A View from the Bima
- Rabbi Rachel Brown
Before Rabbi Akiva was a rabbi, when he was just Akiva, up to the age of 40, he hadn’tstudied a thing. One day, while standing next to a well, he noticed that a stone was hollowed out. When he inquired about the stone, he found out that the stone became hollowed out from the constantly dripping water that was falling on to it.
At that, Rabbi Akiva asked himself: "Is my mind harder than this stone? I will go and study at least one section of Torah." Akiva went directly to the schoolhouse, and he and his son began reading from a child’s tablet. The teacher wrote down the letters of the Hebrew alphabet for him, one by one, and Akiva learned them, one by one. Gradually Akiva worked his way through the alphabet, the book of Leviticus and, eventually, the whole Torah. Rabbi Akiva went on to become one of the most important Jewish scholars ever to live.
It’s been said that the reason that many people don’t come to synagogue for services is because they are embarrassed that they know so little. People don’t want to feel inadequate. People who are accomplished in their professional lives and among their peers are uncomfortable walking into a situation that they aren’t used to, where everyone else seems to know what is going on and where it can feel too intimidating to ask a question about what page we are on or the choreography of the service.
Fortunately, B’nai Jacob is a wonderful place to learn and it is almost impossible to be embarrassed here! You are always welcome to come to services. You can sit next to someone who knows what is going on and ask them questions. You can sit next to someone who doesn’t really know what is going on and figure it out together. You can come to services, sit next to no one and bring a book to read (hopefully with some Jewish interest or content) and eventually you would become familiar with the rhythm, choreography and sounds of the service. You can tally up your questions and then ask me after services at the
kiddush,or the oneg, or during the week.You are welcome to arrive late, so that you don’t have to learn the whole service all at once. Arrive in time for the Torah service and when you are comfortable there, come a little earlier and learn how the
Shacharit service works.For those of you who would like a primer on what is happening before you walk into the sanctuary, you are welcome to come to our once-a-month Mini-Minyan – an interactive, learning service designed for our religious school children, where anyone who wants to come – child or adult – is welcome.
If you are one of the many members of our community who doesn’t read Hebrew, you may be happy to hear that transliterations of the Friday night service are available and I am in the process of creating a transliteration for the parts of the Shabbat morning service that we say or sing out loud.
B’nai Jacob is an extension of your home. We want you to be comfortable here. What do you need to do to take advantage of this? Come. Ask questions. Allow yourself to learn. Just like a rock being hollowed out with water, your mind and your soul can slowly learn the rites and rituals of our tradition. Who knows – you might be the next Rabbi Akiva. All you have to do is show up. If you have questions about our liturgy or Jewish services, or if you are looking for reference books that might help you please feel free to contact me at
rabbirbrown@yahoo.com or at 610-933-5550