Jubilation - July 2013

THE JUBILATION OF INFORMED AND PASSIONATE DAVENING

 

Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Lord be Praised!

 

Envision a tent filled with throngs of the faithful. Seats and benches full of holy rollers. People ecstatic with, overcome by, pure joy in communion with their Creator. In American lore, it's called a revival meeting.  That's what one attendee at the 2013 FJMC convention said to me. He likened it to the experience of evangelical communities with leaders like Billy Graham.

 

I've got news. Jews were there first. Echoes of the past remain. The children of Israel danced at the Red Sea.  Our psalms refer to the joy of timbrels, harps, and to the power of thousands whogathered for sacrifices at the Temple for the shelosh regalim, the three pilgrimage festivals.

 

Then came the Baal Shem Tov and another revival of joyous reunion and celebration.  Scroll forward another 200 years. Where is this kind of spirituality and God-embrace found? In Jerusalem, thousands gather at the Kotel for Simchat Torah. Here in the Diaspora, there are places like Congregation B'nai Jeshurun on the Upper West Side of New York City.

 

And then there is FJMC. Every two years, the faithful brothers get together in one place for a week of living our mission, involving US in Jewish life. One of the hallmarks of these meetings is inspired ritual experience. There's one word for it. Ruach. Divine inspiration, the divine wind which fills the sails.

 

But if that does not resonate, think of it as the jubilation of informed and passionate davening.

 

The first experience is FJMC-style bensching, giving thanks after meals with a rousing BirkatHaMazon. On Wednesday July 24, Burt Fischman (aka Captain Ruach) led 500 of us singing at the top of our lungs, waving "ruach rags" and standing on chairs in celebration.  The fun was repeated, at every meal, for the next four days.  We gave thanks and we kept on giving.

 

Then comes davening. Every service with a Shaliach Tzibbur drawn from lay leadership. Hundreds of men singing in unison, filling the room with their voices, hearing and feeling each other in tefillah. Every service concluding with Aleinu.  The last two words, Shemo Echad, sung in natural harmony without any musical instruction or direction. Everyone just knows. The notes are drawn out. No one wants it to end.

 

Shabbat arrives on Friday. The music and dancing of Kabbalat Shabbat are overpowering. Many dance in the aisles. My feet are sore, my voice is hoarse afterwards. The next morning, we all share in davening, aliyot and leyning.  At one point, I experienced the physical presence of God.  At several times, I was moved to tears.  Such is the power of informed and passionate davening.

 

It is virtually impossible to encapsulate this experience with written words. But thanks to the magic of smart phone cameras, much has been captured for YouTube.  Take a look at the videos, being put up through Facebook and other social media.

 

To those who live in the normal synagogue world, FJMC joy may appear to be incomprehensible. How can people lose their rationality and become engulfed in spirituality?  And that is EXACTLY the point. It can and does happen, inside the FJMC kehilla known as convention.

 

This experience marks the divide between the chol and the kadosh, between the normal and the holy. Experience a Havdallah with FJMC men at our convention, or at one of our retreats - and anyone will come to appreciate how hard it is to let go and depart from the holy.

 

Every seven days, we get our chance. So the next time you have the chance to join in, to share, an FJMC Shabbat - grab it and hang on. It is a ride inspired by men who have come before you, all the way back to the patriarchs of blessed memory.  Hinei MaTov u'Manayim, SHEVAT ACHIM GAM YACHAD. Brothers being together.  That’s what it’s all about.  The joy of brotherhood.

Thunder and Lightning - July 2013

THUNDER AND LIGHTNING ON THE NORTH SHORE

 

 

It is early Monday morning, July 29.  The sun is trying to penetrate the foggy dawn.

 

Only 18 hours ago, an exodus of Jewish men left Danvers Massachusetts.  It was the end of FJMC’s 2013 International Convention.  After 15 years and seven of these conventions, I find myself again engulfed in the swirling mists of Jewish afterglow.

 

Three days ago, I had an unforgettable Shabbat experience.  There, amidst hundreds ofmen singing and dancing, the physical presence of God became manifest.  I felt the warmth, the touch, as close as my skin.  It enveloped me.  The connection was palpable.  Tears came.  God was right here.

