Synagogues with empty-nest congregations often have a dwindling membership, as people begin to move away to be close to their children and grandchildren, move to a sheltered living complex, or pass away. The Hatzvi Yisrael Synagogue (more commonly known as Hovevei) is one such congregation.
Actually, in this particular case, that’s not quite true. While many former regulars have moved away or are no longer alive, there are four separate congregations that gather for services at staggered hours in different parts of the building.
The shrinking numbers are noticeable in the main chamber, which is the largest.
But last Saturday, most seats in the men’s and the women’s sections were filled. The reason that attendance was so much larger than usual was the presence of singer-instrumentalist Aharon Razel and Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion.
Generally, there is a roster system among congregants for leading the service; some have fine voices and do a very good job. But they’re familiar rather than famous.
Moreover, the person who leads Shacharit (morning prayer) does not continue with Mussaf (addition Shabbat prayer), meaning there are two prayer leaders. But Razel led the entire service by himself. It wasn’t just his voice but also his body language that drew attention. When he prays, it seems as if he is pouring his heart and soul out to God, and it’s quite an expressive and impressive sight.
Razel included a lot of Carlebach melodies and literally danced as he sang them, with the congregation swaying in time to the tune as he drummed his fingers on the lectern.
Rabbi Avishai Zruya cut short his sermon about Jerusalem’s struggle for physical and spiritual survival to give the podium to the city’s mayor – who didn’t get a chance to do much praying, as so many men came up to him to shake his hand and exchange a few words.
It’s a well-known fact that Moshe Lion wants to see a huge increase in Jerusalem’s demographics, which is why he is so preoccupied with urban renewal and why so much infrastructure for the light rail is being carried out in different parts of the city.
The long-delayed completion of the route to Hadassah Medical Center has finally resulted in trial runs, it was announced in the Hebrew media.
Nonetheless, traffic congestion during Hanukkah was appalling, and pedestrian lives were in danger as motorcyclists, ignoring the rules as usual, swerved from the roads to the sidewalks and whizzed along – despite the fact that there were many children and parents with baby carriages along the way – with no police or municipal traffic controllers in sight.
But back to the synagogue.
Lion was gratified to see the large attendance but even more gratified by the upsurge in aliyah to Jerusalem. “Who would have believed that so many people would want to make aliyah to Jerusalem?” he asked.
Lion, who has led part of the service at Hovevei in the past, did not lead the prayers on this occasion but read the haftarah prior to the kiddush following the service.
Marsha Wachsman, the congregation chairwoman, thanked all those people who had foregone their regular services to come to Hovevei. Afterward, her sister-in-law Susan Fried, a former member of the synagogue board, told her there should be more services like this because this one had been wonderful.
Much of the credit for the service’s success is due to Menachem Levinsky, the long-time secretary general of the congregation, who in less formal parlance could be described as chief cook and bottle washer, and who, with the assistance of his wife, Chanie, is in charge of arranging just about everything.
At the kiddush, congregants crowded around Razel to tell him how much they enjoyed the service, while Razel shared a story of a latter-day miracle in his family. During the Holocaust, the family hanukkiah had been taken by the Nazis. Many years later, it appeared in an exhibition and was seen by a family member who recognized it.
When this was pointed out to the museum curator, naturally the individual was asked, “How do you know?” He replied that there was a chip at a certain part of the base that had never been repaired. On inspection, the exhibit conformed with this description, and the hanukkiah was returned to its rightful owners.
Freedom of movement under threat in Jerusalem
■ SOME 16 YEARS ago, when Ehud Olmert was prime minister, a decision was made to build a new Prime Minister’s Residence in a non-residential area.
Plans were drawn up and approved and subsequently scuttled by Benjamin Netanyahu on the grounds that the project was too expensive – so the whole process was started again from scratch. But the subsequent plan, which called for construction in the Jerusalem Gateway area, was disapproved by the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) because it was surrounded by taller building and was therefore a security risk.
It was then decided that the new residence would become part of the existing prime minister’s office because the building is not in a residential area, and all the safety requirements were in place. After Likud was defeated in the Knesset election, Netanyahu and his family vacated the Prime Minister’s Residence in July 2021 to move into their private apartment on Aza Road some five minutes’ walk away.
Neither Naftali Bennett nor Yair Lapid occupied the residence, and it was later gutted, but hardly any work was carried out for well over a year. Then in recent months, there was a flurry of activity, and last month signs went up in the immediate area advising that new rules for motorists and pedestrians were being introduced.
What may be a temporary fence has already been erected on the sidewalk on Smolenskin Street.
Freedom of speech is under threat, and now freedom of movement.
Which freedom will we be deprived of next?
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