[HANASHIR:10650] Re: Looking for Guidance...

[Ethan Leigh Bueno de Mesquita <mesquita...>]

Hi,

I like a lot of what's been said already. But I just wanted to throw one
more thought out there. I think some of the negative response to this
person's request has to do with him being a teen and so people not really
believing he is up to the job. If we want our teens to act like members
of our synagogues then they ought to be treated as such. Imagine if a
rabbi had written to this list and said, "a congregant came back from a
year in Israel, where she learned all year and led services frequently at
a shul in her neighborhood. She came back very excited about all this and
wanted to lead services for the congregation every once in a while. But I
feel a synagogue is a community and she has been a way fro a year, does
not serve on the ritual committe, has not been to Torah study, etc. So I
told her that she could only lead a service if she joined the ritual
committee, attended services at the synagogue for 3 months first, etc."
What would we say? I think we would say that any congregant who wants to
lead worship should be encouraged to do so with as few roadblocks as
possible. What is the downside of encouragine a congregant who wants to
lead? Especially a young one.

As music director, I think you have a responsibility to make sure that
your congregant knows the music and understands the minhag hamakom, but as
long as he is copetent and motivated, why not? Maybe junior choir isn't
his thing. And suppose it is ego (which it almost certainly is, in part)?
How many of us can say that we didn't get involved in song leading, at
first, because of ego. I think many many many a camp song leader fell in
love with jewish music and the idea of being the guy/gal with the guitar
at the exact same moment. Over time, and with maturity, the ego thrill of
song leading fades but the connection to Judaism remains. This teenager is
expressing his ego through Jewish leadership. I think he should be
encouraged.

Ethan


*******************************
Ethan Bueno de Mesquita
Ph.D. Candidate

mesquita (at) fas(dot)harvard(dot)edu
www.fas.harvard.edu/~mesquita

Department of Government
Littauer Center, North Yard
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA  02138
(617) 384-7303 (office)

"Can lack of bias ever compensate for absence of insight?"
        -Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel


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