From the Cantor - December 1999

If you happen to arrive at the synagogue an hour and a half before our regular Shabbat Morning service and you hear songs and prayers emanating from the Moise Chapel, don't be alarmed. You haven't missed your service. You've arrived in the middle of Junior Congregation, a community within a community. Junior Congregation is a special Shabbat morning service that meets thirteen times this year to enable students in the Alef, Bet and Gimel classes (4th, 5th and 6th grades) to lead each other in prayer. During the year, I meet with the Hebrew School for half an hour a week to teach and discuss prayer. Together, we study nusach (signature melodies for different prayer times), seder (prayer order and its logic) and the prayers themselves as well as their meanings. I am proud to work on a team with our Hebrew school faculty Malka Sutin, Dina Berger, Tali Glina, and Stan Berg. Their diligence ensures that our students emerge as comfortable, literate readers. As a result, Junior Congregation is a very real Shabbat service where students proudly bring their families to be led in song and prayer by their peers. Furthermore, the children make lasting social and spiritual bonds with one another. For our young members who attend Solomon Schechter Day School, Junior Congregation is also an active part of becoming B'nai Mitzvah. Our community grows ever richer through the commonalities of seemingly diverse educational backgrounds.

Next month I will talk more about the rewards of becoming B'nai Mitzvah as a process rather than a goal. In the meantime, like all services at Congregation Albert, Junior Congregation is open to the entire community, so you're always welcome to attend. Check the temple calendar each month for dates.

For nearly two thousand years, Jewish music and culture have taken its major influences from the communities in which we've lived. This is even more true of Hanukkah; which is not only a minor festival but conspicuously absent from mention in the Torah. Therefore, Hanukkah traditions are numerous and imaginative; for instance, a modern-day nusach can be borrowed from Handel's oratorio Judas Maccabeus (composed during Lent, during which time Handel was prohibited from composing for the Anglican Church). Hanukkah comes with the certainty of at least one Shabbat. This year we have a rare treat; Shabbat occurs twice during Hanukkah! Such a phenomenon assures us of two special Shabbat services this month. On Friday, December 3 we will have our Shabbat Family Hanukkah Service at 6:00pm with stories, songs and a presentation by HaShirah, our junior choir. The following Friday, December 10, our second Shabbat in Hanukkah service will be enhanced by Zamir, our adult choir, and by special musical contributions from our `tween-age members. Although this is an 8:00 service, it is geared to all ages. So join us during the Festival of Lights in order to add your miraculous light to that of your congregation.

B'shalom u-v'shir,
Cantor Jacqueline Shuchat-Marx

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