·
Arrived at Havurah service in the middle of a
song about 10 minutes into the service.
·
About 25 people were standing in a loose circle
around the edge of the room.
·
I stood by the door for a few seconds glancing
around the room, trying to figure out which book to pick up and recognizing six
or seven people including three friends from AEPi. Before I had picked out the book, a girl came
across the room and gave me hers, pointing to the transliteration where the
group was currently singing. Then she
picked up a new book and went back to her spot in the circle. It was a kind, welcoming gesture and set the
tone for my first Havurah experience—comfortable, accepting, and yet new,
foreign, separated by language. I can’t
read Hebrew quickly, so to sing along I read a language I don’t speak spelled
out in English characters. That’s a lot
of abstraction from the actual text. And
if I read the English translation, I couldn’t participate in the singing. So barriers to entry, albeit necessary ones,
will be something I’ll deal with in my ethnography.
·
The service was completely centered around
music. Many of the songs were actually
about singing to praise G-d, everyone sang along, people drummed on their
chairs. Some had beautiful voices and
they filled in with harmonies and added a lot of energy. But it had a communal feeling: everyone was
working together to create and sustain something at once fragile and powerful,
transient and transcendent. And I think everyone
could feel when it worked, when the group hit its stride, creating a moment of
dense beauty.
·
Someone introduced a new melody that was too
long for the group to learn. He ended up
singing the whole prayer by himself. He
was one of the two leaders of the service.
It seems they have two leaders for the two sections of the service each
week (Kabbalat Shabbat and Maariv).
·
Sometimes, a song would end and someone from the
group would dive right into the next one and everyone would join in. From the outside, it seems like there’s a
pretty natural system of direction and leadership in the group stemming from
everyone knowing what’s happening and being accustomed to the service and each
other. I wonder if the politics of the
group will be more apparent when I spend more time with it and speak to some
leaders.
·
I would like to speak to Lex, a friend of mine
who led tonight, but I’d also like to get the perspective of someone who goes
less often and doesn’t lead.
·
I am interested in how this group operates
within the larger Hillel community. Are
members friends with each other? Are
there cliques among the different denominations or are the friend groups not
dictated by which service people attend?
I also know the somewhat awkward feeling of arriving after the performance you are taking notes on has started, although perhaps I am simply applying my feelings to your somewhat similar notes. It's interesting that the service is so musically without gaps, as in my experience with religious services there is usually some set of speeches or talking to more directly convey some message. That suggests that maybe this service was based more on the enjoyment of the music, although you did mention that their songs were often about praising G-d (God typo?). All that being said, my experience with religious services is few and far between, and I would probably be better served hearing what people in the group have to say about the service. I am interested to hear how your interviews turn out!
ReplyDeleteI am also attending religious services for my fieldwork but at St. Stephen's church. I had a similar experience with the community being very open to new/visiting members. I think with religious music, it is interesting to investigate what the people in the group consider to be traditional and what is not, and how this may differ depending on one's background.
ReplyDeleteGreat intro point about the girl's welcoming gesture which set the tone for the event. I really got a sense of the human element from that, apart from the music. Particularly interesting, I thought, was your observation that there seems to be a neutral leadership level, and that anyone could really just start a new song after one ended. I think this leadership hierarchy (or lack thereof) would be particularly interesting to explore in more depth later on, possibly through interviews and more observation.
ReplyDeleteBen
Aaron,
ReplyDeleteJon, Hannah, and Ben already did a great job pointing out some of the things I thought were really great in your fieldnotes. You structure your notes excellently, alternating between observation, descriptions, and details to keep in mind for the future. It was nice to read that you enjoyed the service and found the music beautiful. Try to think about why it sounded beautiful to you and try to get to other participants' perspectives through conversations, interviews, and just hang-outs whether they think these songs sound beautiful and why.