Open for worship: New synagogue welcomes people of all faiths

New synagogue welcomes people of all faiths

Carolyn Cole (right) of Rogers passes the challah bread to Sarah Lennick of Allentown, Pa., daughter of Rabbi Robert Lennick. Members of the congregation gathered around a backyard fire pit for fellowship and s’mores following the inaugural service April 8 at the Community Synagogue of Northwest Arkansas.
Carolyn Cole (right) of Rogers passes the challah bread to Sarah Lennick of Allentown, Pa., daughter of Rabbi Robert Lennick. Members of the congregation gathered around a backyard fire pit for fellowship and s’mores following the inaugural service April 8 at the Community Synagogue of Northwest Arkansas.

Robert Lennick attached a mezuzah to the front door frame of a house in rural Lowell.

photo

NWA Democrat-Gazette

Rabbi Robert Lennick dedicates the new home of Community Synagogue of Northwest Arkansas with the placing of the mezuzah during the inaugural service of the synagogue April 8 in Lowell. Lennick said the synagogue is built on the philosophy of inclusion for people of all faiths, of all experiences.

photo

NWA Democrat-Gazette

Supporters of the Community Synagogue of Northwest Arkansas gathered in the backyard of a house in rural Lowell donated for the use of the synagogue. A donkey that brayed as the local service started reminded many of the sound of a shofar, blown to open and close special Jewish observances.

"This is the first mezuzah on the first home of our synagogue. It's an historic moment in our life as a worship congregation," he said to the 30 people gathered on the large front porch and stairs.

Definition

Mezuzah

A mezuzah is a piece of parchment (often contained in a decorative case) inscribed with specified Hebrew verses from the Torah: Deuteronomy 6:4-9 and 11:13-21. A mezuzah is affixed to the doorframe of Jewish homes, fulfilling the biblical commandment: “You shall write [certain commandments] upon the doorposts of thy house and upon thy gates” (Deuteronomy 6:9).

Briefly, the commandments say to love God, “with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might” (Deuteronomy 6:4) and that God will provide if one follows the commandments or he will become angry and punish if one serves other gods (Deuteronmy 11: 13-17).

The mezuzah distinguishes a Jewish home and is a visible sign and symbol to all those who enter that a sense of Jewish identity and commitment exists in that household. The mezuzah reminds Jews their homes are holy places and they should act accordingly — when entering and when leaving to go out into the world.

SOURCES: reformjudaism.org, judaism101.org

Community Synagogue of Northwest Arkansas

What: Shabbat services

When: 7 p.m. each Friday

Where: 512 S. Zion Road, Lowell

Information: (484) 707-0047

Christians joined Jews on the evening of April 8 for that initial service of the Community Synagogue of Northwest Arkansas and have come back for subsequent services. A charter for the congregation was signed just two weeks earlier.

"This synagogue was started by a dedicated group of people who felt it was time for a synagogue built on the philosophy of inclusion for people of all faiths, of all experiences, who are interested in the search for meaning," continued Lennick, rabbi of the new congregation.

"I think the key word is 'community,'" Lennick said. "And we're going to work very hard to live up to that highest meaning of the word."

Lennick shares that goal with members of the Community Synagogue's organizing committee.

"We want a synagogue open to a variety of beliefs and ideas," said Paul Stuckey of Bentonville, chairman of the committee. "It's a positive thing."

The progressive philosophy of Community Synagogue is offered as an alternative to organized religion, Lennick said.

"The problem with organized religion is in the organization," Lennick opened his sermon during the first service. "What we do with faith makes us ugly sometimes.

"But what kind of god does that," he asked. "God must be accessible in many ways. He's got to have more than one path. He gives us options and room even to be wrong.

"You don't have to believe in one way," Lennick continued. "You choose, but you must be willing to consider other ways -- not that you're wrong for not choosing.

"In 35 years [as a religious leader], I've learned if God is God, then he has to be diverse in his love."

Lennick likened it to the diversity of God's creation as seen from the back yard, where members of the synagogue meet when the weather is good -- the sunset, the trees, the fence, the fallen barn and even the donkey that brayed as the service began.

"We offer a humble approach to religion," Lennick said, noting the rustic surroundings and campfire with s'mores offered for fellowship after the service.

Candance Danbrose of Bella Vista -- also a member of the organizing committee -- searched for her meaning for many years, she said. She noted she became an atheist when she entered college, but many years later she converted to Judaism.

"The more I studied and read, the more I liked Jewish beliefs," she said. "It was the tiny path for me. Everyone came from somewhere. It doesn't matter by what means."

