3 minute read
Keruv Korner
Dr. Bob Spector Shalom Chaverim,
What a wonderful time of the year- spring has finally arrived and Passover is upon us. Passover is a holiday that so poignantly reminds us of how our faith in God and ourselves can overcome attempts at the oppression and destruction of our people. Unfortunately, we cannot take our religious freedom for granted. As if the pandemic has not dramatically compromised our quality of life, our country has become polarized and our differences have become a source of hate, judgement, and intolerance (a disease every bit as insidious as COVID-19). Prejudices such as racism, anti-Semitism, anti-LGBTQ, sexism, anti-police, and anti-anyone who is different than me have not only been tolerated but have become acceptable by many in our culture. But I also reflect upon the social progress Congregation Beth Shalom has made since Chris and I joined in 1994. Women had recently been permitted to read from the Torah. The Keruv Initiative became part of the fabric of our community, eventually leading to our members who are not Jewish the right to vote at our annual meetings. We began to recognize the importance of inclusion of our special needs members by adding additional prayer/service/celebration opportunities. We openly accepted and embraced our LGBTQ community, leading to our clergies’ willingness to officiate gay Jewish weddings. We have begun collaborative relationships with our Muslim and African American neighbors. And most recently we, because of the pandemic, have allowed the use of technology for our High Holidays and B’nai Mitzvah. I understand that while for most of us these changes represent social progress, there are some who feel that we are compromising our religious integrity. These changes over the last three decades included rigorous discussions and debates by our Board of Trustees. The strength of a community is not that it always agrees, but how effectively it responds to disagreement. As Jews, we tend to judge ourselves and our own more critically than we do others. We expect more of ourselves as a Jewish community which in and of itself can be a good thing. Sometimes as a community we have fallen short of our ideals in the face of disagreement, but overall, I am so impressed and proud of the way we have moved forward as a congregation. I believe we can be a role model for others in our country. It is especially critical in today’s political climate that we are as tolerant of ourselves as a community as we expect of others to be toward us and our fellow Jews. As we celebrate our freedom from oppression, may we say a prayer that we as a community and our country continue to emphasize that tolerance, acceptance, and celebration of our differences should be the norm, and that we have the strength to become instruments of these values. As always, I welcome your constructive comments and feedback. I can be reached at cbskeruv@gmail.com.
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