Reminder: Spring Open House at Temple B'nai Brith

[pekmez.livejournal.com]

This Sunday: Temple B'nai Brith Spring Open House: March 29th, 11am-1pm

Looking for a vibrant, egalitarian, and welcoming Jewish community? Temple B'nai Brith is an independent Jewish congregation serving Somerville and surrounding communities for over 100 years. We offer regular Shabbat and alternative worship services, High Holiday services, and other Jewish holiday services; non-members are welcome!

We will hold an open house on Sunday, March 29th from 11am-1pm. Meet congregants, enjoy a light snack, visit the children's school in session, and meet our school staff. TBB is located at 201 Central St, in Somerville, just off Broadway in Winter Hill.

I'm a member of TBB, and I'm on the board of directors and a co-chair of the Membership Committee. I've been a member of TBB since sometime after I moved to Somerville, and really like the place! I'll be off enjoying sunshine in Florida next weekend, but I can otherwise occasionally be found at Shabbat services, other holiday services, or various programs that catch my interest. Feel free to ask me more about Temple B'nai Brith!

www.templebnaibrith.org is our website.

Comments

[jbsegal.livejournal.com]

Reform, Conservative, Orthodox, Reconstructionist, Reservative, Conservaform, Conservadox, Orthative, etc etc etc?

(If “Egal” has a specific meaning in terms of observance style, I've yet to grok it.)

[pekmez.livejournal.com]

We don't fit one checkbox so I think we don't even try to explain with one word. This is just my sense of what it's like, today.

Our observance style is closer to conservadox, but with liberal politics and social values being an important part (we have our own quirky ways of translating Hebrew terms to reflect less of a male-dominant-establishment, ie melech=ruler, not king, add not just the matriarchs but also the handmaids who bore some of Jacob's children to the prayers.) and of course
equal participation by men and women is a big part of the "egalitarian" label. We have 2 days of services for most holidays, liturgy is long and in hebrew, the prayerbook is Conservative published. Services are led by members and we have an official religious leader who is a philosophy professor in his day job.

The average observance level of members is a lot closer to reform. But, we also make a point of trying to interpret everything with a ritual implication so it stays legit for the more observant as well. If you need to say kaddish for someone and are orthodox, the service will meet your needs and not do something un-kosher; the food served at the temple is more kosher than anywhere else; you can sell your chametz using the temple as an agent, there are not "celebratory" occasions scheduled during the non-celebratory occasion period between passover and shavuot, etc - but you can also have no clue or care about those things and go out for bacon cheeseburgers after shabbat services in your car and still potentially fit right in. Except if you think that those more observant people are losers for caring about doing Jewish their way, then you probably wouldn't fit right in.

[ron_newman]

Egalitarian just means that men and women are considered equal for all ritual purposes -- forming a minyan, being called for an aliyah, leading the service, sitting together, and so on. You'll see some women wearing yarmulkes and tallit, and some not.

[jbsegal.livejournal.com]

I know... I was just wondering if there was some information encoded in the word (in this, or general Jewish usage) beyond the obvious.

I suspect that the answer is: Yes, it means a more conservadox service, because for reform->conservative, it ranges from "Doesn't need to be mentioned" to "Just to be clear", while the closer you get to ortho, the less obvious - and even the more controversial - it becomes.

[ron_newman]

I use this word (egalitarian) when describing our shul, because we are not affiliated with any of the 'denominations' -- Reform, Conservative, Orthodox, Reconstructionist, Humanist, etc.

Egalitarianism also represents a change in the shul's practice, in the living memory of many current members.

We're definitely not Reform in ritual style -- no choir or organ, lots more Hebrew than English.