Tikkun Leil Shabbat is an independent minyan or chavurah in Washington, DC, organized entirely by volunteer leadership and sponsored by Jews United For Justice, DC's local Jewish social justice organization. The name of the community is a reference both to Tikkun Leil Shavuot and tikkun olam. [1] Its primary activity is Friday night ("leil Shabbat"), but it also meets on Jewish holidays and at other times. Tikkun Leil Shabbat attracts upward of 200 participants on Friday nights. [2]
Like many minyanim and chavurot, Tikkun Leil Shabbat is not affiliated or identified with any Jewish denomination, and explicitly identifies as a diverse community, composed of "Jews from birth, Jews by choice, people committed to both traditional and non-traditional Jewish practice, non-Jews, and people exploring Judaism; LGBT and straight; people of color, Sefardi, Mizrachi and Ashkenazi; Virginians, Marylanders, DC residents, and people from other places; Conservative, Orthodox, Reconstructionist, Reform, Renewal, secular, and Jewish without labels; people with no formal Jewish education, Jewish educators, and people with all other types of Jewish backgrounds". [3]
The original Tikkun Leil Shabbat was founded in summer 2005 "as a summer experiment with no intention of continuing", but it continued beyond that summer as a result of grassroots demand, [4] meeting in participants' homes. [5] It merged in 2006 with the DC Reform Chavurah, keeping the name Tikkun Leil Shabbat for the combined community, and outgrowing apartments to meet in larger spaces. [6] In order to serve a diverse constituency, the merged community adopted a practice of having TLS services alternate between two styles: circle seating with musical instruments (similar to Kol Zimrah in New York), and row seating without instruments. [7] Both styles include the full Shabbat liturgy in Hebrew. [8]
Tikkun Leil Shabbat has a focus on social justice, and this is manifested in part through the d'var tikkun at each service. [9] In place of a d'var torah, each TLS service concludes with a speaker from a local organization working on a social justice issue, and over 60 organizations have participated. The d'var tikkun and follow-up emails from TLS include ways for participants to get involved with the organization's efforts.
In Judaism, a minyan is the quorum of ten Jewish adults required for certain religious obligations. In more traditional streams of Judaism, only men 13 and older may constitute a minyan; The minimum of 10 Jews needed for a meeting has its origin in Abraham's prayer to God in Genesis 18:23.
Tikkun olam is a concept in Judaism, which refers to various forms of action intended to repair and improve the world.
Rosh Pina is a lay-led Modern Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue that meets in the Dupont Circle neighborhood of Washington, D.C., in the United States.
A chavurah or havurah is a small group of like-minded Jews who assemble to facilitate Shabbat and holiday prayer services and share communal experiences such as life-cycle events or learning.
A shtiebel is a place used for communal Jewish prayer. In contrast to a formal synagogue, a shtiebel is far smaller and approached more casually. It is typically as small as a room in a private home or a place of business which is set aside for the express purpose of prayer, or it may be as large as a small-sized synagogue. It may or may not offer the communal services of a synagogue.
Shira Hadasha is a Jewish congregation in the German Colony neighbourhood of Jerusalem, which emphasizes a more expansive role for women in the synagogue. It founded in 2002 by a group of local residents, including Tova Hartman. Shira Hadasha's prayer service format has been adopted by a number of congregations in Israel, the United States, Canada, Europe, and Australia.
Partnership minyan is a religious Jewish prayer group that seeks to maximize women's participation in services within the confines of Jewish law as understood by Orthodox Judaism. This includes enabling women to lead parts of service, read from the Torah, serve in lay leadership positions, sit in a more gender-balanced format, and in some cases count as part of a minyan ("quorum") of ten men and ten women. Partnership minyanim began in 2002 simultaneously in New York and Jerusalem, and have now spread to over 30 communities in at least five different countries around the world.
Kol Zimrah is an unaffiliated Jewish congregation, also called an independent minyan or chavurah, that is based on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, in New York City, New York, United States.
