You might not expect guided meditations or group singing at a United Synagogue service — especially on the High Holy-Days.
But Barnet Synagogue will be putting the alternative in alternative service this year.
In parallel with its more traditional chazan-led service, it will be offering a “Discovery” programme as an option on the second day of Rosh Hashanah, and for the conclusion of Yom Kippur.
It is the brainchild of its new rabbi, Samuel Landau, who recognises that it will be “pretty novel.
“There is a perception that it can be difficult to have a meaningful experience in shul,” he explained. “Particularly on the High Holy-Days, we can get bogged down in the liturgy, in the tumult of words which do not necessarily speak to our hearts or to our lives.
“Rosh Hashanah is meant to be a transformational experience. It’s about what our priorities are and who we want to be. The question is: Does shul offer that?”
The struggle to connect to prayers is not a modern phenomenon, he observed. But hundreds of years ago, in medieval days, the service was refreshed by introducing new piyyutim — liturgical poems.
However, these can be hard to understand for modern worshippers, so the answer must be “something relevant to the 21st century”.
The Discovery sessions will be fully compliant with halachah but include various spiritual exercises, including meditation. Rabbi Landau pointed out the long tradition of Jewish meditation, which he has been teaching in a seminary in Israel.
He will also use group singing —repeating a song over and over like a mantra in order to “access the feeling of the song”.
And Dr Seuss will be among the authors chosen for poetry readings.
In another exercise, Discovery participants will be invited to “speak to someone they don’t know so well and share one thing that they are praying for in the next year. Then you will pray for the other person and they will pray for you.”
Congregants have been so supportive of Discovery that it will happen in the main sanctuary, while the more traditional option will take place in the hall.
Rabbi Landau, who will spend the festivals with his new community, is not due to return full-time until the spring.
