Who we are as a community

As hard as it is for me to believe, most of our first year together has come and gone. We only have four weeks of Hebrew School left, Zayin class graduation is around the corner and lots of wonderful things are blooming in the synagogue garden.

We members of Congregation Agudas Achim are a diverse group.

It is appropriate that I attended the last of our four parlor meetings in late April and now it is time for me to report on what I learned about us during those sessions as well as over the course of this year.

Over fifty individuals attended one of the four meetings held in people's homes. At each, attendants were asked to reflect on the following questions: What brought you to Agudas Achim and what keeps you? How is this different from the community in which you grew up? What, if anything is missing for you at Agudas Achim?

The answers and subsequent discussions will be compiled. The leadership of the congregation and I will be looking to them for guidance as we begin to plan for our future. It is my hope that the parlor meetings were the start of a conversation - one that will continue for a very long time - and one to which you are all invited to join along the way.

Let me begin by sharing with you my initial impressions of who we are as a community.

We members of Congregation Agudas Achim are a diverse group:
- We have members who grew up in Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, secular and non-Jewish households.
- We live in urban, suburban and rural environments.
- We are parents of school-age children, empty nesters, singles, split and blended families.
- We are gay and straight.
- We are financially comfortable and struggling to make ends meet.
- We grew up near by and are transplanted from places far, far away.
- We love our culture and traditions, we are ambivalent about our culture and traditions and some of us are recovering from very bad experiences in the Hebrew Schools and Jewish communities of our youth.
- We believe in God, we don't believe in God, and the majority of us aren't really sure either way.

But our diversity, this wide array of people who come in our doors, is matched only by our commonality:
- We care deeply about our families.
- We care deeply about our community.
- We feel responsible for others in the world.
- We are committed to a vibrant Jewish presence in this region.
- We care that Agudas Achim is a welcoming and friendly place to all who seek to enter.
- We believe that educating our young people is a responsibility we all share.
- We think Judaism and Jewish traditions add a meaningful dimension to our lives.
- We want to learn more, know more and do more.
- We are deeply committed to the vibrancy of Agudas Achim and its place in our lives.

At the end of each parlor meeting I was asked to reflect on what brought me to Agudas Achim and what I am looking for. The answers can be found in the responses above. Your openness, welcoming nature, care and concern; your diversity of backgrounds but commonality of purpose; your sense of responsibility and concern for the greater good; your respect for each and every member of this community. All of these are the qualities that drew me to Agudas Achim. And all of them are the qualities that I want to help draw out and make manifest in the future.

Please come to our Zimriyah/End of year event on Sunday, June 2 from 9-1. We will honor the accomplishments of our Zayin class as they graduate, listen to our children's beautiful voices, take care of some annual business and celebrate our successful first year together with pictures, food, and celebration. Look for details inside.

With blessings for a joyful and abundant Spring.

Rabbi Elyse

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