B’not Akiva: The Late-Bloomers Club

A few of us rebels have been running an egalitarian chavurah service at our shul (synagogue) several times a year. A chavurah service, for the uninitiated, refers to a service organized and run entirely by laypeople (the word “chavurah” meaning “friendship,” or, by extension, circle of friends), and is generally less formal than, say, a daily minyan at your friendly local Orthodox or Conservative synagogue led by a layperson. We got pretty laid back at our most recent service, stopping to discuss a psalm or two (how nice of HaShem to let us wander in the wilderness for forty years just because HaShem was honked off at us for being disobedient; the wicked flourish like weeds only to be cut down—HaShem as weed-whacker?—, while the righteous flourish like palm trees, sprouting kids in their old age), the second paragraph of the Sh’ma (the discussion leader asking whether we prayed out of gratitude or out of fear), and the Mourner’s Kaddish. The discussion leader, who’s roughly my age, reminded me very much of me, in that we’re both latecomers in terms of our earlier Jewish education (or lack thereof), but she’s roughly where I started about 25-30 years ago. Ouch. I wish her luck. I’m 25-30 years ahead of her, but I ain’t anywhere near being “there yet” (and won’t be until I can understand what they’re talking about at http://www.hirhurim.blogspot.com/).