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afterwards at your house – too scary!<br />
(And yes, we all find it daunting<br />
to ask to join a conversation with<br />
someone you don’t know.)<br />
There was this unspoken rule - keep<br />
on doing what you have been doing<br />
for years and then you won’t get<br />
disappointed; things will be as they<br />
always were. It was uncomplicated,<br />
and you knew the outcome.<br />
As would be obvious by now, the<br />
castle in our story represents our<br />
Synagogue and the munchkins<br />
are us, the congregation. This<br />
story has an important message<br />
for our community; we all have<br />
a vital role to play in creating the<br />
welcoming community we wish for.<br />
A few years back when I was<br />
in Los Angeles, I met Dr Ron<br />
Wolfson, author of many books on<br />
relational Judaism. He is convinced<br />
that Jewish organisations and<br />
Jewish life is about truly building<br />
communities that are engaged<br />
and relational. He writes, “I wish<br />
Jewish life were like Apple, a totally<br />
integrated closed system. Success<br />
is not butts on seats, not more<br />
programs, and not more one offs”.<br />
He suggests that the community is<br />
best placed to take charge. It is up to<br />
the community to get to know each<br />
other - to introduce yourself and say<br />
hello to someone you don’t know.<br />
I tend to leave religion to the rabbis<br />
and be the CEO. I generally don’t<br />
get involved with ‘how, when,<br />
how much, or why’ to pray at<br />
what service, and yet, I feel there is<br />
something I want to change in the<br />
way we conduct ourselves here at<br />
Emanuel. I do care about creating<br />
a truly vibrant community that<br />
makes one feel like they belong.<br />
For years our rabbis have had a<br />
vision, to have a strong vibrant<br />
community beyond High Holy<br />
Day and membership dues. “I pay<br />
you dues, you give me a rabbi on<br />
call”, or “a Bar Mitzvah for my child<br />
and a HHD ticket”. Or conversely,<br />
“You pay me membership, and we<br />
will give you access to the campus<br />
and a few cultural programs.”<br />
We have been working on creating a<br />
level of engagement that is relational,<br />
beyond servicing immediate needs.<br />
While flipping through pages<br />
of John Wood’s book “Creating<br />
Room To Read” I was struck by<br />
the similarity of the text to passages<br />
from the Torah. This is an inspiring<br />
story of a man who moved from<br />
a lucrative career in Silicon Valley,<br />
to founding ‘Room to Read’,<br />
a non-profit organisation that<br />
promotes literacy and education<br />
continued on page 10<br />
SUSTAINING THE<br />
ENVIRONMENT &<br />
HEALING THE WORLD<br />
4<br />
SPEAK UP IN THE FACE<br />
OF INJUSTICE<br />
Donna Jacobs Sife<br />
20<br />
FACING INDEFINITE DETENTION<br />
AS A STATELESS REFUGEE<br />
Shira Sebban<br />
26<br />
JOINING THE 'B AND B HIGHWAY'<br />
Judy Kahn Friedlander<br />
31<br />
IN CONVERSATION<br />
WITH THOMAS MAYOR<br />
CONNECTING WITH ISRAEL<br />
& WORLD JEWRY<br />
11<br />
NO MORE RIGHT OR LEFT?<br />
Dudu Gottlib<br />
24<br />
JEREMY SPINAK - A TRIBUTE<br />
25<br />
LET MY PEOPLE GO<br />
B. Karet<br />
29<br />
NETZER'S AMAZING<br />
SUMMER CAMP<br />
COMMUNITY<br />
4<br />
CEO UPDATE<br />
28<br />
AROUND EMANUEL<br />
31<br />
BUILDING A CONNECTION<br />
33<br />
NEW MEMBERS<br />
34<br />
TZEDAKAH<br />
38<br />
MAZAL TOV<br />
39<br />
PESACH PUZZLE PAGE<br />
Anne Wolfson<br />
5
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