18 October 2006
Simhas Torah in Baltimore
Whereas last year I spent Simhas Torah in Washington Heights, this year, I spent it at Beth Tefiloh in Batlimore. It was an interesting shul, to be sure. Although I davened on Shabbas in "The Minyan" (the kiddush after shaharis and before mussaf was clutch), I davened in the main sanctuary on the following day, especially to help bring some dancing and spirit (ruah) to the shul, along with a fellow YCTer. Interesting was that BT is one of the few shuls that has a kosher microphone system, which makes sense for the size of the sanctuary and number of people that attend shabbas and holiday services. It was a nice time. I should also mention that the head rabbi there, Rabbi Wohlberg (who mentioned that he had read my blog), is tremendously funny - so much so that I think he's the funniest pulpit rabbi I've met so far (although you can find a number of his sermons in pdf format, his humor comes through also through his delivery, so it might be somewhat lost on some). (I also wanted to thank Chaim (whom I had mentioned previously), who, aside from being one of two former Derech guys who were at the shul for a young people's hakafos along with myself, gave me some encouragement with the blog - so thanks.)
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3 comments:
how are these kosher microphone thingys supposed to work?
Not exactly sure, but it's through Zomet.
I don't understand how electricity is forbidden when it was not around during the Rabbinic period, while using a microphone, as hashma`ath qol, would certainly be, regardless of how the sound is magnified. Of course, dancing on a holiday is also forbidden based on the same shebhoth (and not the reason given by Babylonian sources), so I guess they are consistent with 2/3, yet how electricity is forbidden, legally, remains a mystery to me. Applying the old law to a new situation does not lead to a ban on electricity, while it would lead to a ban on a microphone.
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