I just got back from morning services for Rosh Hashanah at a very small, Orthodox synagogue in Boulder. There was something very good about this group; they weren’t obsessed with ritual forms like far too many of the Orthodox seem to be, but rather seemed to be people who just wanted to be together both for the liturgy and for discussing the ideas behind it. Prayer was mixed with discussion, and a great deal of singing and dancing. (Random language thought, not from today but relevant: The Hebrew word for ‘to rejoice’ is literally more or less ‘to be filled with song.’ The word for ‘rich’ is ‘joyful.’ Says something about the underlying ideas there)
Anyway, it was really all the things that a religious occasion ought to be — people there out of will and happiness, rather than out of some abstract obligation, and participating actively rather than just reciting from memory. Definitely a good morning.
And now, to get some sleep… 🙂
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