Barely made a minyan

 

My congregation always - always - makes minyan. Sometimes, for weekday minhah, it's close in the winter time, but we manage.

The other night we had a meeting to nominate candidates for 3 vacancies on the board.

This is a pretty big congregation. On Mondays and Thursdays we have 30 or more men for shareet; other days at least 20 show up. Shabat, of course, is THE day and a turnout of less than 60 would be a major surprise.

If you're new to this blog, my congregation is traditional Sefardi (mostly Moroccan with a scattering of other traditions); translations: Only men are counted in the minyan.

That's not to suggest the ladies stay home. The balcony usually is well-populated on Shabat, although rarely does a woman show up for a weekday service. (Occasionally one will show up for a gomel or with a special request for a mi sha'barak.)

But yesterday evening was a surprise.

We could have "made minyan" and there were five ladies present, but for something as important as nominating board members (with whom we're "stuck" for two-year terms), the turnout was nothing short of pathetic.

Apathy? Possibly. The session was well publicized, so an "I didn't know" is not acceptable.

According to some serving board members, the turnout was not surprising. The congregation has "shrunk" over the years - some defections due to internal politics, others do to dues (already the lowest of any established congregation - excluding Lubavitch and Aish minyans), and still others who found a minyan in their neighborhood (I have two within a few blocks of my home; the synagogue is 8/10ths of a mile distant, so on a stormy Shabat, the temptation is great to make minyan with the "locals" ).

I moved here to be a member of this congregation and, with dues "paid in full," I intend to get my money's worth - in other words, I'll make the trek on Shabat "no matter what" and I'll show up at other congregational events. My wife already is active in the Sisterhood (which means that on an occasional rosh hodesh I am "confined to quarters" or told to "go someplace and stay out" until late while the ladies "do their thing" at our house. It's not so bad; the Spouse prepares enough goodies to feed an army so there always are leftover munchies.

I guess we are burdened with too many people who are willing to let someone else make their decisions for them and then complain later. I don't think these people will show up for the elections, either. Maybe just as well.

Yohanon Glenn
Yohanon.Glenn at gmail dot com