"This congregation will be built without a litmus test," Lennick noted. "Jewish faith will not be required to be counted. A person can be at any moment in his spiritual life. At this temple, we emphasize the search for meaning ... for all humans. This temple is for all people, and thinking people will be very at home here."

JEWISH SERVICE

Community Synagogue will follow a pattern of worship found in other Reform Judaism congregations.

"It's strictly a Jewish service in a synagogue," Lennick said. "But we will share a universal message."

Lennick told those gathered for that first worship not to worry about the Hebrew words -- and most were translated in the prayer book printed on bright yellow paper. And he also explained each tradition -- such as the lighting of the Shabbat candles.

"The lighting of candles begins all services and holidays," he said. "They are lit at day's end or sundown [because in the Jewish calendar, days begin at sundown]. They represent the holiness in light or in the personal soul.

"People of all faiths have their personal beliefs enhanced by searching for faith," Lennick continued. "When people worship with people of other faiths, it raises the spirituality of the whole. We're going to worship together but not try to change anything about others."

"People of all faiths are typically welcome to observe and participate as appropriate at Jewish congregations, and those interested in Judaism are typically welcomed to explore further," said Marianne Tettlebaum, executive director of the Jewish Federation of Arkansas in Little Rock, in an email. "Many congregations encourage interfaith outreach and understanding."

"At Temple Shalom, we have always opened our doors to anyone who wants to come and worship, learn and celebrate with us, and I know this is true of many other congregations," said Rabbi Jacob Adler of Temple Shalom of Northwest Arkansas in Fayetteville, also in an email.

"We have no agenda to proselytize," Lennick said. And Tettlebaum agreed that actively seeking converts to Judaism is not part of Jewish practice.

"We simply want people who are looking for the spirit to have a home in our congregation," Lennick said. "

Community Synagogue's organizational structure also will be similar to the Reform tradition, with the group governed by a council of members.

Membership will be set apart, however. To join Community Synagogue, one does not have to be Jewish. A new member simply has to complete a form that serves as a conduit for contact information, Lennick said.

And while most Jewish synagogues require a dues payment by its members, the Community Synagogue will not, Lennick said. But the group will pass the plate for "Make It Happen" contributions.

"All we ask is that anyone who joins us does so with an open heart, an open mind and a desire to connect with others who take the search for meaning seriously," Lennick said.

"We limit membership to Jews -- whether born Jewish or Jewish by choice -- and their families," Adler wrote of Temple Shalom. "Some congregations even welcome those they call "Jews at heart' -- people who feel Jewish even if they don't meet the definition.

"What we are seeing here is a further expansion of the boundaries," Adler continued. "This is uncharted territory, and the new group will be facing questions that have not been addressed before." Adler listed organization and leadership, worship elements introduced by those of other faith backgrounds and the alienation of members if their traditions are not included among the issues. "And will the Jewishness of the congregation be compromised? I mean these questions as real questions, not a critique disguised as a set of questions," he said.

"But I know from experience it's hard enough to run a Jewish congregation with a diverse membership. (You know the saying, 'Two Jews, three opinions.') The Community Synagogue will have an even more diverse membership and correspondingly a greater challenge. It will be interesting to see how they rise to meet it," he added.

PASSOVER

Last night at sundown, Jews around the world began the observance of Passover. Community Synagogue serves a Passover Seder meal tonight, with 40 people registered.

Passover commemorates the time when God -- through Moses -- freed the Israelites from slavery in Egypt and gave them freedom as a nation. It commemorates the story of the exodus as told in the Book of Exodus.

Lennick finds parallels in the stories of his congregation and those early Jews.

"The story of Passover is a story of liberation," he said. "Moses told Pharaoh, 'Let my people go' for a particular reason. God told Moses to tell Pharaoh, 'Let my people go, so that they may worship me.'

"We want to create a place where all people with all kinds of experiences and all kinds of religious background can worship God in a free and open way. The most important kind of freedom is the freedom we feel within ourselves to be ourselves, and we want Community Synagogue to be a place where people can be themselves no matter what their background.

"This synagogue is dedicated to being democratic, inclusive, egalitarian, nonjudgmental and does not require anyone to assume a particular belief," he said.

"In a society, people are so preoccupied and bound up with choosing what's OK," Lennick concluded. "There are winners and losers and good guys and bad guys. Community Synagogue wants to park all of that at the door, and say, 'Come as you are, be who you are, with your background and beliefs -- whether a believer or a nonbeliever, a skeptic or a cynic. We want to break down barriers, and that's what Passover is all about."

NAN Religion on 04/23/2016

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