Reaching Out and Welcoming Within

When someone new walks through our Sanctuary doors on any Shabbat, he or she is immediately greeted by a Temple Sinai member with a friendly face and warm welcome.  On an average Friday evening, it might be Judy Ferber or Rochelle Seltzer or Rose Mandelbaum or Jim Kaye or another “greeter” who stands at our door to make sure that visitors, guests or prospective members get a warm hello, but there is always someone.  You can count on it.  Our community is a living illustration of the ancient teaching from Pirke Avot 1:5, “May your house be open wide.”

It is now more than 35 years since the Reform movement established its outreach initiative, reclaiming for the Jewish people the “forgotten mitzvah,” the obligation to welcome and love the stranger in your midst (Deuteronomy 10:18-19).  Rabbi Alexander Schindler – may his memory be for a blessing – who was the brilliant, funny and warm-hearted president of the Reform movement, realized the importance of welcoming new people into our congregations when he founded the Outreach Department in 1978.  His directive was not only that we greet people warmly, but also that Reform Jews find concrete ways to welcome Jews-by-choice, interfaith couples, newly engaged Jews, and their families with programs and policy. 

Now, with the help of the URJ Outreach Department, Temple Sinai is among those Reform synagogues nationwide who sponsor programs that “invite people to make Jewish choices.”  These programs welcome people – all who wish to deepen their Jewish experience, Jews and non-Jews – into our community through learning and community.  This year, we will host programs that give a brief introduction to Judaism (the 3-session free “Taste of Judaism” course in March), help new parents explore the challenges of raising children in an interfaith setting (“Nurturing a Jewish Baby,” 2 sessions in January), and discuss the surprises, joys and concerns of interfaith marriage (“Inside Intermarriage” discussion in April).  And I am proud that Dr. Paula Brody, director of the regional Outreach department for the Union of Reform Judaism, will be with us on Tuesday, November 1 for an evening session titled, “When Intermarriage Touches Your Life.” 

In addition to this, our community has welcomed new Jews-by-choice over the past few months.  Their course of study is an intensely personal and spiritual challenge, often done in parallel with the URJ’s 16-week “Introduction to Judaism” course, and their journey generally takes no less than one year in duration.  It concludes with immersion in the mikveh (Talmud, Yevamot 47a-b).  At present, I am working with at least six different adult students.  These individuals studying for conversion make great efforts to integrate into our congregation, and I am proud that our members have warmly welcomed them in every way possible.  If you – or someone you know – may be interested in choosing Judaism and joining the Jewish people, I would be delighted to begin the conversation.  Please call me.

Also under the umbrella of Outreach is the newest addition to Temple Sinai’s efforts is our brand new “Rainbow Committee,” recently begun by members Debby Cohen, Janet Seckel-Cerrotti and Enid Shapiro.  This committee will explore ways our congregation can “develop Temple Sinai's warm and supportive gay-friendly culture.”  Contact any of them to join in this task.

Our congregation can also welcome both interfaith and Jewish couples by celebrating with them through a blessing at a Shabbat service just before their wedding.  I am delighted to call couples to the front of the Sanctuary and offer a modern blessing for them in the sight of our community, a variation on the traditional aufruf honor.  This becomes our way of celebrating and reaching out to them as a congregation, to show our desire for their warm inclusion into our community.  If you – or your child – are entering into a marriage, please let us shower him or her with our blessings.

Making our spiritual home open wide to all is a crucial, on-going endeavor.  Informal personal efforts and conscious synagogue planning alike are constantly required.  I encourage you to join our Outreach, Membership and Rainbow Committees, as we continue to perform these great mitzvot and invite Jewish choices in ever new ways as a congregation.

Rabbi Andy Vogel