The joys, and oys, of being counted
I didn't go to shul today to davven--I was too busy coughing and wiping my nose to pray.
No, I went to synagogue to make a minyan.
As our congregation becomes both smaller and older, with the health and/or mobility problems that often accompany advancing age, getting a minyan requires all hands on deck.
So I dragged myself over to the shul to ensure that we'd have a minyan, which enables a prayer group to read the Torah from the scroll--without a minyan, we'd be forced to read it from a chumash.
It's a good thing I went---even with me there, we still had to wait another 10 minutes to get a minyan.
I didn't dare leave until there were 12 Jews present, not counting me--this leaves some "wiggle room" in case one or two people leave for the ladies' or men's room. Believe me, I was very happy to be able to go home and back to bed.
Egalitarian Judaism equalizes not only the rights, but also the responsibilities.
No, I went to synagogue to make a minyan.
As our congregation becomes both smaller and older, with the health and/or mobility problems that often accompany advancing age, getting a minyan requires all hands on deck.
So I dragged myself over to the shul to ensure that we'd have a minyan, which enables a prayer group to read the Torah from the scroll--without a minyan, we'd be forced to read it from a chumash.
It's a good thing I went---even with me there, we still had to wait another 10 minutes to get a minyan.
I didn't dare leave until there were 12 Jews present, not counting me--this leaves some "wiggle room" in case one or two people leave for the ladies' or men's room. Believe me, I was very happy to be able to go home and back to bed.
Egalitarian Judaism equalizes not only the rights, but also the responsibilities.
posted by Shira Salamone at 10:44 PM
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