S/O Why is there such a shortage of seats in shul?

Bnei Berak 10

Mon, Mar 21 2022, 3:51 pm

amother [ Clear ] wrote:

the best option is probably to have multiple megillah readings possible at people's houses in addition to in the shuls... we have that in my community. personally I go to a private reading for an elderly women, no little kids, enough chairs Wink

....

in terms of space I know one shul that supposedly the first shabbos after it was built they looked around and thought, hm maybe we should have built it bigger.

Yes yes yes. Multiple megillah readings.

amother

Kiwi

Mon, Mar 21 2022, 3:53 pm

This was the very first time I've seen this happen in our shul. It has a very large spacious ezras nashim that is usually comfortably full when there is a simcha. My husband is very involved in the shul and over the years we've worked on making sure there are enough chairs and siddurim / chumashim to accommodate the ladies even if there are more than usual. But for the evening megillah reading this year it was packed. Overflowing. I was shocked. It seemed like all of the women and girls in the neighborhood (who are not regulars) attended. I am going to advocate that a section of the men's area is cordoned off for women next year. None of the teens who attend shul regularly (and should happily do so!) should be put in a position where they have to stand for megillah reading. Whether you like it or not, it really impacts their attitude toward mitzvos and shul in general. They should feel comfortable and not resentful in any way. The men should squish a little more to make this happen. I am going to advocate heavily. And I appreciate all of the dialogue here; whether I agreed with everyone's opinions or not is another story, but the awareness that the conversation brought was very valuable.

amother

Apricot

Tue, Mar 22 2022, 11:57 am

Like everyone else said, these are women who are bringing their kids to the earliest, most convenient megillah reading. If they’d go an hour later or to a more out of the way location there would be plenty of seats. But the shtiebel on the corner that their husband won’t Daven in can’t suddenly accommodate them and their 4 daughters and 2 little boys for megillah.

amother

Apricot

Tue, Mar 22 2022, 11:58 am

amother [ Kiwi ] wrote:

That’s very nice of you. Another thing you can do is have some chairs reserved for regular congregants to sit so that they don’t need to worry about their sears being taken.

amother

Seafoam

Tue, Mar 22 2022, 12:36 pm

amother [ Kiwi ] wrote:

Assuming you're in the US, the clocks changing before Purim made a lot of people more reluctant to go to a later reading if they had a choice. Add on that many people who didn't feel comfortable going to shul last year and were excited to go this year. Of course, communities also grow.

amother

Narcissus

Tue, Mar 22 2022, 1:39 pm

amother [ Apricot ] wrote:

That’s very nice of you. Another thing you can do is have some chairs reserved for regular congregants to sit so that they don’t need to worry about their sears being taken.

I have a designated paid for seat in shul. If someone is sitting there when I get to megilla reading, I kindly ask them to get up. No matter their age and stage. There are signs posted in the ezras nashim not to sit down on someone's designated seat.