OCTOBER 21 • 2021 | 9
mourner’s prayer (kaddish),
women can lead certain
parts of the Friday night and
Saturday services.
Portions of a service that
under Jewish law require a
minyan, a quorum of 10 adult
men, are still only performed
by men at Shira Chadasha.
Men and women are sep-
arated using a mechitzah, or
divider, down the middle of
the room. There’s no separa-
tion of the sexes during social
gatherings outside services.
There are also Shira
Chadasha-sponsored social
gatherings and educational
events.
Last year, due to COVID-
19 restrictions, the group
hosted a Zoom ice-breaker for
students of all Jewish denom-
inations to meet and a virtual
Chanukah party featuring an
online game of dreidel that
raised money for charity.
Zuckerman, who serves on
the board of Shira Chadasha
as its vice president, is par-
ticularly moved by the com-
munity’s Kabbalat Shabbat, a
service on Friday night that
joyfully welcomes in the start
of the Sabbath with the sing-
ing of psalms.
Among the psalms is Lechah
Dodi, a hymn that greets the
Sabbath queen, a Kabbalistic
tradition that dates back to a
16th-century poet.
In fact, the Kabbalat
Shabbats are so spirited, they
attract non-Orthodox stu-
dents.
Edward Friedman ’22
was raised Conservative but
joined Shira Chadasha, he
said, because of the “openness
and passion that came from
the members. You could tell
people really cared.”
Friedman said that at
first, he was taken aback by
the division of sexes during
services. But in time, he said
he came to appreciate the
mechitzah, a multicolor cloth
of purple, blue and white, as
enhancing the spirituality of
the service.
“The mechitzah is really
pretty,” he said. “It does not
feel like it’s meant to isolate.”
As a sophomore, Friedman
volunteered for the board
and helped with marketing to
attract more students.
Some students, like Matt
Shapiro ’24, move back and
forth between standard
Orthodox services at Hillel
and Shira Chadasha’s.
“I agree with a lot of Shira
Chadasha’s beliefs about hav-
ing more participation for
women,” Shapiro said.
But he also grew up prac-
ticing standard Orthodox
Judaism and likes that style of
service as well.
“The abundance of options
at Hillel lets people find the
right fit,” Shapiro said. But in
the end, he added, “we are
part of the same community.”
Penny Schwartz is a journalist writing
on Jewish subjects and the arts. First
published by Brandeis University
Correction
In the article about Rabbi Aaron Bergman being presented
with an honorary doctorate from JTS (Sept. 30, page 21) it
should have said that Rabbi Bergman is the past president of
the Michigan Board of Rabbis. As of spring 2021, Rabbi Daniel
Schwartz of Temple Shir Shalom is the president.
continued from page 6
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