Jewish Prayer Services Held on the Long Island Railroad

To most passengers on the Long Island Railroad’s 7:08 a.m. trip out of long Beach going to New York, the 46-minute morning ride to work is a quiet blend of newspaper reading, friendly chats, card games and a few extra winks. To others, however, it is a religious experience. The unusual perception is the result of an experimental innovation which started Monday– offering traditional Jewish prayer services in the first car of the New York-bound train.

Some 20 men from communities along the line participated in the initial observances which are to be held each weekday morning through Oct.28. Torah readings will be conducted on Mondays and Thursdays. “I’m very pleased with our turnout and I hope there will be increased participation in the days ahead,” said Rabbi Noach Valley, spiritual leader of The Jewish Center of Ocean Harbor in Oceanside, who organized and led the service. “It was exhilarating, even though it was strange.”

Whether or not the gathering was “strange,” most passengers in the crowded first car seemed to either ignore the chanting and singing or to watch with silent interest. A number of daily card games continued undisturbed adjacent to the worshippers.

“I found it to be a very moving and inspiring experience,” said Valley who, like many of those who joined him, wore a tallith and tefillin. “The fact that commuters were doing what they do each morning lent a bit of the unusual to the unusual. One on looker came to me after the service and actually thanked me. He explained that he wasn’t Jewish, but felt we had done a very beautiful thing. I was touched.”

Others who did participate in the service agreed with the complimentary commuter. “It went very well,” commented Sheldon Englehard, 41, of Oceanside, an attorney. “This is,” agreed Henry Jacoby, 47, also of Oceanside, “an opportunity to say Kaddish (a prayer for the dead) for my father. My work schedule limits my participation at the synagogue.”

To Rabbi Joseph Braver of the United Synagogue of America, the experimental services offer. Jewish commuters “a built-in opportunity to set the spiritual tone of the day before they start work. “And to Leonard Seidowitz, 47, a greeting card sales representative from Oceanside, the “test run could help get similar services organized on other routes served by the railroad.”