.
• Gather The People‘s community organizing resources include different models of governance, planning, developing, etc.
• From Two Heads of Lettuce, a guide to making your community’s potluck work, including an introduction to the two-table system (accommodating different kashrut (dietary law) standards).
• And a guide to pluralistic meat potlucks on the Mah Rabu blog.
• Guidelines from Hadar on being inclusive in davening (prayer) without sacrificing quality.
• Suggested guidelines for hiring people in lay-led minyans.
• A collection of links and resources for getting started or improving your independent community – what has been coined “the 21st-century Jewish Catalog (alpha version).”

Benjamin Maron attended his first NHC Summer Institute as an Everett Fellow in 2006. He is on the NHC Board of Directors. He is chairing the 2010 Chesapeake Retreat.

By: Joelle Novey

At Tikkun Leil Shabbat (TLS) in Washington, visit DC, more than 150 people, most in their 20’s and 30’s, gather regularly on Friday evenings for songful, soulful Shabbat services featuring a teaching about a social justice issue and followed by a potluck vegetarian dinner. We emphasize social justice at each of our Shabbat gatherings by ending services with a regular teaching called a d’var tikkun (a talk on a social justice issue).

We invite activists from organizations working in Washington on workers’ rights, domestic violence, environmental issues, LGBT equality, and more, and we place their message in our service in lieu of a d’var Torah (word of Torah). We ask each speaker to aim to speak for about eight minutes about their organization’s work and ways that TLS community members could get involved.

We’ve been delighted that in the more than three years since TLS began meeting, we’ve never had any trouble finding local nonprofit organizations that are happy to send speakers for free; in fact, we’ve only repeated organizations a couple times. Small local nonprofits seem eager to share their message and their work with TLS’s room full of potential volunteers and supporters. (While we do periodically have speakers from organizations that work nationally and internationally, our community has made a decision for now not to have any speakers from organizations working in the Middle East. While this blanket policy can feel a little blunt when we say no to groups doing environmental or anti-poverty work in Israel, the community’s organizers feel it would be too divisive for our community to venture into this area.)

When the person leading the service concludes Kaddish Yatom (the Mourner’s Kaddish at the end of Ma’ariv (evening service)), a member of the TLS community introduces each d’var tikkun by connecting a Jewish teaching and the theme of that night’s talk. Sometimes the introduction uses themes from the parasha (weekly Torah reading) or an upcoming holiday, but more often the speakers find a teaching in other Jewish texts. Even with that freedom, it can be a challenge to find a Jewish text that speaks to issues addressed by organizations doing very specific work in a modern context, such as the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (which is working to repeal “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” in the US military). The congregation, though, seems to enjoy listening for the creative hook that he or she will use to make a Jewish connection to the organization’s work.

For example, some introductions have used the halachah (religious law) about feeding one’s own animals before eating one’s own meal in an introduction to a d’var tikkun by Pets DC, which provides pet care for people with AIDS. Another quoted a contemporary Jewish poem by Merle Feld in which an Israelite woman regrets that she could not record her experiences of receiving the Torah at Sinai because “I was always holding a baby” as an introduction to a d’var tikkun by the DC Childcare Collective, which provides free childcare for low-income women of color to enable their participation in activist organizations. We’ve heard the Talmudic story of Rabbi Hillel getting inadvertently excluded from the Beit Midrash (house of study) as an allegory for the exclusion of Washington DC citizens from full representation in the House and Senate; and we’ve heard a line from Psalm 130, “my soul waits for G-d more than those who keep watch wait for dawn” quoted in an introduction to a d’var tikkun from SEIU Local 32BJ, which fights for better wages and working conditions for security guards, who keep watch in area office buildings.

Since many of our d’var tikkun speakers are not Jewish or are not familiar with Jewish prayer communities, we’ve developed a fairly detailed email to help them know what to expect. We describe our demographics and assure them that people dress all kinds of ways for TLS; they don’t need to dress up on our account. We let them know that some folks in our community do not write on Shabbat, so we’d appreciate if they were mindful of that diversity of practice in their comments (“If you write on Shabbat, there’s a sign-up sheet on the table; otherwise, please help yourself to a brochure and contact our organization by email after Shabbat.”) We’ve also learned from experience that the speakers sometimes fish around for the right way to end their talks. So we suggest that it would be appropriate to conclude by saying, “Shabbat Shalom.” When our speakers are activists who are Jewish but are not involved in any Jewish prayer community, they seem to appreciate the recognition that TLS is providing to the moral importance of their work; sometimes Jewish activists who discover our community because they have been asked to speak return to pray with us at subsequent TLS services.

