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The story is a familiar one: a group of Jewish immigrants arrived at a new land. Since making sure the dead get proper burial is a mitzvah (commandment) of the first order, the first thing they did was work hard toward owning a cemetery. Meanwhile, the recent arrivals were getting together as a community in rented space, or at the homes of some relative or friend.
As time went on, their numbers grew and they felt the time had come to build a building so that they could meet regularly as a community to sing G-d’s praises. Soon after, the building was up and became the center place of the community. One day, though, tragically, there was a fire. The building was gone. All that was left were ashes. It was the end of the central place of meeting as the community had known it. It wasn’t, though, the end of the community. They went back to meeting in the homes of their members, or in a rented space. The building was gone; the singing of G-d’s praises, however, continued.
For quite some time now, as Jews became an integral part of the societies in which they live, a new building has become the sign of accomplishment after a period of many years of effort and sacrifice. If we have a community building, then we have succeeded! Over the years, all of us have come to know beautiful buildings. Many, however, are filled with silence. People sit on the velvet chairs, look at the beautiful stained glass windows, but the song is gone. Why is it that nobody sings? What happened to the community? When singing and joy are not filling the building, the community is dead. The building becomes but a skeleton.
When my wife Sandra and I decided to start The Family Chavurah, we pledged to one another that there would not be a quest for a building. Not now, not in the future. The goal we set for ourselves is to create a community of people that are committed to their Jewish journey; people that fully participate in the joy of being Jewish; people who come with an open heart; people who will enjoy being part of a small, close-knit community; people who take responsibility for supporting one another in times of need; people who are not in search of a building, but in search of a spiritual home.
Jews and Judaism will go on only if our joy and our songs never end; only when words and melodies that come from our heart, elevate our souls to G-d.
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