Independent minyanim growing rapidly, and the Jewish world is noticing http://jta.org/ENTRY_PERMALINK_HERE/minyanim-growing/ Though the minyanim by nature are independent of the mainstream institutions of Jewish religious life, their rapid growth has made them difficult to ignore. en-us bharris@jta.org Copyright 2008 2008-11-11T;17:33:01-05:00 Comment by Mimi Lewis lewis.mimi@gmail.com The choice of picture is interesting to me.  I attended the conference and I remember seeing a few people taking a moment for mincha...but it wasn’t a focal point of the conference and I don’t think that this picture is at all indicative of the mood of the conference.  In fact, I think it may perpetuate a feeling prevalent among many that the minyan movement is for Jews who pray like orthodox but don’t want to call themselves orthodox.  Minyanim are not just for people who pray three times a day--they are for people who want a high-quality spiritual experience, not matter what their background and knowledge level is.  Mimi Lewis The choice of picture is interesting to me.  I attended the conference and I remember seeing a few people taking a moment for mincha...but it wasn’t a focal point of the conference and I don’t think that this picture is at all indicative of the mood of the conference.  In fact, I think it may perpetuate a feeling prevalent among many that the minyan movement is for Jews who pray like orthodox but don’t want to call themselves orthodox.  Minyanim are not just for people who pray three times a day--they are for people who want a high-quality spiritual experience, not matter what their background and knowledge level is. 

Mimi Lewis

]]> 2009-11-22T;22:02:00-05:00 Comment by Alan Jay Weisbard alan.weisbard@gmail.com As a 50-something longtime member of the havurah community, I welcome this new renaissance of independent minyanim, and the opportunity they provide for leadership and creative expression by young persons too often marginalized in more conventional parts of the American Jewish Establishment. The national havurah movement has made a committed effort to open up room for leadership for our younger members, and we have found, to our delight, that this new generation responds with energy, creativity and responsibility. We are all the better for it. I would quibble with one element of your story, in which you refer to these minyanim as “rabbi-less”. That requires clarification; in a sense, some of these communities are rabbi-full. Many of these communities include persons--sometimes many of them--ordained as rabbis, as well as others with considerable Jewish knowledge. The difference is that these rabbis do not serve as priests or designated Jews; they, like others, are equal participants in their communities, giving of their knowledge and liturgical skills while learning from others, without the rigid roles and status differentiations characteristic of many more conventional Jewish religious communities. As the havurah community has learned over the past 40 years, this can take some effort and planning, but it works. Alan J. Weisbard (The Wise Bard) As a 50-something longtime member of the havurah community, I welcome this new renaissance of independent minyanim, and the opportunity they provide for leadership and creative expression by young persons too often marginalized in more conventional parts of the American Jewish Establishment.

The national havurah movement has made a committed effort to open up room for leadership for our younger members, and we have found, to our delight, that this new generation responds with energy, creativity and responsibility. We are all the better for it.

I would quibble with one element of your story, in which you refer to these minyanim as “rabbi-less”. That requires clarification; in a sense, some of these communities are rabbi-full. Many of these communities include persons--sometimes many of them--ordained as rabbis, as well as others with considerable Jewish knowledge. The difference is that these rabbis do not serve as priests or designated Jews; they, like others, are equal participants in their communities, giving of their knowledge and liturgical skills while learning from others, without the rigid roles and status differentiations characteristic of many more conventional Jewish religious communities. As the havurah community has learned over the past 40 years, this can take some effort and planning, but it works.

Alan J. Weisbard (The Wise Bard)

]]> 2009-11-22T;22:02:00-05:00