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Let’s think about this. Of course our task is lots less Herculean. We’re mostly Jewish, after all, and mostly Vermonters, and we share at heart many of the same values. At the same time there are differences among us that we need to acknowledge and also need to respect. One has to do with religious practices. With only one local congregation, we’ve got members coming from a broad array of religious traditions. I like to think we’ve been able to offer in our services a broad variety of prayer experiences that permit all of us to feel at home. But, of course, it’s also important that we’re all fully respectful of those practices and religious perspectives which may differ sharply from our own.
There also are differences among us in organizational style. Some of us are most comfortable in congregation with a strong administrative structure, with clear guidelines and regulations, and with fiscally conservative policies on spending and investment. We’ve grown up in such congregations. They provide us with a sense of safety and security. Others of us are, by nature, less patient with administrative processes and the constraints which they sometimes seem to impose on actions we’d like to take. Lots of organizations falter over just such issues. We at BAJC, by contrast, want to be a congregation in which kindness, consideration, mutual understanding, user friendliness, and a genuine desire to achieve win-win conclusions outweigh these differences in perspective. We are, after all, a faith community. And if we can’t overcome such differences, if we can’t be a model in doing this well, who can?
So while we watch the national election drama unfold before us, let’s think locally and endeavor to bring about this kind of unity in our own shul. We are a truly wonderful congregation, and this is a goal well worth pursuing. Paul Berch and I are committed to working together in an effort to help make this happen. But, of course, we will need the commitment of all of us if we are to succeed.
B’Shalom,
Jim
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