TLS 6/16

This past friday we had the first post-merger TLS service with insturments. on the whole this noble experiment seemed succesful. I got there early to setup and that process went smoothly as a lot of folks came to pitch in. Called for 6:45, people started streaming in by 6:30 to be safe (amazing, right!?). By 7, Rob had started leading davening and there were barely any chairs left in the cocentric circles, though plenty of space in various configurations around the edges including some nice corner space, space to sit on the stairs, and to stand by the banister. I took a rough count of people just before barchu and it was in the high mid-eighties. A bunch of people came for the potluck as well. the total number of people there at any point was probably in the high nineties
or just over a hundred. kabbalat shabbat tended towards carlebachy and maariv, led by evin, tended towards reform. there was good energy throughout and folks seemed pretty receptive.
we were blessed to have lots of folks new to DC. I didn't know at least half the people there. i think that's good. It must mean we are still growing at a fast pace.
the speaker discussed the various ways habitat for hummanity changes lives and the ways we can be invovled. people seemed interested to know more, and hopefully will be involved. After the dvar tikkun we were running late so we skipped yigdal and went straight to announcement and then kiddush.
ethan continued his mastery of the announcements process. he generally focuses on upcoming TLS events and some aspect of the community. This week's aspect: lay-ledness. In a flurry of acting he demonstrated a variety of ways people could support the community by helping to cleanup, welcome folks, etc.
The potluck spread featured several enticing options. I brought about ten pounds or brown lentils, maybe a bit more. they had onions, carrots, and shitake mushrooms. i'll post the recipe on Two Heads of Lettuce later this week.
After dinner benching started and quickly turned into a large empty-middled circle. Someone who i didn't know led benching, that was nice. i am interested in figuring out how to not create the dynamic where the whole room turns into a benching space. i tend to think using part of the space that way makes it more conducive for folks to schmooze and bench at their leisure and makes singing much more pleasant as the folks who are singing toghether are more physically immediate.
People ate, drank, and appeared to--generally speaking--be merry. Good times. Another terrific TLS.