Well, here I am, finally getting around to updating the blog. If you look around you'll see many new things here. I've updated the holiday dates, the Board members, and added a few articles. There is more to come. The calendar is not finished yet, so as of now all that is there is the next service which is this Friday! Rabbi Baroff will be here to celebrate Shabbat with us as well as lead the "Lunch with the Rabbi" on Saturday. Details of that can be found at the top of this blog on the right.
We have a lot in store for the congregation this year. My focus is on building community, and to that end I hope to have a lot of different social events to help us come together as a community. Not every event will appeal to everyone, and I know that. So if you don't see something that you think you'd like, please contact me or Andrew Levy and let us know what you'd like to do.
I would like to see us begin a havurah, or a few, depending on the wants and needs of those participating.
A chavurah or havurah (חבורה: "fellowship", plural chavuroth) is a small group of like-minded Jews who assemble for the purposes of facilitating Shabbat and holiday prayer services, sharing communal experiences such as lifecycle events, and Jewish learning. Chavuroth usually provide autonomous alternatives to established Jewish institutions and Jewish denominations.
Most chavurot place an emphasis on egalitarianism in the broad sense (of which gender egalitarianism is one piece), depending on participation by the entire community rather than top-down direction by clergy. However, it can help us fill our calendar for when Rabbi Baroff can't be with us, or to allow us to engage in some self-directed Torah study. There really aren't any rules for havurah and so we can create what we want and need.
We are looking at more tikkun olam as a congregation. Many of us think it's important that we take a more active role on this. There is already one project listed on the blog, (the pencil collection....scroll down to read about it.) But there will be more coming.
As with everything else, there won't be one single thing that satisfies everyone. But I hope we can come up with enough things that each member who wishes to be included can find a place that feels right to them. Of course, if you have ideas, please share them! You have a better chance of getting what you want if your wishes are known. And if you have a complaint, please let me know. I'm usually around and easy to catch up with so call me if you want to talk about something. I want to help, and I am an able listener.
We are tackling the by-laws and working on policies and procedures as well as job descriptions for the various positions on the Board so that when elections roll around again, people will know what each job is and what they do and perhaps we can get more of you involved which will, of course, help to add to that sense of community I'd like to see nurtured. We are also going to do something about our website and stay tuned for a Facebook page and an event to get some of you who don't know how to use Facebook up and running on it, it really is a great way to get "real time" updates on what we are doing as a congregation...even more so than this blog.
Because I'm President now, and also the blog editor...I hope to have more to offer and on a more consistent basis. I am deepening my study of Judaism to include the practices of the Orthodox and Conservatives. I may publish some articles that I find interesting which will likely be more strict than Reform but I offer them as something interesting not as a policy change. I do believe that lifelong study is important and one of the things that helps us connect to each other and G-d.
I look forward to getting to know you all better...and yes, I'm back in Panama City and I'll see you Friday evening at Shabbat Services!
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