Four-shul Shabbat

We realized recently that we have only five more shabbatot in Jerusalem, and there are still many flavors of synagogue we have yet to try, so this weekend we went on a bit of a binge.

Friday night we attended services at the Bretzlaver Chassid shul near us. The room was windowless and the women were trapped behind a wooden lattice on the second floor. The prayers seemed pretty standard in both formulation and tune until we reached Lecha Dodi, when suddenly every verse was sung to a different tune, and was ended with a long series of "nay nay nays" and wordless singing. Many of the attendees began clapping and jumping, and at several points the congregation even broke out into dance. Once the twenty minute songfest was over the prayers returned to normal. The only other item of note at this shul was the surprising absence of Bretzlavers. Even though the venue was packed with people, only a handful belonged to the sect, and the rest were just wannabes and visitors.

This morning we ventured to the wealthy and beautiful neighborhood of Yemin Moshe, one of the first areas of Jerusalem outside of the Old City to be settled by Jews. The synagogue there had an amazing interior - ornately carved wooden fixtures, a high arched ceiling, lots of natural light, and views of the the Old City. The prayers were standard and the population surprisingly anglo, but the surroundings made this a real treat. Also the ridiculously delicious dairy kiddush following services. But mostly the architecture and art.

On our way to a friends for seudah shlishit we ran into said friend, who took us to a local shul named Yael (after the street after the heroine). This shul is small but nice, a pleasant little prayer-house tucked inside a residential neighborhood. We've been once before and were happy to go back. For ma'ariv a stranger came to our friend's apartment and asked if any of the males present were willing to help him make a minyan. Two of us went with him, and we were led to his house a block away, where a group of teenagers were waiting. We did our business and then made our way back.

The array of shuls here is fantastic, because there is always something different to try. Oddly, though, though there are many options, we still haven't found the 'perfect' one for us. Luckily we still have four more weekends, or sixteen services, to do so.