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Expand Programming
Our rental agreement with West Village allows us to make use of
the facility a limited number of times during the year. We have
our regularly scheduled services, holiday celebrations, and Hebrew
School sessions, but if we need space for other events, we have
to pay extra. The lack of space makes it hard to schedule adult
ed classes, meetings, concerts, and other special events. We are
continually bumping up against this constraint, and are constantly
scrounging space in members’ homes and offices. With a home
of our own, we’ll have the space whenever we need it. Just
think of the possibilities: social events such as a games night,
more lay lead services, brown bag lunch discussions – we’ll
be limited only by our imaginations and energy.
Meet the Needs of Our Children
As our Hebrew School has expanded (what a blessing for the congregation!),
we have outgrown the school space available at West Village. Once
we move into our home on Greenleaf Street, we’ll have suitable
classroom space for our children. Equally important--the classroom
space will be ours. It is hard to overestimate the importance of
having our own classrooms. It will– make a big difference
to our children to be able to display their artwork, as well as
charts with the Hebrew alphabet, maps and pictures of Israel, timelines
of Jewish history, etc. Currently, at West Village, our school is,
in a sense, camping out. We can’t arrange the classrooms to
fit our needs, and we can’t put up the educational materials
and decorations appropriate for us.
A Home of Our Own
In addition to the concrete advantages of having space for additional
programs and for our Hebrew School, a home of our own provides other
less tangible benefits. Having a home of our own gives us a presence
in the community. It bolsters our identity. It gives us our own
ohel (“tent”). We are told in the Bible that Abraham
and Sarah always rushed to greet and honor guests, welcoming visitors
into their ohel. With our own ohel, we’ll be able to offer
welcome – to members of our congregation, to the wider community,
to unaffiliated Jews in the area, and to visitors.
As the days gradually get longer, and seed catalogues appear in
the mail, let’s turn our thoughts to building and painting
and planting at our own home. Lets get ready to welcome each other
in our new home, later this year.
B’shalom,
- Rachel
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