I went to services at our partner congregation on Saturday.
Now, I've been telling everyone at our congregation as to how similar the services are - I've sat through one bar mitzvah there in the last few years - but this was the first time I've gone over to actually sit on a regular Shabbat morning and enjoy the services. (And for those who actually haven't guessed - most Shabbats, I don't end up sitting in a pew, but rather I'm playing greeter.)
So.. the services were like 85% the same as ours, another 5% close and... we'll have to figure out the other 10%. It was nice to just daven for once.
On the other hand, I have to say that it's beautiful how warm their congregation was to those of us who'd come to visit for the morning, and I felt very welcome. My wife came away from it saying that she could definitely imagine being there for services on the regular.
Point of humor though - my counterpart at their congregation grew up at ours. His mom and aunt were my wife's hebrew school teachers when she was little, and they came over to meet us when we were in the sanctuary. And his mom takes one look at me after I introduce myself and goes, "Oh, so you're the one my son's spending more time with than his wife lately."
I love these people.
Read more
of “A Week in the Life of a Synagogue Merger - October 26th”