The Mission of Adas Israel Congregation
- to create a vibrant religious community through enriching Jewish study, joyous celebration and binding connection to God and Torah,
- to strengthen the sense of Jewish Peoplehood through active support of Jewish life in the United States, pluralistic Judaism in Israel and engaged concern for Jews around the world,
- to help assure the Jewish future by actively reaching out to families and individuals in our own community and by connecting the generations of our congregation in an atmosphere of living Jewish values through the practice of Tzedakkah and Tikkun Olam.
“Together we must maintain our commitment to fulfilling the threefold mandate of the synagogue as a Bet Tefilla; a place of prayer, a Bet Midrash; a place of study, and a Bet Knesset, a place of gathering.”
Remarks given at the Adas Israel Board Retreat, Sunday, April 28, 2002
by Rabbi Jeffrey Wohlberg The Jewish community in America and its institutions are changing. The members of the community are aging and the Jewish birth rate is declining. There is an increase in the number of Jews by choice as well as of those who are Jewish by patrilineal descent. Studies also show that ethnicity is fading as a point of identity and as a means for engendering Jewish values. At the same time, however, there is a search for spirituality and meaning. Thus, while ethnicity is weakening as an essential factor, religious identity is gaining in strength. In the middle of the last century Judaism was often translated into political liberalism and acts of social conscience. But as the liberal agenda changed and Jews moved up socio-economically, they often felt alienated from liberalism. The unanticipated resurgence of right-wing Judaism served to highlight the differences in emphases between liberalism and traditional Judaism, such as pluralism versus community, universalism versus particularism. Looking at the community today, it is clear that there are fewer who call themselves “cultural Jews,” even as religious institutions are gaining in strength and are well placed to help the modern Jew find the sense of meaning he/she seeks.
Among the challenges we face as a “religious institution” are how to make best use of the synagogue to meet contemporary needs and, at the same time, how to keep the synagogue from becoming a fee-for-service institution. Jews will join; how can we move them along the continuum of participation? How can we enlarge the core of those who see the synagogue as a life-long endeavor? While we cannot refuse membership to those willing to pay dues, we can emphasize commitment by highlighting the things for which the synagogue stands. There was a time when those who joined a synagogue were literally asked to sign the constitution of the congregation and a few synagogues actually read their constitution publicly, some each year on Shavuot. We want our members to know what this synagogue stands for. We would like them to take personal responsibility for its character as well as for the Jewish future.
We at Adas Israel have a wonderful, unique, and influential congregation. In many ways it is distinctive and unlike most other synagogues. Because of our urban location, we have attracted many singles, many families with young children, as well as Jews returning to Judaism. We must be attentive to their varied needs and try to integrate them into a single community.
Together we must maintain our commitment to fulfilling the threefold mandate of the synagogue as a Bet Tefilla; a place of prayer, a Bet Midrash; a place of study, and a Bet Knesset, a place of gathering. Here we worship, study, and create a supportive community. The mandate is to do all three of these, not just one or the other. We must speak to an older generation as well as to a generation which sometimes takes Judaism for granted, which can often regard services as tedious and not relevant. We must remain a “big tent” which welcomes Jews of many stripes while maintaining the Adas Israel character of liberal Conservative Judaism. We want to be careful not to create a pediatric style Judaism, one which is geared towards young children only, which they then outgrow after Bar/Bat Mitzvah. We need to move from ethnicity to spirituality, to make the synagogue a heimish community, like the tavern in the television series Cheers, “where everybody knows your name.”
We can begin to accomplish these goals by clearly enunciating the principles for which we stand as a Conservative synagogue and by clarifying our congregational expectations. These expectations apply to the leadership as well as to the membership. We must clearly state what we expect beyond paying dues. I suggest that we emphasize six areas of commitment:
1) Prayer. We should make clear that we expect everyone who joins the synagogue to attend religious services with some regularity, on Friday evening and Shabbat morning, during the week and on Yom Tov. We have many varieties of services and they are accessible regardless of how little one knows or how skilled one is. It is imperative to the dynamic of the synagogue that members know that we want them to make a commitment to coming to services so that prayer will be at the core of the synagogue and of their lives.
