ABSTRACT
The collective definitional situation and the limits it places on the shifting of involvements are always clear to insiders. Similar shifts occur between conversational sociability and prayer. Because of their frequency, such serial involvements appear to be almost simultaneous. If the shul happens to be filled with many mendicants, sociability among the regular members, which might otherwise arise during warming-up, is curtailed, and "involvement shields," designed to avoid solicitation, are raised. For the shul members, conversation during tefilah sheh be tzibbur is essentially an exercise in sociability. The participants in tefilah sheh be tzibbur are aware of these distinctions. The more prohibitions against being mafsik within a particular service, the more will sociability—and the conversation which carries it—be inhibited and hampered. The adroit participant in tefilah sheh be tzibbur learns to synchronize and adjust his activity with the changing contexts of the liturgical format.
