| rdfs:comment | - The genesis of Dorshei Derekh goes back to the Germantown Minyan, started in 1974 by Rachel Falkove, Michael Masch, and others. Shortly after its first meeting it moved to Germantown Jewish Centre. Its participatory, lay-led services, largely in Hebrew and including Torah discussions involving personal reflections, were part of a national trend of havurot and minyanim as alternatives to formal synagogue services. After various changes and reorganizations, these two descendants of the Germantown Minyan formed minyanim that continue today.
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| abstract | - The genesis of Dorshei Derekh goes back to the Germantown Minyan, started in 1974 by Rachel Falkove, Michael Masch, and others. Shortly after its first meeting it moved to Germantown Jewish Centre. Its participatory, lay-led services, largely in Hebrew and including Torah discussions involving personal reflections, were part of a national trend of havurot and minyanim as alternatives to formal synagogue services. The minyan grew and attracted new residents to the West Mt. Airy neighborhood. Within a few years, the minyan had up to 100 participants and divided into several minyanim, one of which was more traditional and one more flexible. After various changes and reorganizations, these two descendants of the Germantown Minyan formed minyanim that continue today. The more traditional group, dubbed the “206 Minyan” after the room in which it davvened (prayed), changed rooms and re-named itself Minyan Masorti. The other group, more open to liturgical creativity, met biweekly. Some new members allied themselves with that minyan, and the combined group began meeting in the fall of 1986, settling on the name Dorshei Derekh. This choice was clearly influenced by the Jerusalem congregation Mevakshei Derekh, a Reconstructionist-influenced community that was then independent (more recently affiliated with the Progressive/Reform movement).
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