The organizations bring paper materials that are displayed at an information table throughout the evening and continue to be available on the information table at subsequent services. Attendees can also peruse a “voices of Tikkun Leil Shabbat” binder with information from each of the organizations that has given divrei tikkun (words of justice; sermons). After Shabbat, we send a “Leading to Action” email to our full email list with ways to support the group we learned about in that week’s d’var tikkun. This way, people who attended TLS receive another reminder about how to follow up with each organization through their website or by emailing the speaker, as well as sharing the d’var tikkun with the several hundred folks on the TLS email list who do not attend every TLS. (The email’s name quotes Talmud Kiddushin 40b, which asks, “Which is greater, study or action? … Study is greater, for it leads to action.” Each email opens with a reminder that “The learning we receive from our divrei tikkun on Shabbat can lead to action during the rest of the week.”)

We’ve tried to keep track of good stories about ways TLS participants have gotten involved in social action through hearing divrei tikkun. Our attendees have volunteered, donated, and attended rallies and other events after learning about local efforts at our services. Tikkun Leil Shabbat is also a program of Jews United for Justice (JUFJ), and divrei tikkun have connected many attendees with opportunities for activism through JUFJ. When Tikkun Leil Shabbat organized our first Purim celebration last spring, laptops were set up so that attendees could donate to any of the organizations that had given divrei tikkun over the past year as matanot la’evyonim (gifts to the poor). In a very transient community, we feel that TLS’s divrei tikkun familiarize many transplanted young adults with some of the organizations doing good work in DC’s neighborhoods, weaving them into the life of the place where they live.

Through the practice of the d’var tikkun, our small congregation is making a powerful statement. Those who attend TLS hear a call to action at every gathering of our Jewish prayer community. We’ve quietly placed words of instruction for repairing the world in our services in place of a more conventional d’var Torah, and in the process, are shaking up what “counts” as a sacred teaching.

Joelle Novey attended her first NHC Summer Institute as an Everett Fellow in 2000, and coordinated the Chesapeake Retreat in 2006.

By: Lee Butler
This article was inspired by a workshop Lee offered at the 2009 NHC Summer Institute.

Hagbah is the lifting of the Torah. It is an honor to do hagbah; you would be called up after the Torah reading along with the person being honored with gelilah (dressing the Torah).

Hagbah is something that is often considered to be purely a matter of strength; that’s why, geriatrician even in egalitarian contexts, it’s almost always given to men (and big ones at that). But hagbah is not even mostly a matter of strength, it’s a matter of balance, confidence, and support. Below, you’ll find the tips I’ve collected over time (or figured out on my own) to help most people be able to do hagbah.

• If you haven’t done hagbah before, try to be familiar with the sifrei Torah (Torah scrolls) you might be called upon to lift. The weight of sifrei Torah can vary widely dependent on the wood used for the atzei hayyim (literally, trees of life, used here to mean the wood dowels), the height of the scroll, and the thickness of the parchment.
• Before lifting, open the  sefer Torah (Torah scroll) so the atzei hayyim are about shoulder width apart. This will make it far easier to lift than trying to lift it closed.
• Hold tension through the parchment. The parchment used for a sefer Torah is more like leather than paper; you’re not going to rip the Torah while lifting it. (Be aware of the seams in the Torah, especially if some of the stitching has come undone. You can always roll the Torah away from any weak points before lifting.)
• Don’t try to dead lift the sefer Torah. Instead, pull the sefer Torah about halfway off the bimah or amud (reading table) and use the edge as a fulcrum. Get under the sefer Torah as it comes vertical by bending your knees and lift. Look, the Torah’s up!
• Balance through the parchment, maintain the tension. Remember, you won’t rip it.
• If you feel unstable, put the sefer Torah down. Better to thump it on the bimah/amud than to drop it. If you have to rest the sefer on your shoulder, do it. A sefer Torah cannot be “contaminated” by you touching it, so while you should avoid touching the parchment directly, if you do so, there isn’t any ritual consequence for you or the sefer Torah.
• Communicate with the person doing galilah. The least stable time during hagbah is right after you sit down, and you need their help to roll up the scroll and get it dressed (and stable) again.

