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From the January 2012 Newsletter
The Schmoozefest
According to JRF Rabbis Shawn Zevit and Yohanna Kinberg, planning is one of the most important functions in synagogue life and yet it is one that is rarely addressed in a systematic way that promotes community building. The planning process is the framework within which policies are formed, budget and fundraising goals are set, and staff needs are projected. Planning focuses on the kinds of programs and services the congregation will be called upon to provide in the future.. Planning begins with developing both mission and vision statements for the congregation.
A congregation's vision of itself is not the same as its mission statement. A mission statement is a general statement of purpose at a particular time, whereas a con-gregationes vision focuses on the future aspirations of the synagogue. A mission statement explains WHY the congregation exists while the vision talks about WHERE the congregation wants to go in the future. Mission is present-oriented; vision is future-oriented. Vision is a necessary precondition for strategic planning. It is the sense of destination shared by the people who care most about the synagogue‘s future, its members.
As the first step towards re-envisioning Kehillath Shalom in order to meet the needs of our heterogeneous community, members of the synagogue worked on, and the congregation adopted, a new Mission Statement in 2010. This Mission Statement describes our basic synagogue philosophy and values as well as the goals of our participatory, egalitarian, Reconstructionist congregation.
With this Mission Statement in place, we are now ready to begin the process of creating a Vision Statement and working out specific plans to help us fulfill our synagogue mission. We need to create a plan that will help us decide what policies are needed and what activities and services are required in order to meet the needs and aspirations of all our congregants.
Although we have gotten ideas about some members‘ visions through responses to the Survey and Questionnaire that we sent out, we would like to hear specific ideas from as many members as possible as we plan for the future of our synagogue community. We need to know what function you would like Kehillath Sha-lom to play in your life and in the lives of your family members. In other words, what religious, spiritual, social, and personal needs would you want to have met by belong-ing to our shul? If those needs are not being met now, what specific activities would help to meet these needs? What is your vision for Kehillath Shalom?
JOIN US on 1/22 as we share our ideas and plan the future of our congregation. Babysitting will be provided. RSVP to me so we can plan for babysitters, refreshments etc. Evelyn Botkin
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MISSION STATEMENT Our name, Kehillath Shalom, means Community of Peace. A) We are a fully participatory, egalitarian, Reconstructionist Congregation, dedicated to the pursuit of a meaningful approach to contemporary Jewish life. Arising out of our diverse experiences of the divine, we share a commitment to cultivating our inner lives, and working together to help repair the world in which we live. Both as individuals and in community, we strive to deepen our Jewish spirituality and to help one another develop meaningful ways to explore and express ourselves. We are committed to maintaining a warm and supportive environment within which we can all find courage, strength and joy through our interactions with one another.B) We are inclusive and welcome members of diverse backgrounds, lifestyles, levels of knowledge and observance of Judaism. We value our heritage and Jewish tradition and share a history of questioning tradition, where need be, as we search for new practices to enhance our Jewish lives. Our doors are open to those who share our commitments.
C) In partnership with our clergy and other synagogue staff, we strive for an atmosphere of meaningful spirituality, vibrant study and creative worship and we aim to instill our Jewish values into every aspect of synagogue life. We encourage all members to play an active role as we join together to explore and define the unique path of this Congregation and we ask each to contribute his or her interests, talents and skills to our efforts.D) We are committed to social action as a way of putting our Jewish spirituality into practice. As individuals and as a community, we dedicate ourselves to the task of Tikkun Olam.
E) We believe, and aim to teach our children, that it is our responsibility as Jews to help heal the pain and suffering that we see all around us, and to work towards preserving the health of the global ecosystem upon which all life depends. We hope to help our children appreciate their Jewish heritage and to encourage them to love learning and to find meaning and joy in our tradition.F) As members of two civilizations, we are committed to both the United States and the State of Israel. We recognize Israel’s importance to the cultural, spiritual and physical survival of the Jewish people, and we support and encourage it to flourish as a home for all Jews based on a foundation of justice and equality for all its citizens.
G) We seek to partner with other members of the Jewish community as well as other faith communities in our attempts to create a more just and peaceful world.
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Operation Sheba
For centuries, Jews who called themselves "Beitah Israel" (The House of Israel), were isolated in the mountain highlands of Ethiopia. According to legend, Beitah Israel was descended from Menelik I, son of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. Another legend says they were the lost Tribe of Dan. Yet another says they are descendants of Jews who fled to Egypt after the fall of the First Temple in 586 BCE and eventually made their way to Ethiopia. Some people reject all these theories and hold that they are really descendents of Ethiopian Christians and pagans who converted to Judaism.
Throughout most of modern history, the outside world did not know of their existence. Beitah Israel maintained their isolation in part to protect themselves from persecution and forced conversion to Christianity or Islam. Living in thatched huts in small villages, surviving as subsistence farmers, these Jews practiced a form of Judaism based on the Torah, untouched by rabbinic teaching of later ages codified in the Talmud or Mishnah. Although their religious practices reflect their lack of contact with other Jewish communities, the Beitah Israel have kept the Sabbath and Holy Days and maintained dietary and other laws. The people preserved their traditions, faithfully transmitting them from generation to generation, largely through oral teaching of myths, stories and songs. Ethiopian Jews were known and accepted as Jews in the 16th century.
In 1972, Israel's Chief Sephardic Rabbi argued for their immigration to Israel as, once again, due to the political situation in Ethiopia, the people (also known as "Falashas," strangers) were facing a dire threat to their existence. The Chief Ashkenazic Rabbi agreed, telling the Ethiopian Jewish communities "You are our brothers, you are our blood and flesh. You are true Jews." Thus, under Israel's Law of Return, the Beitah Israel were entitled to make aliyah.
"Operation Moses" in the 1980s brought 8000 Ethiopian immigrants who arrived at a time of low immigration and whose entry into Israeli society, though difficult, was not as thorny as that of the 14,000 who came in 1991 as part of "Operation Solomon." Due to the threat to the community from war in Ethiopia, the Israelis authorized a special permit for El Al to fly on Shabbat. Over the period of a weekend, flying non-stop for 36 hours, jumbo jets with seats removed transferred over 14,000 Jews to safety in Israel.
If you can imagine yourself being transported to life in a mountain village
without running water or electricity, if you can imagine your lack of basic survival skills, lack of knowledge for finding food, making shelter, creating sanitary conditions, educating your children, coping with unknown dangers to yourself and your loved ones "some of whom may still be back home" then you can begin to imagine what these new immigrants faced coming to such a strange land as modern Israel a reverse situation just as alien in its modernity as what we would face transported to the mountains of Ethiopia.
"Operation Sheba" is a journey Kehillath Shalom will take with some Ethiopian Jews from Neve Yaacov in Israel. In partnership with our Ki Va Moed friend, Meira Partem, we are going to engage in a year of study with the Ethiopian community. By pairing children here with children in Israel and adults with adults, we will be able to study Ethiopian Jewish history and culture and teach American Jewish history and culture on a very personal level. We will be following a curriculum that will be developed by our educators, Dalia and Vicki, who will be working with educators in Israel. The Israel Committee will work with them, with Meira and with Merav Baruch, an educator of Ethiopian descent, to create a parallel program for adults. We envision lots of emails, video conferences, exchange of arts and artifacts, questions and answers, all aimed at getting to know one another in depth. We expect this to be a very special stimulating educational opportunity for our synagogue. We hope every single member of Kehillath Shalom will participate.
As we outline our project, we will be sharing information with you.
Judy Davis
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