Posted By  richards on September 19, 2014    
				
				        Rosh    Hashanah synagogue services: meaningful or just a    marathon?  
    By Maayan Jaffe/JNS.org  
    There are four sounds that the shofar makes on Rosh Hashanah.    The tekiah is a basic note of moderate length.    Shevarim breaks the tekiah into three short notes.    Teruah breaks the tekiah into nine smaller    notes. Tekiah gedola takes the standard    tekiah and makes it three times as long.  
    Synagogue services, too, have varying lengths. There are short    services, such as the evening service on Rosh Hashanah, and    even shorter ones like the weekday afternoon service    (mincha). In fact, mincha can be so short that Rabbi    Randall J. Konigsburg of Temple Beth El in Birmingham, Ala.,    has seen Israeli bus drivers jump off the bus, daven (pray),    and jump back on the bus without losing much time on their    route.  
    The same cant be said for shacharit (morning service)    and mussaf (additional service) on Rosh Hashanah  far    from it.  
    The Rosh    Hashanah morning service is designed like the tekiah    gedola, Konigsburg tells JNS.org. The theme of the day    is the coronation of God as ruler of the universe. A coronation    is filled with pomp and ceremony, and that is what the Rosh    Hashanah service is all about.  
    It sounds nice in theory, but realistically, how many Rosh    Hashanah services have you spent in the hallway chatting with    your friends, bemoaning the length of the rabbis speech or the    operatic performance of the cantor?  
    I understand having kavanah (proper intention) on    Rosh Hashanah, but to elongate something that normally goes    25-30 minutes to an hour seems pointless, laments Gabriel    Lewin of Pikesville, Md. And while I appreciate the need for    shuls to raise money and to sell off honors, like getting an    aliyah [to the Torah], the problem is it turns into 35 minutes    of grandstanding and it also wastes a lot of time that could    have been spent doing something more kadosh (holy).  
    Hannah Heller, also of Pikesville, says she remembers being    frustrated as a child in shul when davening seemed endless and    the people talking was such a distraction that I wondered why I    had to be there all those hours. Today, Heller said she still    finds Rosh Hashanah services to be long, but they are also very    meaningful for her. It was a matter of finding the right    synagogue in Netivot Shalom, a modern Orthodox establishment    where, according to its website, everyone has a voice.  
    Those who lead the davening do a lot of catchy, popular tunes    and people are encouraged to sing along, says Heller, noting    that the tunes make her a part of the service. Heller says the    speeches at Netivot Shalom are kept to a minimum and given not    only by the rabbi, but also by members of the congregation. And    while a lot of traditional singing takes place, the person who    leads davening avoids making it a  
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Rosh Hashanah 5775
				
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