Independent minyan gossip column #1

• Mah Rabu's attempt to enumerate the independent minyanim of New York City fell short by at least two. The list should be expanded to include two minyanim that (unlike everything on the list so far) are neither in Manhattan nor in parts of Brooklyn that might as well be Manhattan. The Tehillah Minyan is a new monthly Friday night "partnership minyan" in Forest Hills, Queens. Brooklyn Experimental Tefilah has been listed in the NHC's havurah directory for a long time, but I hadn't heard hide or hair about it in almost 4 years in New York, so I figured it was defunct. Not so! This "Renewal havurah" is still meeting for Shabbat morning services in homes in Brooklyn neighborhoods such as Kensington, which I hadn't heard of before. Any more minyanim to add?
  
• Which minyan has become the unofficial NYC Jewish blogger hangout? Kol Zimrah! This past Friday's service and potluck included a large chunk of the Jewschool team (yours truly, shamirpower, Ruby K, EV, and Rooftopper Rav), as well as a small contingent from Jewlicious (Esther), plus Ariel from Blogs of Zion, General Anna from Live the Questions, Drew from The Last Trumpet, Ahavatcafe, and probably more that I'm leaving out.
• Also, Kol Zimrah has been Shteeblehopped!
  
• Registration has been open for the Kehilat Hadar Shavuot Retreat for over a week, and it still isn't sold out! Does this mean that Hadar has jumped the shark? Or that people aren't interested in receiving Torah anymore?
  
• Hardly. Hadar celebrated its 5th anniversary this past Shabbat. They did a show of hands to see how many people were present at that first service in an apartment 5 years ago on the same auspicious parsha of Tazria-Metzora. I certainly wasn't. (Kol Zimrah and Darkhei Noam might be the only minyanim whose first meetings I have attended.) I saw two hands (though maybe there were more). One belonged to a Hadar founder who no longer lives in NYC and was back to visit, and the other belonged to someone who is moving away this summer. The haters will allege that this high rate of turnover indicates that the new independent minyanim aren't building sustainable communities. To that I say, humbug. The turnover is almost entirely geographic. [Anecdotal evidence: All of Hadar's founders, and most people I can think of who used to go to Hadar and don't anymore, no longer live in NYC. Most people I know who were in the room and didn't raise their hand didn't live in NYC five years ago.] People have been moving into NYC, staying less than 5 years, and moving away for a long time, long before independent minyanim existed, and will continue to do so regardless of the independent minyanim's fate. But these independent minyanim are finally creating meaningful Jewish communities that meet the needs of these thousands of transients, and should be commended for this. If anything, Hadar's continued successful operation in the face of almost 100% turnover is a sign of its strength, just as the fact that I probably contain none of the same carbon atoms that I contained 5 years ago is a sign that I am alive. I wish Hadar another 5 great years, regardless of whether I'm living anywhere near NYC for the 10th anniversary.
  
• Finally, Mah Rabu is sitting on a big big story from outside the five boroughs (outside the fifty states, in fact) that is still embargoed. We'll be right here with the story as soon as we obtain permission.

Send your tips and leaks to mahrabu at gmail, and we'll be back with more!