Hello, friends!
It has been busy the past few days, wonderfully so. As you've read from Rabbi Larry's post, davenning at Shira Hadasha was an amazing new experience and I share his perspectives. As I davenned on the other side of the mechitzah, I too was struck at how quickly I was able to fall into the rhythm around me and be carried on the tide of collective kavannah.
My first Amidah recited in Israel brought tears to my eyes, and as I looked around the women's section from what began as the back row (by the end it wasn't as many more women arrived and chairs added), I saw other women, (a few, like me, wearing tallitot), who also were moved to tears at various points in the service. The expressions of faith were not self conscious, and though myself immersed in prayer, aware of the safety of the collective there.
The mechitzah fulfilled the need to daven without the distractions of others, and although children were welcome (and had another space to play and cavort), the women in the sanctuary were not consumed with caring for others in those moments, just with being present. This past Shabbat was a rare gift, to be sure.
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