A treasure trove for future excavation

Charles Flum, President

A couple years ago, Naples Jewish Congregation created a Genizah.

A Genizah is a hidden place, many times a room in a synagogue, where books containing the name of God are stored. Since they have the name of God in them, Jewish tradition says they cannot be thrown in the garbage or burned. We had many outdated High Holiday prayer books for which we could not find a home. It was decided we should bury them.

Permission was obtained from the Unitarian Universalist church, where we meet, to bury the machzorim (High Holiday prayer books) on their land. The congregation was invited to the ceremony full of prayers and song where we put the books in a grave. Congregants took turns pushing a shovel’s worth of soil on top of the books. We all found this a very moving experience as no one in the congregation had been to such a ceremony.

Perhaps someday, someone will find the books and think of it as a treasure trove. Finding ancient Genizahas has been a boon to archaeologists, historians and scholars, as many books thought lost as well as previously unknown works have been discovered. The Dead Sea scrolls are considered a prime example.

This is one example of the different types of activities we engage in at the small congregation with a big heart. Another unique activity is Flamingle. Approximately once a month, congregants gather to partake in an activity. At a recent Flamingle, members were asked to tell a funny story about themselves. We then turned to telling stories of where, how and what happened when we met celebrities. A purpose of Flamingle is to get to know each other better. Another purpose is to do activities together. A few months ago, we took a guided tour of the Holocaust Museum in Naples.

Naples Jewish Congregation was founded in 1998 to serve the needs of reform Jews in Southwest Florida. We hold weekly services September through April. During May, June, July and August, we have services on the last Friday of the month. All services are at the abovementioned Unitarian Universalist church located off Pine Ridge Road at 7 p.m. We welcome all to the small congregation with the big heart.