Spirituality

New-Look Shabbat

Shaarey Zedek Southfield tweaks service to draw worshipers closer.

SheIII Liebman Dorfman

Senior Writer

W

hen services begin at
Congregation Shaarey Zedek
(CSZ) in Southfield this
Shabbat morning, it will be with a revised
time schedule, an innovative service
format and a goal of bringing the congre-
gation closer to one another and to the
clergy — both in proximity and relation-
ship.
After two years of study and trials that
included an alternative service incorpo-
rating learning and music, the congrega-
tion will convene on Aug. 23 in a single
service.
An extensive evaluation, including a
congregational questionnaire, individual
feedback and a series of meetings with
the synagogue's religious programming
committee and the board of trustees took
place.
"Then we took what the congrega-
tion wanted and created an outstanding
service that will be more meaningful,
relevant and engaging;' said CSZ Rabbi
Joseph Krakoff.
The choice of conducting one service
instead of continuing with the two differ-
ent services was decided by the congrega-
tion.
"The one main thing concluded in our
evaluations was that what the congrega-
tion wanted most was to be together;'
Krakoff said.
Services now will be more participatory
and musical, according to CSZ President
David Wallace. "There are no revolution-
ary changes, just enhancements," he said.
"We are making the service more intellec-
tually and spiritually accessible'
The plan he said is "to create an inti-
macy in the synagogue."
"One way to do this is through more
interaction between the clergy and the
congregation:' Wallace said.
Another is through a slight physical
change of the sanctuary. The first three
rows of seats have been removed and
the bottom step of the bimah extended
out. "That way the clergy is not up high;'
Krakoff said. "We will be much closer to
the congregation for sermons and teach-
ing:,

Also to encourage a closeness, the
seats in the back of the sanctuary will be

Rabbi Joseph Krakoff

David Wallace

covered so congregants will move into a
smaller area toward the front of the sanc-
tuary.
The synagogue is currently printing
a booklet of prayer transliterations to
include those not easily followed the
prayer book.
The service will take place at the syna-
gogue's Southfield building only. Services
at the CSZ West Bloomfield B'nai Israel
Center will not change.
"B'nai Israel has a wonderful, tradi-
tional service," Krakoff said.

gious school and Hillel Day School of
Metropolitan Detroit will be included in
the service.
At 9 a.m., a traditional service will be
held in the synagogue's chapel. "It will
include preliminary prayers, Schacharit
(morning service) and I will lead a Torah
study, which is something new:' Krakoff
said.
Something else that is new is the intro-
duction of a piano during the Shabbat
morning service.
In a letter prepared for the congrega-
tion, the synagogue's clergy referred to
the musical instrument's inclusion as a
result of their interpretation of a series
of papers written for the Conservative
movement's Committee on Jewish Law
and Standards. The piano will be played
when the Torah is taken out of the ark
and returned, and during some liturgical
pieces.
"Using the piano is under the concept
of hiddur mitzvah, beautifying a mitzvah;'
Krakoff said. "And here it is beautifying
the mitzvah of prayer. We chose the piano
because it has the most natural sound. It
will sit off to the side and be used to facil-
itate singing and a more spiritual feeling."

What To Expect
"The heart of the new service will run
from 10 a.m. to noon:' Krakoff said. "The
doors will open, the clergy will enter and
we will all begin the service together."
It will begin with an introductory
prayer, the recitation of the Shema and
then move immediately to the Torah read-
ing, which will continue as before, as a
triennial reading based on seven aliyot.
"We will include group aliyot to involve
as many congregants as possible Krakoff
said. "We will also have themed aliyot, like
those with grandparents and grandchil-
dren together."
The haftorah will continue to be read in
its entirety.
There will no longer be a full repeti-
tion of the Musaf Amidah, but instead
an opportunity for additional learning
of Jewish texts as well as liturgical and
modern songs. Students from CSZ reli-

About The Music
"The use of the piano is in line with other
Conservative synagogues," Krakoff said.
"Almost half of the East and West Coast
Conservative congregations now include
a musical instrument in their Shabbat

services."
Locally, most Conservative synagogues
do not, including Congregation B'nai
Moshe in West Bloomfield and Adat
Shalom Synagogue in Farmington Hills,
where Rabbi Aaron Bergman said, "If
Shabbat starts late, we sometimes use
instruments for Kabbalat Shabbat."
But that would be before the start of
Shabbat.
The same is true for Congregation Beth
Ahm in West Bloomfield, where execu-
tive director Tessa Goldberg said a guitar
is used during Friday evening Kabbalat
Shabbat services only "before Shabbat
begins in the summer before it gets dark
outside. But then we put the guitar away
for the rest of the service. We do not use
instruments on a Saturday morning."
Congregation Beth Shalom in Oak Park,
however, "has used musical instruments
in many formats for some time," said the
synagogue's executive director Steven
Weiss. A recent Friday night service was
led and accompanied by guitar, piano and
keyboard also have been used at some
of the synagogue's alternative Shabbat
morning services. Though not part of the
weekly main sanctuary Shabbat service,
Weiss said, "We intend to explore and use
musical instruments as appropriate to
enhance participation in all of our reli-
gious services."
But, stressed Krakoff, "the piano is not
the hallmark of our service. The hallmark
is lots and lots of learning."
The rabbi hopes the service will
increase Shabbat morning synagogue
attendance among CSZ's 1,700 member
families. On weeks when there is no b'nai
mitzvah, baby naming or aufruf — all
of which bring a larger crowd — about
175 congregants attend services in the
Southfield building, with about the
same number attending at CSZ's West
Bloomfield building.
"We hope by making the service more
personal, it will appeal to more members,
and more will come," Wallace said. "We
know we are competing with other activi-
ties people do on Saturday mornings."
Said Krakoff, "We want to create a
service of learners, who are not talking,
but are engaged in the service and under-
standing the Torah. We want to make the
service more relevant and meaningful to
the 21st-century Jew." ❑

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August 21 • 2008

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