The Germantown Jewish Centre is a Conservative synagogue and community centre located in the Mount Airy neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States. Established in 1936, the synagogue is affiliated with the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism.
Jill Jacobs is an American Conservative rabbi who serves as the executive director of T'ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights, formerly Rabbis for Human Rights-North America. She is the author of Where Justice Dwells: A Hands-On Guide to Doing Social Justice in Your Jewish Community and There Shall be No Needy: Pursuing Social Justice through Jewish Law and Tradition. This book includes chapters on tzedakah, poverty, health care, housing, labor, criminal justice, and environmental justice in America, seen through a Jewish viewpoint. She has served as the Rabbi in Residence of Jewish Funds for Justice and as the Director of Outreach and Education for Jewish Council on Urban Affairs.
Orthodox Jewish feminism is a movement in Orthodox Judaism which seeks to further the cause of a more egalitarian approach to Jewish practice within the bounds of Jewish Law. The major organizations of this movement is the Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance (JOFA) in North America, and Women of the Wall (WOW) and its affiliates in Israel and internationally, known as The International Committee for Women of the Wall (ICWOW). In Israel, the leading Orthodox feminist organization is Kolech, founded by Dr. Chana Kehat. In Australia, there is one Orthodox partnership minyan, Shira Hadasha, in Melbourne.
Bet Mishpachah is a non-denominational Jewish egalitarian worshiping community and congregation that supports a synagogue, located in the Dupont Circle area of Washington, D.C., in the United States.
The DC Minyan is a lay-led unaffiliated Jewish congregation that holds worship services and other events in the Washington, D.C. Jewish Community Center (DCJCC), located in the Dupont Circle area of Washington, D.C., in the United States.
An independent minyan is a lay-led Jewish worship and study community that has developed independently of established denominational and synagogue structures within the organized Jewish community. Some began in the late 1990s and most since the year 2000, though some are several decades older. These new groups often combine a commitment to halakha/Jewish law with egalitarianism, and strive to create worship services where traditional prayer can become "spiritual experiences".
Ruach Minyan is an independent minyan or chavurah in Washington, D.C., organized entirely by volunteer leadership and affiliated with Adas Israel Congregation. Its primary activity is Friday night services and dinner.
"Guide for the Halakhic Minyan" is a work published to provide Jewish worship groups, especially Partnership minyans, with halachic sources that support the participation of women in leadership roles in traditional worship services, including the reading from the Sefer Torah, Haftarah, and other special biblical readings, such as the Book of Esther on the Jewish festival of Purim.
Or Emet, officially the Minnesota Congregation for Humanistic Judaism, is a Humanistic Jewish synagogue and congregation in Minneapolis – Saint Paul, Minnesota, in the United States. The congregation is a member of the Society for Humanistic Judaism. It is a community of cultural Jews, secular Jews, Jewish humanists, and other humanists, united by a commitment to humanism and by respect and support for Jewish culture, traditions, and Jewish identity, and by those traditional Jewish values most consonant with humanism — tikkun olam, social justice. Or Emet embraces a human-centered philosophy that combines rational thinking and scientific inquiry with the celebration of Jewish culture and traditions.
Hadar is an educational institution on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The institute offers various programs to support the development of traditional yet egalitarian Judaism. A major component of the institute is Yeshivat Hadar, which offers both summer and year-long fellowships for students to learn full-time in the yeshiva setting. Prominent rabbis associated with Yeshivat Hadar include co-founders Shai Held, Elie Kaunfer, and Ethan Tucker.
B'nai Israel Congregation is a Conservative Jewish egalitarian congregation and synagogue, located in Rockville, Maryland, in the United States. B'nai Israel's mission is to study in the Jewish tradition, worship God, commit to social action, and address the needs of the Jewish people locally, in Israel, and worldwide. The congregation consists of 1,200 families.
Yeshiva Kesser Torah Rabbinical College of Queens is an Orthodox Jewish yeshiva located at 72-11 Vleigh Place, in the Kew Gardens Hills section of Queens, in New York City, New York, in the United States.