Coming together October 18, 2006
Posted by uricohen in Darkhei Noam, General, Kehilat Hadar, Kol Zimrah, Minyanim, New York City, Synagogues.add a comment
By the end of 2003 Kol Zimrah, Kehilat Hadar and Darkhei Noam had begun, stabilized, and developed as individual prayer communities. They got better and better at serving the needs of their constituents, and the communities flourished on the upper west side, surrounded by the synagogues and other groups which had preceded them.In March of 2004 a new group came on the scene, bent on giving the UWS Jewish community an opportunity to expand its horizons.
Tikvat Yisrael was formed in late 2003 by 8 post-college individuals who had moved to New York City. I was one of them. We had enjoyed our college experiences, which were based on our experiences on our campuses, mostly in Hillel environments. We had enjoyed the opportunity to celebrate shabbat and other Jewish commonalities with others on the campus, and really understand what it means to be a Jewish community made up of a multitude of backgrounds.
When we moved to New York we had a whole new experience. No longer were we limited in our prayer options to the two or three or four services which were sustainable in our Hillels. In New York each person could come as close as is possible anywhere to finding a prayer service which meets their exact needs and interests. Floating from shul to shul, minyan to minyan was possible, and we enjoyed it. By the end of 2003, however, we realized that the community aspect was missing, and we felt that lack quite strongly.
We organized in late 2003, incorporated in January 2004, and had our first program in March of the same year. Our core model involved multiple prayer services operating simultaneously, yet independently under one roof in the same building. Housed in the Abraham Joshua Heschel lower school on 89th and Broadway, we operated three services which we called “liberal”, “traditional egalitarian” and “orthodox”. We stayed away from “conservative” and “reform” because it was our experience that many people felt pigeon-holed rather than described by these titles, and that those terms carried associations that were more harmful than helpful. On the other hand, we felt that we should call the third minyan “orthodox” to serve as a “hekhsher” of some kind for the attendees who would be looking for assurance that the service would meet their needs.
Following the services (held along the same hallway on the first floor), we devised a communal shabbat dinner, to be held upstairs in the gym. The idea was to provide an opportunity for everyone who attended to see, not just hear about others who were dedicated to prayer. To experience community, rather than just read or think about it. The doors on the service rooms were open, melodies flowed out as people could see in. We were hoping that this would be an attractive model, and one that would draw at least 10 people per service (and at least 10 men for the orthodox service).
We were absolutely shocked by the result. We took registrations for the dinner (and charged a nominal fee) and we sold out a week in advance with 140 registrants. We had been hoping to hit 40. We were hoping for 40-50 people come to services, and we were thrilled to see 200. There were people asking if they could come for dinner at the last minute, and we sat as many as we could.
The traditional egalitarian and orthodox services each saw around 80 attendees. The services were lay-led, and featured a traditional liturgy and a devar torah. The traditional egalitarian service featured mixed seating and full participation for women, and the orthodox service featured male-led prayer and a mehitzah. The liberal service was led by an accomplished service leader who led a beautiful non-traditional service using a guitar, with the chairs formed in a circle. This service had around 50 attendees.
For this first event we had men lead kiddush (blessings over the wine) and birkat hamazon (the grace after meals). A woman led the hamotzi (blessing over the bread). While we knew that this could not be a long-term solution to the gender participation issue, we thought that people would allow us some leeway in using this relatively mainstream approach. Though we did get some feedback about this, for the most part people were satisfied with this solution – for now.
The feedback was wonderful. People enjoyed the services, the experiences and the meal. People told us how they had missed these experiences and had really enjoyed them in their college lives. They were grateful to have such an opportunity and were excited for the next one to take place.
