Buying a seat in shul for the yomtov davening

↑ chocolate moose ↓

Sun, Aug 20 2006, 1:10 pm

My rabbi told me that he needs to sell the seats for that amount b/c he is budgeting the gelt for the shul for the year. He also told me that he is going to sell out so he can't offer me a seat for less.

I understand....I just wonder where I should daven, that's all. a place that is affordable!

imaamy ↓

Sun, Aug 20 2006, 2:47 pm

I am curious do you pay membership every year for your shuls, or do you just pay for high holy day seats? Our family membership is $1700 a year which I think is outrageous, but seems to be the going rate. We don't pay for yom tov seats unless it is for a relative or friend who isn't a member. If we had to pay for seats too I probably wouldn't go, and our rabbi does go on nice vacations BTW!

↑ Motek

Sun, Aug 20 2006, 3:35 pm

mummyof6 wrote:

And I would certainly ask someone (nicely) to move if I came for shofar and found my seat occupied, no matter what their age.

Absolutely (well, almost, maybe not if the lady looked frail and 85).

The person saw an empty seat, so they sat in it. I've done that myself and I was ready to vacate it as soon as I realized that the person who had paid for it had arrived. Sometimes, they never show up. If you don't let your presence be known, well .... your choice, but I don't think it makes much sense if you paid for your seat and want it!

↑ chocolate moose ↓

Sun, Aug 20 2006, 4:20 pm

Does your "dues" include tution for your kids? Aliyos for your hsuband? Mikvah fees?

Don't forget, we pay all that separately.

Annie

Sun, Aug 20 2006, 5:09 pm

At our shul there's a "max out" amount for families who need a lot of seats. There's also a sliding scale for members, members extended family (my mother), students & children. There's always a seating chart, but they've never set up the right amount of chairs in rows being the same as the seating chart. For rosh hashana I usually split shacharis/musaf with a friend (I watch her kids so she goes, then she watches mine so I go, and we switch for the second day), so we just sit in each other's seats. Also, there's not as much pressure for me to get to shul for shofar since my husband davens vasiken and also is a ba'al tokeah, so if I miss shofar, I hear it when I get home.

At our shul, if it were a financial tircha for someone to pay for full seats, I'd imagine you could talk to the rabbi about it. I know that we've done that with membership dues and spreading them out or providing services instead.

↑ imaamy ↓

Sun, Aug 20 2006, 5:11 pm

Sara G, I'm not sure if it was my post you were referring to. Ours dues is strictly to belong to shul. Our kids go a school not associated with the shul. The tuition is over 10K per kid per year. Anything at shul, dinners, speakers, educational programs, is extra. If the kids did go to Sunday school there, and they don't cause their school is enough, that would be additional. Bar mitzvah tutoring will be extra.

↑ chocolate moose ↓

Sun, Aug 20 2006, 6:26 pm

Well, ImaAmy, I still don't understand it unless your congregation is mostly professionals and have a lot of cash on their hands; for me and DH (I'm a secretary and he sells insurance), once we pay for our living expenses, there's not enough left to use $100 of it for each of us for a seat for the davening!

As I said, last year I borrowed money for yomtov, which I can't do again.

↑ imaamy ↓

Sun, Aug 20 2006, 9:57 pm

So I'm still not clear--you can attend shul at no cost during the year (there are no dues) but you have to pay at High Holy Days? Is that correct? We live in a very high cost of living area of the country. I honestly don't know how most people afford shul here, but many give beyond the required dues. Many have less to give, and they don't ask for your tax return like I've heard many shuls do for reduced dues. I do know that in many other religions you are expected to "tithe" 10% of your income to the house of worship. How does your shul operate if there aren't dues?

↑ chocolate moose ↓

Mon, Aug 21 2006, 7:44 am

At the risk of you all thinking I’m cheap, let me explain.

I pay a lot of tuition for each of my kids. That alone more than covers my mayser!

I never got any family help, and I got married with wedding debt, credit card debt, and student loans. I do all my shopping in the hood and do not even own a car.

When I say I don’t have the $100 for a seat (times four); I mean it!

shopaholic

Mon, Aug 21 2006, 7:53 am

I understand Sara. Also, in CH, we have more relaxed kind of shuls, more like shteeblach so we don't usually pay membership dues. People come & go all the time. My shul is asking for $120 for the 1st seat & 100 for the next. That will include a year memebership becaus ethey are trying to raise $$ for the shul for a new a/c system & stuff. That's not including aliyos throughout the year.

Raisin

Mon, Aug 21 2006, 8:04 am

It sounds like a similar situation as with school fees. The schools and Shuls really need and deserve the money, but people can't afford to pay.

I don't think $100 is a lot to pay for a whole year of going to Shul, kiddushim (which saves you $$$ on shabbos lunch) etc.

Why don't you buy one seat and share with your dd, if you don't mind missing half of davening, or standing lot.

Or ask the shul if you can pay some money later on in the year, when you don't have so many expenses.

Or you could come to my shul. Very Happy

They don't charge for yomtov, but the charge membership fees (a lot more than $100)

↑ chocolate moose ↓

Mon, Aug 21 2006, 8:39 am

It's not jsut the expense of the seats, you know.

We also need a sukkah this year. The last time we bought one was about 9 years ago and it was custom made and cost $300, which was a fortune!

Now I see the cheapest ones are $500.....

LisaS

Wed, Aug 30 2006, 7:48 am

My husband is paying $100 to go to his davening of choice while I plan to go to Aish Hatorah which is free and doesn't need reservations. Plus their babysitting is better than what the shul offers. Of course we will make a nice donation to Aish.

SaraG, Hashem decides our yearly income on Rosh Hashana. May our tfillot be answered!

imashosh

Sun, Sep 03 2006, 10:19 am

Well at least for me I will be staying home luckily and dont have to pay these crazy prices,because I couldnt afford it anyway. With a almost 4 year old, 2yr and 8 mo would never be able to daven anyway. My DH told me though that it isn't even necassary for me to go since his tefilos are for the both of us and the family and what ever else I can daven at home is good but not necessary and since we are sepharadic women dont even have an obligation to hear shofar. Smile

shabbatiscoming

Mon, Sep 04 2006, 12:05 pm

imaamy wrote:

I am curious do you pay membership every year for your shuls, or do you just pay for high holy day seats?

in the shul that we are going to daven in on the yomim noraim, the seats, BH, are 90 shekels per person, so we could not complain at all.

on the other hand, we are not going to be paying membership just now as we can not have that money coming out of our bank account as of this point, so we decided to pay a bit more for the seats and not become members instead of paying a little bit less for seats and membership all together.

money, money, money......oh, how I wish that the world did not revolve around money:}