After the rally on Tuesday, it is as clear as ever that our community is stronger when we come together. Another gathering of 290,000 Jews is not likely to happen anytime soon, but we can find strength even (maybe especially) when we gather in small groups, too. For decades, we’ve called these small groups a Chavurah. At Temple Emanu-El, that means a group of congregants in the same stage of life who come together for all sorts of occasions—most importantly, to create a place where everyone can feel pride in their Jewish identity. We’ve learned that we can replicate that warmth, pride, and love of Judaism when other Jewish families and friends are there for us.
Now more than ever, we want as many congregants as possible to be in a chavurah, and we have members of our Board of Trustees who are making it happen. If you click HERE, we will get you started with a chavurah right away.
In this week’s Torah portion, we learn about the blessing that comes when we gather together. We reread the blessing passed down from God to Abraham to Isaac, Jacob, and all their descendants: that we will be as numerous as heaven’s stars—a number beyond imagination. Though our numbers today are not quite as numerous as the stars in heaven, being in the presence of 290,000 Jews seems nearly as unfathomable.
Maybe you can picture it. For those who have been in a stadium like Mercedes-Benz, you can imagine 60, 70, or maybe 80 thousand people. For those who have been to a football game at Michigan or Tennessee, you know what 100,000 people look like. Still, our minds struggle to picture what such crowds of humanity look like. For those at The Mall in Washington D.C. this past Tuesday, you caught a glimpse of a fraction of God’s blessing. To see hundreds of thousands of Jews in one place is just that, a blessing. To be sure, we wish so many Jews gathered for a simcha rather than as a result of our sorrow; however, we must pause and recognize the miracle of our being able to join together as one community under one common cause.
May you find strength in our community, in a chavurah of like-minded Jewish families and friends, in the blessing of gathering together. In dark times such as these, we gain strength from the love we share.
Rabbi Max
