At first glance, the religious services of the prayer group known as the DC Minyan appear to be of the standard Orthodox type.  Men and women sit in separate sections, and the order of prayer adheres strictly to the traditional Hebrew liturgy. Upon closer inspection, though, several discordant elements emerge: despite the separation of sexes, there is no physical barrier (mehitsah) between them, and responsibility for leading every aspect of the service is shared equally by women and men.

The Washington-based group does not fit into any ideological box. Beth Tritter, one of its four founders, sums up the basic aims: "serious davening [prayer] and serious learning for a wide variety of people, and lay-led." Those wishing to lead services, read from the Torah, or deliver a sermon have to demonstrate, or acquire, competence. "High-quality learning" is another feature of the minyan, which offers an educational program on Monday evenings to deepen members' knowledge of Judaism.

The minyan strives to bridge denominational and ideological divisions. Established seven years ago by Conservative and Modern Orthodox Jews dissatisfied with their respective synagogues, the minyan has worked hard to make its members feel at home.  Among its more noteworthy hybrid features is the insistence that a prayer quorum exists only when a minimum of ten men and ten women is present. (By contrast, Orthodox services require ten men, while for most non-Orthodox services the standard is a mix of ten adults of either sex.)

Though the DC Minyan advertises itself as welcoming Jews of all ages as well as all backgrounds, its members are, overwhelmingly, under the age of forty, with two-thirds between twenty-five and thirty-five. This, together with the absence of clergy, places it squarely within a larger network of over 60 prayer groups scattered across the country that have been created by and for young Jewish adults. Such "independent minyanim" have sparked a great deal of curiosity and not a small degree of anxiety among leaders of conventional congregations worried about the future of the American synagogue.

To some who take a longer view, the independent minyanim seem reminiscent of the Havurah movement of the 1970s, when numbers of young American Jews rejected the suburban synagogues of their parents in favor of small-group gatherings for study, prayer, and community.  Commenting on the parallels between then and now, the scholar Riv-Ellen Prell has also underscored the differences.  One salient difference is today's higher level of Jewish and Hebrew fluency, itself a testament to the organized community's investment in intensive Jewish education over the past two decades.

The historical moment is also different; members of today's independent minyanim are not counter-cultural types in rebellion against their parents or committed to smashing existing institutions but a generation that is at once self-sufficient and open to compromise. An example of the newer spirit is the DC Minyan's commitment to separate seating, an infringement on the principle of strict sexual egalitarianism that is maintained for the sake of accommodating the group's diverse population. In the present moment, pluralism is valued over purity.

Given the relative paucity of younger single Jews in many non-Orthodox American synagogues, it is no surprise that leaders of conventional congregations should lament the "defection" of the most knowledgeable to independent minyanim. But the case of the DC Minyan suggests a more complex reality. For one thing, according to a recent internal survey, three-quarters of its members frequently attend other minyans and synagogues. For another thing, like most of its counterparts, the DC Minyan is an urban phenomenon. As its members have children, they tend to move to areas with more spacious housing stock, there to join and to help revitalize conventional congregations.

It is much too early to predict the long-term future of the independent minyanim. For the present, though, there is good reason for older Jews to take pride in this phenomenon—a "triumphant story," as Prell puts it, "of day-school education and egalitarianism." There is also good reason to celebrate the enthusiasm with which serious younger Jews are continuing to make their own distinctive contribution to the evolving history of Jewish public prayer.

Sixth in a series by Jack Wertheimer on people and places fostering commitment to Judaism and the Jewish people.