New West End once again celebrates Shavuot with a traditional "Laynathon"

Lester Kershenbaum

It is traditional to celebrate Shavuot by combining the eating of blintzes with a good dose of the study of Torah. Once again this year, the New West End decided to have more than the usual Erev Shavuot programme of learning. Recalling an ancient tradition, on the second day of Shavuot, those called to the Torah for an aliyah read (layned) their own portion from the scroll rather than depending upon the Ba’al Koreh.

In preparation for this event, immediately after Pesach, and for seven weeks, we organised once-a-week "Learn-to-Layn" classes. From the outset, the objective was to have "graduation" on the second day of Shavuot with the eight graduates reading their portions on the day. Many of the students didn’t remember ever having done any layning before (certainly not since their bar mitzvah) and their enthusiasm was tempered by a considerable amount of scepticism. A similar programme was successfully run for the first time two years ago; but this year Shavuot fell on Shabbat and the reading is much longer.

The idea for the programme came from our Ba’al Koreh, Professor Lester Kershenbaum, Professor of Chemical Engineering at Imperial College. He said, "We have now run two very successful Haftarah Master Classes and produced 10 competent graduates who hadn’t chanted a Haftarah since their Bar Mitzvah, all those years earlier. So, we thought, why not take the next step and teach people to layn? And, what better time than during the weeks after Pesach and in preparation for Shavuot?" He was careful to add that this was not done in "parrot-fashion". "We taught them all of the notes (trop or ta’amim) during the first 4 weeks, and only gave them a tape of their individual portions in the last weeks of classes. But we abandoned the old-fashioned way of teaching (mapa’ach, pashta’ah which you may remember from your own Bar Mitzvah) in favour of a more logical and easier-to-remember technique."

Rabbi Butler was especially enthusiastic about the project. He said, "The last time we did this two years ago it was truly memorable - like having six Bar Mitzvahs in a single day - but this year with a much longer reading it is even more challenging. The participants then were, quite rightly, proud of themselves and so were their families. I must admit that I didn’t believe they could achieve that level of competence in such a short time. And it was a wonderful way to commemorate the giving of the Torah on this day. Especially since the tradition of each person reading their own portion from the scroll goes all the way back to Babylonian times and is still practised by many Sephardic (and especially Yemenite) communities."

Howard Morris (the Kohen of the group) said, "My son has been practising for his Bar Mitzvah later this year, so it was a matter of honour for me to be able to show that I could do it too!". Hayden Noble, the Levite of the group (with, by far, the longest portion to read) added, "I had never done any layning until I did the Levite’s reading 2 years ago; but this one is 5 times as long! I’ve been walking around for the past 5 weeks with my photocopy of the Tikun practising at odd moments and at odd places during the day. Now that the tape of my portion has appeared with only a few weeks to go before the day, I am inseparable from my Walkman. I hope my family can put up with it for another week." Michael Cutler, another novice said, "I am now 70 years old and haven’t done anything like this since my bar mitzvah; my dear father (olov ha-shalom) would have been so proud (and surprised)!" Mike Sarne, the Ba’al Maftir, said, "I had been telling Lester for years that one of these days he should teach me to layn; but I never really thought that I would be able to do it. I know that the portion that I read was quite short, but I now have the confidence to do a bit more – perhaps an occasional Monday/Thursday morning or a maftir the next time I am asked to do a Haftarah."

All eight participants admitted that they were at least as nervous about the big day as they had been at their Bar Mitzvah, but they felt that this effort could be developed into a revitalised tradition for Shavuot. And, in recognition and celebration of their joint achievement, they brought along several bottles of fine single malt whisky to serve up with the blintzes and cheesecake at the Kiddush following the service. That, too, might catch on as a new tradition!