Most of my family is Reform, but I have a few relative who are Orthodox. One of them had a bar mitzvah celebration a few years back which was one of my few times attending an Orthodox shabbat service.
The rabbi’s sermon was on the topic of whether one ought to light chanukah candles or the havdalah candle first. It was fairly lengthy, discussing several conflicting opinions before the rabbi concluded that his congregants should continue doing whatever they were already doing.
This sermon struck me as an odd choice for a service that included a bar mitzvah ceremony. Of course, I’m used to reform bnai mitzvah where the sermon is nearly always focused on the bar/bat mitzvah, touching on themes of growing up, etc. I was told to expect that my relative’s bar mitzvah ceremony would be a relatively smaller piece of the Orthodox service than I was used to, but I was still surprised the sermon was so… dry.
I probably would have just chalked it up to “I guess Orthodox Jews care about this candle order question way more than I do”, but I know this relative’s family had some quarrel with this rabbi, and in fact they had invited a different rabbi to speak at the reception. So, does this sound like a totally normal sermon, or was it maybe a deliberate snub?
submitted by /u/j_one_k
[link] [comments]
Source: Reditt