2) Adult Education. Those who join must understand that our goal is to have every member grow intellectually. Everyone should be encouraged to be part of the adult education process. If a member joins who does not know how to read Hebrew, he/she must be helped to learn to read. If they know a little bit of Hebrew, they can be placed in one of the next levels. Beyond Hebrew, they must move into other areas of learning such as structured courses in Bible, History, Jewish Thought, even discussion groups on Jewish current events. We must provide a structured base for education with a clear sense of progression. I suggest that we take advantage of those who are already involved in the educational process.
2). continued...
We should begin our education year with a kick-off day or evening of study with a major scholar to which all our study groups and all those involved in adult education come and from which they then go back to their preferred places of learning. We can choose a study topic for the year that everybody will use as a guide, or each group can study separately and differently, but by beginning together and ending together, we emphasize a sense of connected commitment. We should restructure our synagogue week, so that Monday night is Hebrew High School night, Tuesday night is adult education night, and Wednesday night is meeting night. In that way our adult education programs and meetings will not conflict and the leadership of the congregation can be involved in regular study. We might choose a book to read for the year or for a specified period of time, inviting the author to be one of those who kicks off our learning so that everyone will feel a part of the education process. It is not enough just to contribute to a sub-group in the congregation, learning in a group which meets away from the synagogue but never in it. We must create a program through which everyone feels part of the synagogue educational endeavor and contributes to it.3) Mitzvah. Every member in the congregation must know that mitzvah which is at the core of Judaism, has to be part of a Jew’s life. Each should choose a mitzvah per year to add to whatever else one is already doing. The mitzvah can involve a ritual observance or social action. The mitzvah should be identifiable.
4) Observance in the Home with Family and Friends. There are an enormous number of observances we can adopt, which will enrich our home and which will help us to establish and deepen friendships and personal relationships. Such observances can encompass conducting a seder, building a sukkah, Yom Tov observance, adoption of kashrut, welcoming guests to our table on Friday evening or Shabbat afternoon, tzedakah, the mitzvah of visiting the sick, comforting the bereaved, reciting shema at night on going to bed or motzi before meals. Thus our home becomes a mikdash m’at, a small tabernacle, in which we create an environment of Jewish joy and celebration.
5) Commitment to Israel and World Jewry. Each of us must be knowledgeable about what is happening in Israel and must contribute to Israel, as well as to the Jewish communities around the world. We must make communal involvement central, giving public acknowledgement to those in the congregation who lead community organizations for what they do, while encouraging each other to reach out Jewishly. Everyone must feel the mandate to be supportive of Jewish causes at some level.
6) Community. We must contribute to a sense of community and inner-synagogue harmony. Because of the size of the congregation, many are happy with diversity which is natural in an institution this large. But diversity in and of itself is not a goal. Unity must be the goal. It is helpful to have small groups in which people meet, within which they celebrate, through which they feel at home. And these groups must contribute to the larger congregation, enriching the intricate tapestry that Adas Israel is. Together we can achieve our goal of the synagogue as a Bet Tefilla, a Bet Midrash, and a Bet Knesset. This contribution to community must be planned and the activities integrated, people must be made to feel welcome and groups should evaluate their activities in light of this goal. We must create a cadre of “amateurs” in the original sense of the word, meaning people who are not professionals but who are models, who celebrate and share what is important in Jewish life, using the smaller groups as a springboard. In this way we will create a synagogue base which will radiate Judaism, which will provide some things but promote many more. We will create a synagogue in which we can celebrate our Judaism comfortably and naturally, learn to express Jewish values, and find God through our practice of tradition. We will be part of a synagogue which emphasizes personal growth, a sense of mission, a feeling of passion. Adas Israel will be a place in which God will delight to dwell and from which God will radiate into the community.
A Talmud sage, Akav’ya ben Mahalalel, taught, “Look to three things and you will not be brought to sin: know from where you came, where you are going, and before whom you will give your ultimate accounting.” From Akav’ya we learn that we must know the past, understand the present, and take responsibility for the future. Our mandate must be to do both, to live and learn, to live what we value while learning more. That which we live, we will take more seriously. What we learn teaches us that as we take on more responsibility we continue to grow as Jews.
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