If you can practice outside of service time with someone who typically does hagbah in your community, I would take advantage of it. When everyone’s watching you, it can be high-pressure. Remember, the only thing that matters in hagbah is getting the sefer Torah off the bimah/amud and into its clothes without dropping it; anything else is nice, but not necessary. When you’re first doing hagbah, try to take the honor in the middle of the year or the holiday maftir Torah, when the scroll is in the middle. That’s when it’s easiest to balance, and won’t be too heavy on either hand.

Good luck, and happy lifting!

Lee Butler attended his first NHC Summer Institute as an Everett Fellow in 2008, and is co-chair for 2010.

By: Adam Levine
This article was inspired by a workshop Adam offered at the 2009 NHC Summer Institute.

This is intended to be a brief guide to the responsibilities of the gabbaim (managers or assistants) during the Torah service. It is far from complete; there are many complicated details that cannot be covered here. There are many more comprehensive guides, sickness including Rabbi Ethan Tucker’s excellent Tefilah Bizmanah: A Gabbai’s Guide or many luchot (guides). This guide is aimed at providing some helpful suggestions that could improve the general running of the Torah service.

Mechon Hadar has compiled a great collection of sheets and handouts to use during the service. In particular, check out the “Torah service supplements,” which contain everything for the gabbai rishon (first assistant or manager) to say during the service.

Gabbai responsibilities

Correcting leyning (Torah reading) errors: Many people assume that one gabbai (assistant or manager) is responsible for calling people to the Torah and the other is responsible for checking the Torah reading. This is incorrect. Both gabbaim should correct mistakes that they hear during the leyning; to have two gabbaim is to provide an extra safeguard. Sometimes it makes sense to give one gabbai the primary checking role, but the other one should still be prepared to correct any mistakes that first one misses.

• If you hear a mistake, point it out, and make sure the reader repeats the word. In some communities, it seems that the gabbaim just follow along with the reading and don’t correct anything, and that’s not good. If a reader is ignoring your corrections, you should remind him/her in between aliyot that you’re not chopped liver.
• The best way to be good at this is to practice. Have someone read from a chumash and deliberately make mistakes so that you can correct them. Another thing to do is to review the Torah portion before Shabbat, just as if you were learning to leyn it. Ultimately, though, the best way to become a good corrector is to be a good leyner; it’s probably not a good idea to have people who aren’t experienced leyners serving in the gabbai role.
• Knowing which errors to correct and which to let slide can be difficult. The general rule is that an error that changes the meaning of a word should be corrected, while one that doesn’t does not have to be corrected. However, unless your Hebrew is very strong, it can be tricky to figure out on the spot whether an error changes the meaning. The guide below provides some guidelines; there are plenty of exceptions, but these rules of thumb should be helpful.
• Exactly how strict to be about corrections is a tricky question. There’s always the possibility that too many corrections can cause a leyner to lose confidence, leading to more mistakes. Also, with certain subtle errors, some less experienced leyners may not understand what’s being corrected, resulting in confusion. The real solution is to work on educating leyners so that they understand what the mistakes are.

Calling people to the Torah: This is the responsibility of the gabbai rishon (G1). See below for some details on how to do this correctly and grammatically. Calling people up efficiently is one of the best way to keep the Torah service from dragging. Here are some suggestions:

• The gabbai rishon should know who has what aliyah. If your community has someone other than the gabbai assign the aliyot, you should check in with that person before the Torah service. Granted, it can be hard to remember even if you assigned the aliyot yourself, but it’s worth making an effort.
• Especially in a big room, encourage people to start coming up to the bimah or amud just before their aliyah begins. Also, a good way to get people moving quickly is to say “Ya’amod…” or “Ta’amod…” before they actually get there, so that the onus is on them to move quickly.
• Hand out aliyah cards. This is a good way to prevent people from forgetting which aliyah they have. Some samples are available on Mechon Hadar’s resources page.
• Be aware of any special aliyot in the Torah portion. For instance, major aliyot such as the Ten Commandments are often considered special honors. Also, the curses in Bechukotai and Ki Tavo are usually given to the leyner, the rabbi of the community, or someone else well-respected in the community; you don’t want to give such an awful aliyah to a guest or someone random.
• If you know in advance that someone is getting an aliyah (e.g., the maftir, or someone celebrating an aufruf), write down that person’s Hebrew name in advance so you don’t need to ask for it. Some communities even keep a list of everyone’s Hebrew names so that everyone can be called up easily.

