When it comes to services, there is nothing new under the sun TB Berachot 34

Despite all the good that Sesame Street has done, I’ve read that some educators blame children’s short attention span to Sesame Street. The scenes and topics move very quickly one after the other without much reflection at all. I am not sure Sesame Street is solely to be blamed. King Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes, “There is nothing new under the sun.” (1:9) Today’s daf TB Berachot 34 shows that people have been complaining about the length of services forever.

Continuing on the subject of prayer, the Sages taught: There was an incident where one student descended to serve as prayer leader before the ark in the presence of Rabbi Eliezer, and he was excessively prolonging his prayer. His students complained and said to him: How long-winded he is. He said to them: Is this student prolonging his prayer any more than Moses our teacher did? As about Moses it is written: “And I prostrated myself before the Lord for the forty days and forty nights that I prostrated myself” (Deuteronomy 9:25). There is no limit to the duration of a prayer. (Sefaria.com translation)

And is not just a Jewish problem. Many years ago I adapted a sermon by Rev. Charlie Reeb, Senior Pastor of the Johns Creek United Methodists Church. Can you imagine if the Yankees manager Aaron Boone will received the same complaints people have about coming to worship that we as rabbis receive about people attending our services.

1.       The seats are too uncomfortable.

2.       Every time I go to an important game they asked me for money.

3.       The people sitting in my role didn’t seem very friendly.

4.       I was sitting with a bunch of hypocrites-you could tell they weren’t real baseball fans.

5.       The music was too loud and I never heard it before.

6.       The umpire made a decision I disagreed with.

7.       My parents took me to too many games when I was a kid.

8.       I read a book about baseball, and I know more than the coaches anyway.

9.       The games are scheduled and my only day to sleep in and run errands.

10.   Some games go into extra innings and I’m late getting home.

The bottom line of his message which resonates with us is: we find time for what and who is most important was. If something is a value in our lives, we will move heaven and earth to be committed to it. The question is: is worshiping God, studying Torah, and in creating a warm, welcoming, and accepting community a value for us? Are we keeping the main thing the main thing?