The Havineinu Fan Club

In some siddurim, after the עֲמִידָה, you'll see a short alternate form given, consisting of the first three בְּרָכוֹת, a paragraph beginning הֲבִינֵנוּ ה׳ אֱלֹהֵינוּ לָדַעַת דְּרָכֶיךָ, and then the final three בְּרָכוֹת. I'd vaguely seen that in siddurim for years, but not paid it much attention until I met aviva_m, who used it as a stepping stone between not davening at all during weekdays, and davening, privately, the full עֲמִידָה three times a day. (All together now: "Pssshhh!")

Then, at Limmud Fest a couple of years ago, I came across the book Innovation in Jewish Law: A Case Study of Chiddush in Havineinu, by Michael J. Broyde. ( Discussion of halachic attitudes to הֲבִינֵנוּ )

Anyhow, after aviva_m and I had exchanged jokes about starting a Havineinu Fan Club, I got a mailshot from Vistaprint offering me what it called a free customised T-shirt (though it actually turned out to be a free printing on the front of a T-shirt; I had to pay for printing the back, the T-shirt itself, and P&P); so I used the opportunity to make aviva_m a Havineinu Fan Club T-shirt. (This was not during the Three Weeks; it's taken me a while to blog about this.) Vistaprint then offered me further discounts, so I used the same design to make myself a mug:

aviva_m points out that the Havineinu Fan Club ought to have more than two members—and that more people ought to be made aware that there is a possibility of a halfway house, if davening the complete עֲמִידָה seems too much to take on, or if time presses—hence this blog post.

( If you'd like a Havineinu Fan Club mug/T-shirt/whatever yourself... )

I'm not intending to keep a roster of fan club membership or anything like that—that would be taking the whole thing far too seriously—but I would be happy to receive a blog comment from anyone who would like to follow my example, or even just if it's tickled your fancy, to see if this is actually of interest to anyone apart from aviva_m and myself.