Dateline: Anatevka. Location: a few blocks from the Grand Avenue exit off I-580 in Oakland. The villagers: about 200 of us, many dressed in costumes to look like Tevye or Russian shtetl women.
Kehilla Community Synagogue pulled off a tremendous event on Feb. 7, a “Fiddler on the Roof” sing-along. As soon as I saw the listing in j., I knew I had to go. And as soon as I saw (and heard) the fiddler playing on the sidewalk in front of the Piedmont synagogue, I knew it was going to be a special night.
Everyone got a bag of props to use during the movie, such as a replica of a Shabbat candlestick. We also received a plastic black hat, with a paper “wine bottle” on top, for the “bottle dance” scene.
And oh how the people danced — all over the sanctuary during “To Life!”
That on-screen lyrics were not available and that no song sheets were handed out were of little consequence; whenever the movie reached a song, the audience belted it out with gusto. For some numbers, the movie was muted in lieu of live performances; a lesbian takeoff on “Matchmaker” called “Match-dot-com” was hilarious, and a torch song “Far From the Home I Love” was moving.
Mazel tov!
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Is your synagogue doing anything to add vim and/or vigor to its Shabbat services? Fourteen months ago, the president of the U.S. Reform movement called on Jews to do just that, tabbing it the “Shabbat Initiative.”
In response to Rabbi Eric Yoffie’s plea, Temple Sinai in Oakland formed a special task force. After months of attending and analyzing their own temple’s handful of Shabbat offerings, task-force members are now in the process of taking field trips to other synagogues.
“We haven’t reached any conclusions yet,” said Piedmont’s Dan Fendel, a member at Sinai for nearly 30 years and a task-force organizer. “We’re seeing some things we like, and we’re seeing some things that show us that what we have at Temple Sinai is a lot better.”
Yoffie’s initiative primarily is aimed at reinvigorating the Saturday Shabbat experience, getting Jews out of the mindset that Shabbos only occurs on Friday evening. Makes sense. On Friday nights at my synagogue, the services lack vigor and I lack vim. That equals: staying home.
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I do go to synagogue occasionally, and on one recent visit, my rabbi was talking about ger tzedek, the rabbi’s requirement to turn away would-be Jews-by-choice three times to make sure they are sincere in their quest.
My first thought: Are you kidding me? What about all the Jewish panic over intermarriage and assimilation, how we’re dwindling as a people?
Three put-offs? Let’s reduce it to two. Slash it to one. Heck, why not even zero attempts to dissuade? (Wow, I can’t believe I’ve just solved the age-old dilemma of Jewish population decline. You can thank me later.)
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A few weeks ago, I was on an exercise walk during my lunch break. Knowing I’d work up a decent sweat, I changed into a T-shirt and slipped my work shirt into my backpack.
Halfway into my three-mile jaunt, I came upon a shop I never knew about: Bagel Bakery on Townsend Street. It was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up, so I bought a half-dozen (including one onion and two everything) and placed the boiled beauties into my backpack.
Thirty minutes later, I freshened up in my office’s rest room, put my work shirt back on and returned to my desk. Soon, I was like: Mmm, what’s that smell? Smells good but … holy lox shmear! It was me — my shirt — and force-feed me a Lender’s if I didn’t smell like an “everything” the rest of the day. Sure, some men prefer Drakkar Noir or Old Spice, but let me tell you, nothing beats eau de bagel.
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The day after the sing-along, I saw “The Reader.” Superb, and also a great line: Michael: “Is there a Jewish agency for literacy?” Ilana: “There’s a Jewish agency for pretty much everything.” Chuckles aplenty in the theater, especially from the j. staffer in the audience (me).
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With a revamped jweekly.com coming soon, Andy Altman-Ohr used this column to warm up his blogging skills. Reach him at [email protected].