At our Annual Meeting earlier this week, we reviewed the words submitted by community members that encapsulate their connection to Habonim:
History, the foundation of our community throughout our 80 years, one of strength, adaptation, hope and resilience. Learning and Torah Education, commitment to our community as Beit Midrash/Learning House, a place to deepen knowledge of mind, heart and soul through study of Jewish text and tradition.
Friends, a place of connection with people who know, appreciate and challenge you with kindness and love. Lox, a reminder of our community as Beit Knesset/Gathering Space for nourishment and camaraderie. Embracing, a space with arms stretched wide to welcome people as they are. Reliable, constant presence as Beit T'fillah/House of Prayer and community committed to hesed/acts of compassion and overall support in words and deeds. Gemutlichkeit/reflection of the ongoing influence of our German ancestry and essence as warm, welcoming and friendly. Sisterhood, a space of empowerment, leadership and commitment, taking ideas from conception to implementation. Warmth, a sense of affection and caring among community members. Community, coming together around values, practices, traditions and narratives, holding similarity and diversity sacredly under the wings of the Sh'chinah/the indwelling of the Holy One in the world.
These touchstones remind us that lasting connections reach past simply what we know. Our learning, whether of mind or heart, skill or spirit must somehow bind us to one another with a sense of devotion. As Martha C. Nussbaum writes ...attachments to good principles, and even abstract principle dependent emotions, are not sufficient to motivate people to make big sacrifices (Teaching Patriotism: Love and Critical Freedom). Adherence to community and
commitment to building - seeding roots, stretching forth branches and nurturing blossoms - must move us to a place where we are willing to sacrifice for one another. Common examples of such commitment are wearing masks outside, uncomfortable for some yet good for others in the world around us and ourselves, and joining the prayer service, not always convenient yet crucial to helping ensure we have sufficient presence for those remembering loved ones who have died. Both of these examples call on us to look past ourselves (even as they meet personal needs) and be moved to ignite a fire within that catalyzes action and engages transformative experience.
In this week's double parasha Hukkat/Balak, we find the beautiful blessing with which we open our prayer services, ma tovu ohalecha Ya'akov/how wonderful are your tents, Jacob; mishk'notecha Yisrael/your places of holy dwelling, Israel. Even and especially in these corona times, Congregation Habonim stands as a sanctuary of movable tents, primed to adapt and adjust to welcome one another not as we each want in every moment, but as we must to create Holy space that honors the sanctity of our gathering and our gatherings with love.
As we enter a new year of commitment to Habonim, let us continue to expand our ability to know one another, to hear one another's stories, to reach out and to connect. Before Shabbat, call or email someone with whom you have not been in touch in a while. Reach out to me for an introduction to someone you would never have met. Expand your reach beyond 6 feet. Sign on for another year of membership at Habonim. May it be one of holy blessings.
Shabbat Shalom rg
Congregation Habonim 103 West End Ave New York, NY 10023
