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June 2006

Dear friends,

BAJC's recent focus, properly, has been on our new home and synagogue. We have painted; we have yard -worked; we have, we have shlepped. We have fund-raised; we have tag-saled; we have made the cabin into an administrative office. We have prayed; we have sung; we have danced; we have taught and we have learned. We are preparing for our formal dedication; we are preparing for High Holidays; we are preparing for our Annual Meeting; and we are making and revising practices and policies with fresh eyes and happy hearts. And, of course, everyone in the greater BAJC community is welcome to add energy to these events and projects as their abilities and time allow. 

 This photo is by Dror Poleg, unrelated to BAJC, and viewable at: www.flickr.com

I would like to take a step back from these events for a moment to reflect upon the fact that an important aspect of BAJC is that we are part of a larger interfaith community. Our interfaith community in the Brattleboro region is vibrant, cooperative, respectful and supportive. Most of us are familiar with the All Souls Church Unitarian-Universalist and their wonderful Minister, Rev. Barbro Hansson, as we shared space, learning, and spirit with them for so many years. We will continue to use their home for events that are too large for our synagogue. Yet the interfaith community in our area is far larger than most of us realize.   The Brattleboro Area Clergy Association meets monthly. Representatives of the Christian, Muslim and Jewish communities discuss issues and problems (and celebrations) of mutual interest and concern. The topics range widely—from assisting the Drop-in Center and soup kitchens in Brattleboro to assuring those admitted to hospitals that a clergy member will visit if requested to helping reintegrate returning inmates into our and their community to affordable housing to creating a strong and united voice regarding local, national and international issues relating to housing, hunger, disaster relief, and peace. A favorite event is our annual Day of Abraham, a celebration of our common ancestor and of our commonality—a shared meal; a shared discussion; a shared friendship.  Additionally, Barbro, Jim, Lisa Sparrow (minister of the Guilford Congregational Church), and Javed Chaudhri (leader of the Islamic community) have, during the  past year, formed the Brattleboro Interfaith Initiative for spiritually-based peace and justice activities. The group has organized a number of important interfaith activities including the highly-successful Mothers Day March for Peace.

There are many places in the world that lack any interfaith community, much less a strong one like the one we are blessed to have in the Brattleboro area.  To keep our interfaith community strong requires time, effort, sharing and caring from a lot of people. If this is something you would like to be more involved with, please let Faith Schuster, Jim Levinson or me know.

B’Shalom,
Paul