Congregation Tikkun v'Or (Ithaca Reform Temple) warmly welcomes you to our services. Whatever your background or experience, and wherever you are on your spiritual journey, we welcome you! We offer the following guidelines to help make your participation in Jewish communal worship more meaningful.

 HEBREW "But I don’t know Hebrew/ don’t know the melodies/can’t sing."

Congregation Tikkun v’Or (literally, "Repair/Healing and Light") tries to strike a balance between Hebrew and English. We want to express and deepen our spirituality through sensory connection to our sacred language, but we also want to know what we’re saying when we’re praying. And we want to stimulate as much engaged and inspired participation as possible.

If you find you’re "lost," you can allow certain words or phrases  (in English or Hebrew)—words that resonate for you or that catch your attention in some way—to enter your awareness.  Let them become your own personal focus for a few minutes. It can even be just the sound of a word or words.

SINGING Prayer and song are synonymous in Judaism. TvO’s leaders use melodies from many different sources: TvO’s beginnings and previous leaders, the Chassidic repertoire, traditional prayer modes, the many talented composers of sacred Jewish music of our own time, and original or non-traditional melodies we want to share.

Please don’t concern yourself with getting things right or how you sound. You can "la la la" or "dai dai dai" along without words as much as you like. Join in freely.

Open yourself to what you hear. Use the sounds you make to express how you’re feeling.

Niggunim (wordless melodies) are spiritually and emotionally creative expressions of that which cannot be expressed in words.

We repeat some songs to encourage singing.  We also chant sacred phrases  over and over as a spiritual and meditative practice, a way to focus our attention and intention.

SILENCE Silence is an integral part of Jewish worship. Please use the silences to focus yourself, to contemplate words or phrases that you’ve just said, sung, or heard. Try simply to be with yourself calmly and clearly, to experience this special time that you’ve set aside from your usual routine.

For a few  specific parts of the service we ask you to please not talk or whisper to anyone, not move around, and not enter or exit.  These are the Amidah  (standing prayer),  Torah Service, and Yizkhor (memorial prayer for the dead).

CHILDREN Children are especially welcome. Our leaders and members delight in their presence at services.  We commend and thank you for bringing them.

It’s OK if babies and young children occasionally make some noise. We only ask you to leave the sanctuary if a child continues to be audible to the congregation for a prolonged period or seems likely to continue loud disruptive outbursts. It’s OK to nurse. To settle young children we suggest books, art materials, quiet games, and lollipops. Children who can sit for only so long can leave and return quietly at appropriate times.

QUESTIONS Please ask!  Ask leaders, members, committee chairs, board members.

Speak to us after services, or call or email.

THANK YOU for joining us!

  Have you ever thought about leading services at Tikkun v'Or?Or you'd like to but don't know how? Read here for more information!

An Invitation to Lead Services

Over the course of the last two years, congregant-led Friday evening services have added a wonderful new dimension to the spiritual life of our participatory synagogue. Over 20 members have led a variety of services that have taken full advantage of the revised Reform prayer book, Mishkan T’filah; revealed fascinating interpretations of Torah portions; introduced us to new melodies and reinvigorated old ones; incorporated readings and poetry from a rich variety of sources; and helped connect us with each other in deeper, more meaningful ways.

The Avodah (Worship) Committee invites each of you to consider leading a Friday night service. No special training or even a working knowledge of Hebrew is required. There are many resources available to assist you, including sample outlines of the service, the Reform prayer book with a user-friendly format that offers a wide variety of readings in English and Hebrew (fully transliterated) for each portion of the service, and several excellent websites centered on Jewish learning.

Creative possibilities and combinations abound. Families are encouraged to participate. For first-timers, leading with a more experienced member will help ease you into the process. Providing a D’var Torah (interpretation of the weekly Torah portion) is optional. If you are willing, we can direct you to websites such as myjewishlearning.com that provide a variety of readings and opinions on the week’s Torah reading and offer specific instructions on conducting question-and-answer sessions. If you are shy about singing, a more musically-inclined member can be easily recruited to help. You can devise a service that focuses on a specific theme or is entirely in English.

But let our service leaders tell you themselves:

* In the Conservative synagogue in which I was raised the congregation was kept at arm’s length from the worship activities. I love the idea of being able to roll up my sleeves and dig into the prayer book to construct a service that incorporates the melodies and readings that resonate most strongly with me. Having a partner helped ease my fears, and the congregation was so welcoming and appreciative that my misgivings quickly disappeared. And there were many helpful resources—the entire experience was extraordinarily uplifting and empowering for me.

* I have led services twice and enjoyed it both times in different ways. Leading a service with my son last summer was a joyful experience. We had fun working on it together and added a new dimension to our relationship. I was touched to find out how much the congregation has meant to him.

* Two years ago I led a service honoring Abraham Joshua Heschel's yahrzheit. It gave me the impetus to study more of his work. Integrating his writings into the service deepened my understanding of the meaning of our prayers and of Heschel's work.

* Leading services has helped me become more familiar with the Mishkan T'filah prayer book and more connected to the prayers.

* Though we live in a skeptical age, there are few things more meaningful than coming to a deeper understanding of the Torah. Engaging the community in thought and dialogue about its meaning is a rare privilege and a great delight.

* Leading services helped me appreciate the structure of a “standard” service. I had to make choices about what readings and prayers to include so I learned about balance. I also enjoyed going through our now not-so-new prayer book to look for readings. There is so much wisdom on those pages! And whatever initial anxiety I felt, I realized after my first time that whatever I did would be warmly received by those who came. So I was able to stop worrying about performing and instead find pleasure in stitching together an hour of readings, songs, and prayers that made sense to me.

If you are interested in conducting services in the coming year, please contact Judy Saul or call 607-256-1471.We would be pleased to offer suggestions for resources, connect you with a more experienced member, or help in any way to facilitate your participation.

Submitted by A. Hoffman 6.14.10 rev 6.15.10