Our core values

Charles Flum, President

Last month, I told you our mission statement: “Naples Jewish Congregation (NJC) is an inclusive, vibrant Reform congregation serving Southwest Florida. We embrace diversity, spirituality, friendship, learning and social justice.” It is within this framework that we have enunciated our core values as follows.

1. Kehillat chesed – we are a caring community

We provide a warm and welcoming environment where everyone is equally valued in our Temple family. We embrace the dignity of all people. Our community’s greatest strength and most precious resource is its members. We honor the range and variety of talents and experiences our members bring to the community and appreciate and rely on the support they give the congregation through participation and financial contributions.

2. Tikun Olam

We are responsible for actively and consciously repairing the world. We follow our faith that calls us to righteousness and moral engagement within our world. We seek opportunities for our congregants, clergy and staff to become intimately involved in activities that sustain our moral values. We support social justice projects because we believe in fulfilling our biblical mandate to repair the world.

3. Talmud Torah –we are committed to Jewish learning

We engage all communities in the study of the Torah. Through education and creative programming, we integrate Jewish practice into home and family life. We believe that lifelong learning begins early and never ends. We honor Torah, wrestle with Jewish traditions and beliefs including God, and engage directly with difficult questions of our age. We hold ourselves accountable to change as we learn and grow.

4. Ahavat Yisrael – we are committed to a secure and just state of Israel

We are committed to the safety and vitality of the Jewish people as well as to a secure and just state of Israel as a home for all Jews and its inhabitants. We affirm our special connection with the Jewish people everywhere. We have no consensus on political solutions or their philosophical underpinnings.

5. Tefillah v’Milraei Kodesh

We worship together affirming personal autonomy in our worship and observance. We encourage our members to worship frequently. Not only on Shabbat and the festivals but also at times of personal stress and joy. We seek to reach the highest and noblest in the human spirit through our worship. We affirm personal autonomy in our ritual observance. We seek to educate our members about our rich traditions so that they may choose meaningful paths for themselves.

6. Kavod

We value the respect that must exist among our members and the spiritual and lay leaders of our congregation. We honor the principle of “freedom of the pulpit.” We value the education and experience of our staff. We have an open governance structure that maximizes the effectiveness of our lay leadership.

Prayer in its many forms is central to our life as a community. We pray using language that speaks of God’s existence while recognizing that each of us, as individuals, understands God differently or not at all.

We are an American Jewish congregation, and we value America’s freedoms that have benefited Jews and Judaism while upholding Jewish values that spur us to protest policies and actions we see as wrong.

We encourage our members to increase their knowledge of Judaism, strengthen their Jewish identity and continually grow as Jewish individuals. We believe that sustaining an active and vibrant learning community strengthens our connection with each other and ensures our future as a people. L’dor V’dor from generation to generation.

If these principals align with your values, see our website at naplesjewishcongregation.org and come worship with us.