Calling page numbers: It’s usually a good idea to announce the chapter and verse every few aliyot, as well as perhaps the page number in one or more chumashim. Just one guideline: Nothing looks worse than saying “The Torah reading is on page, uh, umm, does anyone know what page it’s on?” Plan ahead, especially if you’re trying to call pages out of multiple chumashim. Some people actually make a cheat sheet in advance that has all the page numbers written down. This is usually a job for the gabbai sheini (second gabbai) (G2).

Directing traffic: Both gabbaim should make sure that people are standing in the right places during the Torah service. When someone comes up for an aliyah, a gabbai should show him/her where to stand and point out the b’rachot (blessings) sheet. The person taking the aliyah is supposed to follow along in the scroll, so he/she should be standing right up close, preferably holding on to one of the handles of the Torah. (In fact, the leyner and the two gabbaim should also all have a hand on the Torah – one person per each of the four handles.) After the aliyah, remind the person to keep standing at the amud for the next aliyah, and don’t forget to shake his/her hand!

Covering the Torah: Out of respect, the Torah should be covered any time there’s a substantial pause, such as a mi shebeirach (blessings that start with “May the One who blessed”), long announcement, or even just waiting for someone to come up to the amud, put on a tallis, etc. This is a good G2 job. (Also, don’t put siddurim or handouts on top of the Torah when it’s covered.)

Checking the spot: After each aliyah, a gabbai should look in the scroll and make note of where the next aliyah starts, in the interest of moving things along more efficiently. Having to wait to find the spot every time is a big tircha d’tzibura (burden on the community). This is especially true when a lot of different people are reading.

Saying mi shebeirachs: In some communities, G1 says a mi shebeirach for each oleh/olah (person receiving an aliyah); in others, they’re reserved only for special occasions such as aufrufs and baby namings. Typically, the way to do this is to say the mi shebeirach right after calling up the next person, but before he/she says the blessings. As mentioned before, be sure to cover the Torah.

Helping out during the lifting and wrapping of the Torah: You should spot the person lifting the Torah, just in case, and then help him/her to a seat. Also, help the person dressing the Torah, but be sure to let him/her do the actual work. If your minyan’s custom is to sing something (usually upbeat) during the wrapping, a gabbai should be the one to start it. Also, if you don’t have a stand for the Torah, a gabbai should make sure that the lifter has a chumash and siddur so that once seated with the Torah, he/she can follow along during the haftarah and the end of Torah service.

Saying Kaddish: Usually the person who chanted the seventh aliyah says the chatzi kaddish that’s between the seventh aliyah and the maftir aliyah, but G1 should be prepared to say this just in case. Again, be sure to cover the Torah. On days when two Torah scrolls are used, place the second scroll on the amud before saying the Kaddish, and then call the lifter and wrapper for the first scroll (l’seifer rishon).

Calling people to the Torah grammatically

At the beginning, G1 reads the first two lines:
V’ya’azor v’yagein v’yoshia l’chol hachosim bo v’nomar amen. Hakol havu godel lEloheinu utnu chavod laTorah.

If your minyan gives the first aliyah to a Kohen or bat Kohen:

M: Kohein k’rav, ya’amod ___ ben ___ v’___ hakohein.

F: Bat kohein, kirvi, ta’amod ___ bat ___ v’___ hakohein.

(Ordinarily, it doesn’t matter in which order people give their parents’ names. However, for kohanim and l’vi’im, you should say the father’s name second, since “hakohen” is part of the father’s name.)

If you ordinarily give the first aliyah to a Kohein or Bat Kohein, but none are present, some say that you should give the first aliyah to a Levi; others say that you specifically should give it to a Yisrael. In either case, you say:

M: Ein kan kohein. Ya’amod ___ ben ___ v’___ bimkom kohein.

F: Ein kan kohein. Ta’amod ___ bat ___ v’___ bimkom kohein.

If you don’t give the first aliyah to kohanim, you just say:

M: Ya’amod ___ ben ___ v’___, rishon.
F: Ta’amod ___ bat ___ v’___, rishonah.

In any case, G1 continues:

Baruch shenatan Torah l’amo Yisrael bikdushato.

The congregation says:

V’atem hadveikim bAdonai Eloheichem chayim kulchem hayom.

And G1 repeats that line.

