Kesher Talk

Trying out new synagogues: My wife and I somehow rousted ourselves from bed early Saturday morning to attend Shabbat services at a new shuel, Adat Reyim. We have intended to start shuel shopping for a while now -- while there is no immediate need for us to belong until we have kids (we won't be working on that for at least a few more months), it would be nice to identify in advance where we might like to end up.

I must say that Adat Reyim might do the trick. It is not exactly close to us, being located in Springfield, south of D.C. However, it has a more relaxed brand of conservative Judaism than we found at Olam Tikvah, which swings towards conserva-dox. Both synagogues are egalitarian and both have services primarily in Hebrew.

However, Adat Reyim's service includes more explanations for newcomers--something which made initial visits to Olam Tikvah so daunting. Adat Reyim also benefits from a very friendly rabbi with a great sense of humor. Olam Tikvah has a great rabbi, who seems very nice, but has little humor to speak of. Oh, and while we are on the topic of speaking, his voice puts you to sleep, which annoys me quite a bit. If I wanted to sleep, I would have stayed in bed on Saturday morning!

Adat Reyim should also have the benefit of being a lot cheaper to belong to. Olam Tikvah costs a fortune, because it can and because it is expanding dramatically all the time. Adat Reyim is smaller, unaffiliated with the Conservative movement, and should cost a lot less.

Anyhow, there is no rush to choose a synagogue. But for now, Adat Reyim is at the top of the list.

posted by William @ 8/12/2003 10:28:12 AM