'Kavana Shabbat' Morning Service & Goodbye for Isaac Healey - September

Kavanah Shabbat: let’s try it out

You are invited to experiment with us in how we mark shabbat morning. This is the first of our experimental monthly Kavanah (intentional) Shabbat. Here’s the back story:

Once upon a time, before anyone had even thought about writing a siddur (prayerbook), the customs developed for Jews to recite various blessings to mark the different body postures and practices in the morning. We are also taught in the mishnah that the ‘pious ones of old’ would meditate for an hour before they began to pray. As siddurim began to be written down the first of these were written down as Birkat HaShachar (dawn/morning blessings) and the second was combined with the temple tradition of Psalm recitation and became the Pseukei D’Zimra (Verses of Song). 

Kavanah Shabbat will attempt to integrate them again with a Yoga-stretching-embodied inspired Birkat HaShachar and chanting/meditation based Pseukei D’Zimra. 

We’ll begin the service at 9:30am and will be ready for the Shacharit service (from Baruchu/Call to Prayer) at 10:30am. You’re invited to join for this creative beginning part or come along at our usual start time of 10:30am.By starting early we can finish early - giving us time after Kiddush for our in depth Torah parsha/portion learning from 12:30 - 13:25. Our Torah learning will continue exploring how the tensions discussed by the classical Torah-commentaries echo with the tensions we experience in our own lives.

9:30 Welcome; Birkat HaShachar/Morning Blessings in our body; Pseukei D’Zimra/Verses of Song in chant and silence

10:30 Baruchu - Shacharit

12:00 Kiddush followed by...

12:30 - 13:25 learning

We'll also be marking the graduation and new adventures of Isaac Healey, son of Anne Kinderlerer, as he leaves home and explores new horizons, as well as the birthdays of Builders Jonathan Karas and Ed Teeger.

If you would like to celebrate a simcha or life event with the community on this Shabbat, please contact rabbidaniel@rjuk.org.