 

Prayers and Pray-ers created a heart-felt chorus of davenners, singing in unison. The combination was irresistible.  As we raised our voices in prayer, words and music filledthe air until there was no room left for anything else.  And that’s when it happened.

 

That’s when I realized that we were acting out Kedushah, the angelic chorus.  That’s when I knew that the thunder and lightning at Sinai had come to the North Shore of the New England coast.  This was revelation.

 

This was every Jew in the room being present at Sinai.  This was the North Shore, transformed from the chol to the kadosh, from the mundane to the holy.  This was Klal Yisrael, all of us, all either living or dead, experiencing the gift of covenantal relationship.  This was knowing, seeing, feeling “Am Yisrael Chai”.

 

In the psalms of praise, Psukei d’Zimra, we recite Ashrei.  “Adonai is near to all who call, to all who call with integrity” (Ps. 145).  “I will praise Adonai all my life and sing to my God with all my being” (Ps. 146).  “Where the faithful gather, let God be praised…Let God’s faithful sing exultantly and rejoice both night and day” (Ps. 149).

 

This was FJMC International Convention.

 

742 days ago, the feelings were identical.  It was 15 Tammuz 5771.  Another, earlier convention had concluded in Costa Mesa California.  Jewish men’s hearts were full as they departed.  A Diaspora was beginning that would last another two years, until July2013.  It is always this way.

 

Two years ago, I likened the experience to a Jewish Brigadoon, that fabled Scottish village which re-awakens for only one day, once every 100 years.  Popularized in 1947 by two Jewish men (Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe), Brigadoon tells the story of a mystical experience which draws men out of their ordinary life.  It is a tale of separation and re-union.

 

Danvers was also a tale of two places.  Men came from communities all over the world.  They convened in a setting of magic, beauty and holiness.  Brothers dwelled together in unity for four days and nights of ruach, inspiration and spirituality.  The words of Hinei Ma Tov u’Manayim became real.

 

Bensching, saying grace, is a hallmark of these gatherings.  Over five hundred men and women sang Birkat HaMazon with abandon, waving their ruach rags, standing on chairs and giving joyous thanks.  Burt Fishman, aka Captain Ruach, inspired the crowd on Wednesday night.  And with the magic of modern technology, the joyous pandemonium was captured for YouTube.

 

As we approached Shabbat, the anticipation and expectation built.  Groups chanted “Shabbos, Shabbos, Shabbos is Near” in the hallways.  Kabbalat Shabbat exceeded all expectations, with hordes of us dancing in the aisles. Shabbat morning came, with three minyans from which to choose.  I attended the traditional service.

 

I had been honored with the Hamishi aliyah.  As I walked up on the bimah, Aren Horowitz came up to leyn Torah.  We’ve known each other for years, since I have family in Albuquerque NM.  We finished and then Al Davis took over as the next leyner.  I stood for a mishberach, and watched my NNJR friend read flawlessly.

 

Besides all the davening, there was just plain fun.  Buckets of it.  Karaoke on Wednesday night was capped off by the Mandell-Neustein chorus singing Hava Nagila.  Our Executive Director was caught on film, belting out “Under the Boardwalk”.  The International Kiddush Club reached new heights (?) with its Kiddu-shClub baseball jerseys and a giveaway that will make ripples at Saturday morning services across North America.

 

Jewish Men at the Crossroads was the theme at Convention.  A crossroads implies choice.  Go forward, turn right, turn left.  From the North Shore, from the place where thunder and lightning happened in the end of July, FJMC men will travel from a wilderness revelation back to their home communities.  Each one of us is part of the Or l’Goyim, transmitting the light of convention to our friends back home.

 

Shevat Achim Gam Yachad, Brothers Dwelling Together in Unity.  That’s the spirit of connection which makes FJMC so very special.   Ron Wolfson delivered a speech about relationship-based synagogue life.  FJMC men are the Halutzim, the pioneers, the shock troops, who are already leading the renaissance.

 

It is good to be a member of FJMC.  There are only about 720 days left before the mists clear and the next convention opens its gates.  I can’t wait.

Eric Weis

eweis@fjmc.org

7/30/2013