For the second aliyah, if you give it to a Levi or Bat Levi:

M: Ya’amod ___ ben ___ v’___ haleivi.

F: Ta’amod ___ bat ___ v’___ haleivi.

If not:

M: Ya’amod ___ ben ___ v’___, sheini.

F: Ta’amod ___ bat ___ v’___, sh’niah.

NOTE: The feminine form of the adjective sheini is sh’niah, NOT sheinit. (The latter is an adverb that means “again.”)

Subsequent aliyot are called as follows:

M: Ya’amod ___ ben ___ v’___, sh’lishi / r’vi’i / chamishi / shishi / sh’vi’i / maftir.

F: Ta’amod ___ bat ___ v’___, sh’lishit / r’vi’it / chamishit / shishit / sh’vi’it / maftirah.

In communities where multiple people are called for a single aliyah, the best way to call them up is to say Ya’amdu (or ta’amodna for a group of women), then their names, and then la’aliyah harishonah / hash’niah / hash’lishit / har’vi’it / hachamishit / hashishit / hash’vi’it. (However, many would say that there are halachic problems with this practice.)

To call up the lifter and wrapper:

M/M: Ya’amod hamagbiah, ya’amod hagoleil or Ya’amdu hamagbiah v’hagolel.

M/F: Ya’amod hamagbiah, ta’amod hagolelet.

F/M: Ta’amod hamagbihah, ya’amod hagoleil.

F/F: Ta’amod hamagbihah, ta’amod hagolelet or Ta’amodna hamagbihah v’hagolelet.

Some communities call the lifter and wrapper by name, which is fine. However, do not say something like Ya’amod hagbahah or Ta’amod g’lilah. This is meaningless Hebrew: “May the lifting stand.” The subject of the verb ya’amod/ta’amod is meant to be a person.

A Guide to Correcting Mistakes in Torah Reading

The overall principle is that any mistake that changes the meaning of the word should be corrected, while those that do not change the meaning should not be corrected. However, it’s often hard to judge in the spur of the moment whether a mistake changes the meaning. This guide is intended to provide rules of thumb to address many common types of errors.

Errors in the consonantal text, such as replacing one letter with another, are always corrected. Shin and sin are different letters.

Bet and vet, kaf and chaf, pay and fay (and, for some people, tav and sav): At the beginning of a word, don’t correct them. In the middle of the word, there are a few instances where it can change the meaning: e.g., the imperative verb kabeid (honor) vs. the adjective kaveid (heavy). So you should probably correct these any time they’re in the middle of a word.

The most common mistakes involve vowels.

• Always correct – v’ (vav with sh’va) vs. va (vav with patach) in verbs, since it can change the tense.
• Always correct – b’ (bet with sh’va) vs. ba (bet with patach) and l’ (lamed with sh’va) vs. la (lamed with patach), since “a” and “the” mean different things.
• People frequently mix up el (aleph lamed, to), al (aleph lamed, do not) and al (ayin lamed, on). Always correct these.
• Don’t correct et (aleph tav) vs. eit (aleph tav): they are pronounced differently, but they are the same word.
• Don’t correct pausal forms: aretz vs. eretz (both aleph resh tzadi), vay’hi vs. vayehi (both vav yud hay yud), etc. Two other examples are l’cha vs. lach (both lamed chaf) and it’cha vs. itach (both aleph tav chaf). All of these are masculine forms, even though the pausal forms look the same as the feminine forms, so you don’t have to correct them if they’re talking about a male character.
• You don’t generally need to correct kamatz katan versus kamatz gadol. However, pronouncing a patach like a kamatz katan should definitely be corrected.
• Vowel mistakes that change the mood, voice, or tense of a verb should always be corrected, such as ya’aseh vs. yei’aseh (both yud ayin sin hey) and dabeir vs. dibeir (both daled bet resh).

Correcting the accenting of syllables is a tricky business. There are instances where the accent can change the tense of a verb. However, they can be hard to correct on the spot, so it may not be worthwhile except with very proficient readers.

The only trop that you really need to correct is sof pasuk, i.e., when the reader puts a verse break in the wrong place or skips over a verse break. (Some say the same holds for etnachta.) There are a few circumstances where a trop error can substantially affect the meaning of the words, but we won’t go into them here. However, you should be ready to provide a prompt if the reader is fumbling for the correct trop.

Adam Levine attended his first NHC Summer Institute as an Everett Fellow in 2009.