[Avodah] Shul Practices

[Akiva Miller via Avodah]

R' Joel Rich asked about guests in a shul where the guest's practices
differ from the shul's. I am bothered by the question, and even more so by
the responses.

What has happened Porush Min Hatzibur? What has happened to Derech Eretz
and simple good manners?

(Previous discussions here on Avodah have claimed that some poskim actually
hold that a visitor who davens Nusach Sfard should use that text even if he
is in the tzibur of a Nusach Ashkenaz shul. Ditto for responding to
Kedusha, so I will not discuss those particular examples.)

But:

> Would your shul allow a guest to say 13 middot aloud
> by Tachanun (if local practice is not to)?

We're not talking about a few words here, but approximately a whole page
worth, that the tzibur would be forced to say. It's not clear from the
question whether this guest is the shliach tzibur or not, but I think it is
safe to say that in my shul, a shliach tzibur who tries this would be
quickly informed of his error, and if it came from someone in the seats
he'd simply be ignored.

> Would your shul allow a guest to read his own Aliya?

>From your use of the word "guest", I am presuming that this was not
arranged in advance. If the guest had approached the gabbai a few days in
advance to make this request, I don't know what the answer would be. But it
sounds like the guest was called up, and at that point he asked the koreh,
"May I read it myself?", as in the story that R' Josh Meisner told.

I am horrified by the lack of consideration that this guest has toward the
time and effort that the baal koreh put into preparing the laining. In
RJM's story this happened on Rosh Chodesh, and I do concede that RC is by
far the most frequently read parsha of all. But the question as posed was
more general, applicable to any laining whether weekday or Shabbos.

I am particularly surprised by the reaction of RJM's rav, who <<< insisted
... that the next two olim also read their own aliyos so as not to directly
draw a distinction between those who read their own aliyah and those who do
not. >>> While I appreciate the sensitivity involved, I am really surprised
that this shul has such a large pool of people who can be called upon to
lain properly, even for Rosh Chodesh - literally at a moment's notice.

How common is this? Are there shuls where any randomly chosen person is
able to lain?

Akiva Miller
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