Rosh Hashanah with a Different Accent

It’s still Rosh Hashanah, same prayers, different accent. 

Some of the differences drive the kids from their comfort zone:  Different friends to sit with, different pre- and post- synagogue meals, even the complaints about going to services are different.

We tested out two synagogues, one on each day.  One was considered reform and the other traditional.  While the reform service had a choir and organ, it was completely in Hebrew.  The Rabbi, a Member of Parliament, used the binding of Isaac as a launching point for her sermon on child abuse in the UK. 

The “egalitarian” traditional service had separate seating for men and women?

While the service is primarily the same, it is much more one sided, not terribly participatory, a lot of the Cantor chanting alone.  And when the congregation was asked to participate the tunes were all different.  I mean, completely different, not even Adon Olam.  I must admit, I longed for home.

And then the oddest turn came in the middle of the ceremony.  During the Rosh Hashanah service there is a lot of discussion of our King.  But when they say King, they mean, King.  Not the G-d from above, but the guy in Buckingham Palace.  So one prayer book, which was from the 1930s, had a prayer for King George and Princess Elizabeth, while the more recent edition asks for the safety of Queen Elizabeth and the Prince of Wales.

A whole new spin on Avinu Malkenu (Our Father, Our King).