KERUV KORNER

“Keruv” = Hebrew for “to draw closer”

It seems appropriate that Shavuot, the holiday that celebrates Revelation, should come in the same month as Juneteenth and Pride Shabbat. All three serve to open our eyes to some of the injustices that persist around us and inspire us to do better. Jews understand what it feels like to be oppressed and/or excluded. We have a special responsibility to fight prejudice and foster inclusion in our communities.

Intellectually most of us recognize that there is strength in diversity. On the other hand, it is human nature to feel more comfortable with what is familiar and to gravitate toward people who seem like us. The Jewish people is extremely diverse and growing more so all the time, and yet our congregations often don’t reflect that. Minority subpopulations within Jewry, especially ones that were historically disavowed, need specific encouragement to feel safe joining a community in which they may not be heavily represented. Even within our own community, fellow Jews may feel alienated because they identify as LGBTQ+, intermarried, Asian, Black, Latinx, Mizrachi, or Sefardi. Perhaps they are not able-bodied or they may be different in some other way. The Keruv committee sponsors programs so that we can begin to recognize and feel comfortable with all the variety of Jewish identities that exists. Only then can we embrace one another - learning and growing together.

Toward that end, this month we welcome you to join us in awakening a spirit of inclusion. Sign up for Let’s Talk About It, a group that discusses the issues that arise with intermarriage. They meet four times a year and the next meeting is Tuesday evening, June 15th, at 7:30 PM. For more information, contact Elise Schepp (lcmoocow@aol.com).

Juneteenth falls during the Beth El Kallah weekend this year, so we won’t have a special program, but we encourage everyone to use June 19th as an opportunity to reflect on the ways the experience of people in the black community in the US connects to the experience of Jews throughout our history. How can our communities inform each other? If you missed the Keruv Committee event in October 2021, in which rabbinical students Heather Miller and Kendell Pinkney, two Jews of Color, shared their experience facing discrimination in Black circles for being Jewish and Jewish circles for being Black, you can watch the replay and read the resources posted at bethelnr.org/adult-programs/inclusion/. We welcome your partnership in improving this situation.

Shabbat morning, June 25th, we will celebrate Pride Shabbat. (See Ad.) Corey Friedlander, a Shliakh Kehilah at the Woodlands Community Temple, will talk about his personal journey and his efforts to help LGBTQ+ Jews find their place in the Jewish world. If you would like to have an honor that Shabbat morning, please let us know. After services, we hope we can all safely be together at Pride Shabbat Kiddush for the first time in three years!

The Rabbis teach that all Jews from all time of every gender, age and color stood together at Mt Sinai to receive Revelation. May this Shavuot remind us to all come together once more. Elise Richman, Keruv Committee

Once again, Beth El will be celebrating Pride Shabbat in person on SATURDAY MORNING, JUNE 25TH in our sanctuary. Please join us to celebrate our diversity and hear from the wonderful speaker, Corey Friedlander. Corey Friedlander (he/him) is from Woodlands Community Temple (WCT), a reform synagogue here in Westchester. He is a Sh’liakh K’hilah (literally “messenger to the community”), leading services, life cycle rituals, and supporting the community and clergy at Woodlands Community Temple. He has been a leader in the Jewish LGBTQ+ community for many years. He has graciously agreed to share his personal journey and varied experiences, including his experience fostering LGBTQ+ inclusion and comfort in Jewish contexts.

WE ALSO WANT TO HONOR YOU! Contact any one of us below if you would like to have a part in the service. Ellen Hollander: ellenarts@optonline.net • Marc Klee: mklee7@gmail.com Elise K. Richman: elisekrichman@gmail.com • Sponsored by the Keruv Committee.