“Things in the women’s section were just dead.”
Kew Gardens Hills, June 29 – An attendee at Kehillas Shomrei Emunim voiced her frustration today after making repeated attempts to get the others in the women’s section balcony to show their collective enthusiasm with quick, sequential getting-up-then-sitting-down movements progressing through the group from one side of the balcony to the other, but eliciting no cooperation from those around her.
Shifra Eisen recounted today her efforts to get the rest of the women more actively engaged in the services. “It was the middle of the Torah reading, and things in the women’s section were just dead,” she recalled. “Nobody was even talking very loudly, which is atypical for our shul. The men, at least, seemed to be paying attention to the reading, or making a good show if it, anyway. But I couldn’t do anything for the men. I realized I had to do something up in the balcony.”
“Sometimes you have to take action, not just sit there,” she continued. “I swallowed my hesitation and raised my arms over my head while standing up, then sat down again a second later, and gave a look at the woman next to me. All I got was a look of surprise and confusion. A couple of more attempts and nothing, so I asked her explicitly.”
Eisen shook her head. “You’d think I’d asked her to convert to Christianity! Hasn’t anyone ever participated in, or even just seen, a wave before? The Mets play walking distance from here.”
Experts observed that the invocation of the Mets could demonstrate some of the forces at play in the episode. “The Mets, as usual, are underperforming this year,” noted commentator Wally Backman. “The frustration is real for fans, if familiar. You can sense the urge people have to cheer on something positive, to attach themselves to success. It certainly isn’t happening at Citi Field this season. Or in the Bronx. I’m not surprised that folks need to carry that energy in other parts of their lives.”
Eisen, for her part, aims to bring more enthusiasm to the women’s section, and perhaps the entire sanctuary. “I’ve got a whole list of suggestions for the board,” she gloated. “Hat day, Rabbi bobblehead dolls, jerseys – maybe an old-timer’s day, where we bring back past functionaries to run the service or give classes. We already have what’s in effect a Hall of Fame, with those plaques out in the lobby. The gabbai is basically the announcer, proclaiming who’s up next. You think we could get someone to develop a Jumbotron that complies with the laws of Shabbos?”
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