Dear Chevreh,
More than fifty of us were camping together this past Shabbat, and Shabbat services at shul were also packed. We marked special life-moments, including a birthday, a loss,
healing and recovery, a recent marriage, and the return to Israel this summer of our beloved Novis-Deutsch family. One week ago, thanks to CNS leaders Michael Tarle and April Oldenburg, we celebrated our community at the annual Gala. On the very same day, a dozen CNS members, thanks to the coordinating efforts of CNS leader Tree Gelb-Stuber volunteered with Rebuilding Together to help paint the inside of the Berkeley Alzheimer's clinic.
It is simply what we are supposed to be doing.
This "short" list of our shul's life is a mirror. As I shared in my remarks at our Gala, I believe we are blessed to live what Rabbi Yitz Greenberg calls "an intense life" and what Lisa Gershony calls a "24/7 purposeful life." Those are parallels for what we know is the sacred life of Netivot Shalom. It is an awesome blessing, one which requires enormous heart and energy. It is what I believe we are called to do.
I write to you from the Rabbinical Assembly in Atlanta, where I am proud to represent our shul's vision with hundreds of Masorti/Conservative colleagues from around the world. (Click here for a video of a teaching I offered today - the whole session was powerful, and my part begins about 50 minutes in.) It is clear to me that the visionary model of participation and leadership we are continuing to become is a model for many other communities around the world.
We are called to fulfill our mission for all these reasons. It is powerful to be reminded that that our local sacred participation generates much-needed global ripples.