Meanwhile, we got press in the Jewish Week, and word began to spread…
Darkhei Noam background September 14, 2006
Posted by uricohen in Darkhei Noam, General, Minyanim, Synagogues.add a comment
Thanks to co-founder Jonathan Stein for this:
“Rodeph Sholom deserves a ton of credit for giving us space at cost. I just
cold called them out of the blue and their desire for real
inter-denominational interaction was very genuine. We even had their Rabbi
speak at DN once. So the back story about institutional versus
non-institutional minyanim needs more nuance. The Reform establishment was
backing some upstarts from the Modern Orthodox community.
And while DN certainly fits within the independent minyan framework, it also grew
out of stirrings within the Modern Orthodox community for something more
egalitarian, e.g., Rabbi Silber and the Drisha Minyan, the Edah Journal
article by Mendel Shaprio, etc.
I think that explains why DN attracts relatively more families than some of
the other ind. minyanim. And that demographic in turn explains some aspects
of how DN grew and didn’t grow, its fundraising, its later ties with
Heschel, etc.
And something I’d love to clarify for posterity: DN developed completely
independently of Shira Hadashah in Jerusalem, though SH’s larger numbers and
earlier launch date have often meant that DN is viewed as the UWS version of
SH. I’m not sure I mind the label, but the goings on in Jerusalem did not
have any direct impact on the development of DN.”
Thanks, Jon!
I’d love to get some more information on the cooperation between Rodeph Sholom and Darkhei Noam here. Can anyone elaborate on the methodology and/or thinking that contributed here?
Corrections, 2003-2004 update and KOE developments September 13, 2006
Posted by uricohen in Darkhei Noam, KOE, Kehilat Hadar, Kol Zimrah, Minyanim.add a comment
Some corrections:
The Hadar Shavuot retreat in 2002 was actually from May 16-19, Thursday through Sunday. The all-night learning sessions (Tikkun Leil Shavuot) began at 11pm, and the davening at 5AM was led by another Hadar co-founder Mara Benjamin. Julia Andelman davened on the morning of the second day, not the first.
The success of this retreat was a shocker to the organizers, as well as everyone else. Originally planning the retreat for 75 participants, the eventual 230 participants blew those expectations out the door. There was a waiting list and plenty who were not able to attend because there were not enough accomodations.
This first retreat set the tone for the retreats to follow, as well as for the programming over the rest of the year and also in other locations. Participants from this retreat returned to their homes in Washington, Boston, and elsewhere to begin similar minyanim with similar programs and retreats! I’d love to include some of that background here as well…
As the calendar turned to 2003, the minyanim continued to move forward. As Ben noted in his comment, Kol Zimrah underwent an “IPO” and more firmly established its role in the community. Hadar continued to grow and stabilize not only its prayer services and locations, but also the Beit Midrash program and began its Social Justice activities. Can we get some details on this?
Darkhei Noam continued to grow as well, and used multiple facilities from Rodeph Shalom for their services. Its leadership core continued to define the minyan’s objectives as well as directions for the future.
KOE continued to meet as usual, though at some point in here (not sure when exactly) Rabbi Halivny-Weiss announced his impending move to Israel, which required the community to consider the options for its next era.
Also in this timeframe (2003-2004) KOE had discussions about the issue of women’s roles in the Torah service. As is their custom, KOE took a poll of its membership, and then presented Rabbi Halivny-Weiss with the issue for consideration. The result of these discussion was that for the most part the status quo – women did not participate in reading torah or having aliyyot – would stand. There were opportunities for all-women’s torah readings in a separate room. On certain occasions, however, there would be an option in yet another room for “mixed keriyya” – where men and women would participate equally. More details?
Stabilization period and entry of a third… August 30, 2006
Posted by uricohen in Darkhei Noam, Kehilat Hadar, Kol Zimrah, Minyanim.3 comments
As 2002 wore on, Kehilat Hadar and Darkhei Noam stabilized their meeting schedules, always meeting on each other’s off-weeks.
