Top Reasons Why I Never Wash,” by Rabbi U. N. Kleen 

1. I was forced to as a child.
2. People who wash are hypocrites - they think they are cleaner than everybody else.
3. I used to wash, but I got bored and stopped.
4. I wash only on special occasions, like Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
5. None of my friends wash.
6. People who make soap are only after your money.
7. I don’t like the songs people sing in the shower.
8. I know how to stay clean without washing.
9. The last time I washed, someone was rude to me.
10. I don’t believe in soap. I sat beside a whole case of it for an hour once, and nothing happened.
11. Washing was invented by people who knew nothing about science.
12. Prehistoric humans were happy all the time until the first soap salesman made them feel guilty.
13. Washing is for people much dirtier than I am.
14. I will wash when I find the sink that is exactly right for me.
15. I only believe in things I can see, and I can’t see bacteria.
16. We’ve just moved here six years ago and haven’t had a chance.
17. I feel as close to washing on the golf course as I do in the bath.
18. I never wash when I have company.
19. Washday is the only day I have to sleep in.
20. Washing is the opiate of the masses.

This list actually was the product of a rabbi’s frustration over his congregation’s lack of attendance at regular Shabbat services.  It appeared in the synagogue bulletin as a way of gently poking fun at the many excuses we all make over the years for not being as “regular” at Shabbat services as we might otherwise feel obliged.

At Temple Beth-El, we too have experienced the ebb and flow of worshippers over the years.  There are many different factors that influence congregational participation in worship, including music, choice of prayerbook, balance between Hebrew and English, sermon topic or style or length (!), presence of family or friends, quality of the oneg or the Kiddush lunch, amount of Torah discussion, etc.  The list could keep going...

One of the factors that many Reform congregations around the country have been identifying that can affect service participation is the time that Shabbat evening services occur.  There are those amongst us who will feel that Shabbat services at any time other than 8:00 pm is sacrilegious!  After all, that’s the way it always has been “traditionally”!

The history of our focus on Friday night worship extends back a century and a half.  150 years ago, in the mid-19^th century, the Reform Movement established the custom of the “late” Friday evening service.  While the specific time has ranged between 7:00 pm and 8:00 pm, there has been a consistent approach that dates back to the leadership of Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise, the founder of American Reform Judaism.  It was in 1869, in the face of public inattention to Shabbat morning worship that Isaac Mayer Wise joined colleagues in Cleveland and Louisville in introducing a late Friday evening service at a fixed time.  Historian Michael Meyer writes, “Probably no other Reform innovation was crowned with such long-lasting success.” (Meyer and Plaut, The Reform Judaism Reader: North American Documents, 2001, p. 79) 

 

Wise wrote an editorial in his weekly publication, The American Israelite:

“What is the meaning of this reform [the late Friday evening service]?  Our readers know that innovations for innovations sake do not suit us.  Reforms must have an object...

“There are a great many in every congregation who cannot attend divine service in the morning.  We need hardly remind our readers, that there are business men, clerks, book keepers, apprentices, female servants, and even many mothers, who cannot leave their houses always in the morning, and attend divine service...

“We do not suppose to be mistaken, if we predict that our members and our personal friends will be in temple, young and old, every Friday evening, and will soon convince themselves that there is the proper place to spend an hour or so in devotion, after a week of toil and turmoil...Try it, and convince yourselves...”

With this as our historical reality, we still struggle with the issue of how to balance communal prayer with the many other demands on our time and attention.  Not being sure what is the “right fit” for our membership, the Board of Trustees and the Ritual Committee are embarking on an experiment in Shabbat service times.  We want to know where you will fit in.  Will services starting at an earlier time have an impact on service participation?  Will it make it easier or more challenging to enable a broader cross-section of our congregation to attend?  What will be the impact of such changes on our style of worship and the experience of Erev Shabbat as a congregation and for each of our families? 

Please take note of the new service starting times detailed below...please add these new times to your personal and family calendars...and please “vote with your tush” to help us determine what is the “best fit” for Temple Beth-El! (Yes, we will be tracking attendance for each of these periods of time!)  See you on Shabbat!

B’virkat Shalom,

Rabbi Michael Torop