The Perils and Possibilities of Page-Calling
At a Reform synagogue service I attended a few years ago, the rabbi recalled his daughter telling him about Shabbat on her college campus, specifically that the Conservative minyan didn’t call pages. “Can you believe that?” asked the rabbi, incredulously. “Not calling pages? We will always call pages at this synagogue. We want you to know where you are, we want this to feel comfortable for you.” I smiled to myself, knowing that not very long ago, I was a gabbai (co-organizer) of a Conservative campus minyan that didn’t call pages on principle. It was never spoken, but always assumed - calling pages is a bad move. It disrupts the flow, it slows things down, it feels awkward. However, sitting in that service years later, I completely agreed with the Rabbi’s point. It can be tough to find your way around the siddur, no matter how big or small, how much translation or transliteration, or anything else that might be in there. So of course, calling pages is important for accessibility. But there is also what we might call “spiritual accessibility.” The service is a sacred container, held by a leader or team of leaders, in which true prayer might occur. The decisions of the leader(s) can help or hinder that process. Sometimes, calling pages can be like a needle to a balloon, letting the air out of an otherwise meaningful moment. Talking in between prayers can be jarring, or at worst, lead to a sense of “emotional whiplash.” My college minyan skirted this issue by using an analog flip scoreboard. Another Conservative synagogue I’ve been to puts the numbers on a big screen in the sanctuary. But calling pages can be additive. How can we use these moments to enhance not just accessibility, but the flow and feeling of a service?
Room to Breathe
My favorite part of singing together is the moment right after it ends. Truly! The liminal space between the song and silence holds so much power. It can feel like a buzz, like electricity, or like sweetness, or warmth. An energy has been created, and a deep breath allows that energy to enter each person. When we have stopped singing, the melody continues to vibrate, internally now instead of externally. This requires room to breathe. Perhaps not every piece of liturgy needs this space, but ask yourself - is this a moment that could benefit from time to sit and savor? Model taking a deep breath, and maybe even a quiet moment with your eyes closed. You might say, “let’s sit here for another moment,” or, “breathe all of that in.” This allows time for reintegration and coming safely down from an emotionally-charged moment before calling the next page and moving on to the next piece of the service. For example: “Let’s sit in that place of gratitude. [deep breath] We hold on to that gratitude as we sing psalm 95 on page 59…]
Doing the Actual Exercise
One of my favorite metaphors for t’fillah is the spiritual gym. Each piece of liturgy can be seen as working out a particular spiritual muscle. Just like you could use a piece of equipment without actually strengthening anything, it’s very possible to say the liturgy without praying (the end goal is also to build strength for when you leave the gym, but we’ll save that for a future article). Calling pages presents an opportunity to invite folks into the exercise of the liturgy. I often phrase these as invitations and questions: “I invite you to imagine a source of unconditional love in your life. Can you feel that love? We are loved by an infinite love, an ahavat olam. Page 92.” Notice how this is a bit different than saying “Ahavat Olam is about infinite love.” With an invitation and a question, you are opening the door for the pray-er to step into the world of the prayer, to actually do the work of prayer. They still might not, but you have made it more likely that they will. This can also be done in a shorter way: “Take a deep breath and invite a feeling of infinite love into your heart. Ahavat Olam, page 92.” One week, you might focus on a particular piece of liturgy and then only touch on it briefly the next time. Use your best judgment, especially since staying more or less on time is also important for feeling safe enough to be as vulnerable as prayer requires! (That also might be another article…)
Feeling the Flow
A main complaint about page-calling is that it disrupts the flow of a service. Indeed, I’ve been jolted out of a prayerful state by page-calling that lands like a thud more than a few times in my life. Instead, we can think of page-calling as the glue that holds the prayerful moments together, or as a thread connecting it all, turning a service from discrete moments into a cohesive journey. Page-callers can help this along by matching the energy of the just-finished prayer and moving the energy to the upcoming prayer. If we’re going from a high energy Mi Chamocha into a contemplative Adonai S’fatai, for example, it might sound like, “Wow, we celebrate and sing our song of freedom [gradually bring down voice and slow down] feeling connected to our community. From this sacred connection we call out, standing alone yet together, for the Amidah on page 84.” You can also sing the first few words of your page-calling in the melody that was just sung, or the nusach (musical mode) for that service. (Check out this video for an example).
So, page-callers, do not think that the spiritual moments are only in the music! You have incredible power to help folks integrate, reflect, explore, and really pray. All that, and they’ll know what page you’re on! Just make sure you and your co-leaders are all on the same…page :)
What are your favorite page-calling techniques? Comment on our facebook page and let us know!