Hadar tried many different meeting spaces – from the El Taller Art studio on 104th and Broadway, to the church on 115th and Riverside. Finally, Hadar settled on the Second Presbyterian Church at 96th Street as its regular home, while it searched for more permanent space. The summer location became the Kraft Center at Columbia University. Can anyone help fill other details of the space search?
Darkhei Noam continued to meet in the school on 78th street, and then moved to the gym in the Rodeph Shalom building itself on 84th street.
There was a period (how long?) when the minyanim were each meeting 2 weeks per month mostly on alternating weeks. Can we get some specifics?
In November of 2002, a new minyan came on the scene. Kol Zimrah began its series of Friday night services utilizing a traditional all-Hebrew liturgy with the additions of guitar and drums.
Please help me fill in the gaps here!
Edits and 2 new minyanim August 29, 2006
Posted by uricohen in Darkhei Noam, Kehilat Hadar, Minyanim.1 comment so far
From emails and posts, a few edits:
As BZ correctly suggests, the events previously recorded as happening in the Spring of 2002 were actually the Fall of 2001 (how time flies!). That Friday night on the Key West roof was September 21, 2001, and the traditional egalitarian minyan was, in fact named “Kehilat Hadar” around October of 2001.
Hadar founder Elie Kaunfer suggests “I don’t remember when the 113
minyan ended, but it definitely was going on in Spring 01 – that was its
heyday. As for Hadar’s tipping point, that is up for debate, but i always
thought it was Tisha B’Av 01, when we thought 40 people would come and 180
did. It was in central park.”
Kehilat Hadar (known as Hadar, for short) was an innovation in traditional egalitarian service options on the UWS. It featured a serious approach to tradition and liturgy, coupled with a demand for spirituality, song and energy. There was no talking ever to be heard at Hadar services, and the services became known for their high-caliber leaders, readers of the Torah and teachers. So punctilious was Hadar about the quality of the services that they started a practice of sending detailed guidelines to each person who would be playing a role during services. Those leading were required to be “listened to” by one of the gabbaim (organizers) or a deputized representative. The rationale was, to my mind, that Hadar felt that the community was tired of low-quality poorly planned “ad hoc” services. It was time to get back to basics, and this approach worked well. Partially as a result, Hadar needed to focus on being warm and welcoming, as their demand for quality also produced a perception of eliteness – a challenge that they have worked hard to combat ever since. However, this did not impact its success in numbers, as Hadar quickly grew, regularly drawing 200 people on a monthly and then semi-monthly basis. The founders and first gabbaim of Hadar included Elie Kaunfer, Mara Benjamin, Ethan Tucker, Josh Greenfield, Adam Wall, Debbie Bohnen, and Debbie Kaufman.
As for other happenings as of the Spring of 2002, another minyan had begun. Meeting in the Rodeph Shalom school building on 78th Street, a minyan featuring a low mehitzah (separation between men and women) and an unprecedented role for women in prayer services (that is, on the UWS in an “orthodox-affiliating” setting). Women could lead Pesukei Dezimrah (the preliminary section of the traditional liturgy), Seder Hotza’at veHakhnasat Hatorah (the service surrounding the taking out, reading and return of the Torah scroll to the ark), read from the Torah, come up for aliyyot, read the haftarah (section from the prophets), lead a study session and other things during services.
As Jeremy points out, this minyan, later named Darkhei Noam, had an immediate audience and impact. 75-100 people attended this service once a month right from the start. The original leaders of this minyan were Tamara Charm, Lisa Schlaff, Scott Lipson, and Jonathan Stein.
One more interesting phenomonen to note here – Hadar and Darkhei Noam were in much collaboration. Sharing documents, ideas, and strategies, they helped each other and also arranged their schedules so as not to conflict. This shared interest in mutual success was the first of its kind, to my mind, and served as an important baseline for what would come later, resulting in my assertion later on that the independent minyanim today are more similar to each other (horizontally) than they are to their respective “movement” associations, if those are even possible…
