Sermon: Good Practice Tour of America (Lynette Sunderland)

Written by Writings & Sermons by others — 1 February 2018

At the beginning of last December, I was given a wonderful opportunity by Alyth to travel to America over a period of three weeks in what became known as my “good practice tour”.  In my capacity as Director of Welfare and Life Cycle, I visited communities in Washington, Boston and New York as well as attending the Union of Reform Judaism Biennial Conference.

Not unlike the Children of Israel, as they stood at the shores of the Red Sea, prior to my leaving I looked across the Atlantic and wondered what I would find there?  My method of travel was slightly different but with enthusiasm and joy I went forward to find out what communities across the pond could teach me and in turn, us as a community.

Although the weather was extremely cold, the welcome I received was not.  In each community I was welcomed warmly by people not only eager to teach me but also to learn from me and so it became a mutual fact-finding experience.

 

So what did I see?

 

I saw a variety of meaningful, inclusive, communal and musical services, much like our own choice driven tefillah;

 

I saw children celebrating Chanukah in their Cheder and afternoon clubs, much like our own Sunday Morning Galim and Kef Zone;

 

 

I saw the variety of bereavement support, senior citizen, social justice, social welfare, adult learning, inclusion and interfaith and young people’s activities, much like our own bereavement call group, Senior Club, Drop In for Refugees, Shabbat dinners, Monday Club, Judaism for Essentials, monthly Shiurim and youth spring and summer activity days;

I saw the Jewish cultural and like minded activity groups that their communities organize, much like our own topical thought provoking events, theatre, museum, ramblers and cycling groups;

I heard about new babies, bnai mitzvah, young marrieds, and other “sheheciyanu moments” – life cycle moments being celebrated; much like Alyth’s weekly bnai mitzvah celebrations in addition to special birthdays and anniversaries;

I heard about all the trials and tribulations of practical and fundraising plans to build extensions in order to improve and create warm, welcoming and environmentally friendly areas, much like our own visionary Build With Us project;

I met teams of professional colleagues working joyfully and enthusiastically together and in partnership with lay leaders and members to build a future for generations to come –  very much in the way we do too;

And I heard about the number of volunteers that come forward to help make communities the success that they are – like many of you who do the same here at Alyth;

We manage to do all that they do and in some instances more – only on approximately a fifth of the budget they have!

 

So what did I learn?  I learnt that Alyth, to use the vernacular, is “awesome”.

 

Some may say did I need a trip to America to realise this?  Perhaps, not.

 

And yet, whilst Alyth can stand tall amongst the movers and shakers of the American Reform Movement and that Alyth is very much in line with the trends of a progressive religious synagogue looking to create meaningful and shared experiences for people who want to express their Jewish identity in a modern world, there is still more we can do.

 

In this week’s portion, the Children of Israel complain.  Not for the first time and not for the last time either.  Was it not better that we should die in Egypt where if nothing else we had meat and bread than to be brought to wander in a desert starving and thirsty? Where was their faith? Where was their vision? Where was their commitment to the cause?

 

And this is where the differences between our American and British communities begin to differ.  Yes, Americans complain too – mostly about politics!  However, in the main each person who identifies themselves as part of a Jewish community accepts much more as part of their everyday life their commitment in contributing to, financially and physically and not necessarily one or the other but both,

 

the vision of the future building of their community.  Without it they accept there is possibly no future.  They have not always been like this and they too have had to work on this themselves over time, in the main led by Ron Wolfson who wrote a book on The Spirituality of Welcoming.  He wrote, “The spirituality of welcoming begins with radical hospitality that brings people closer to each other, to community, to Judaism, and to God”.

 

In response to the Children of Israel’s complaints, God sends a double portion of manna.  (As Isaac alluded in his d’var Torah) – The midrash tells us that the manna tasted different for each person – what in effect the individual wanted it to taste like.

 

Each of us is looking for something slightly different – that’s what makes diversity and allows great creativity.  When we walk through the Synagogue doors what does our manna taste like?

Do we see the person to the right and left of us, behind us and in front of us? In the far corners of the room?  Do we reach out to the longstanding member, new congregant and the visitor with the same welcome?  Do you feel the part you play in creating a welcome to everyone else, that you expect yourself?

 

 

 

 

We need a shift in our culture.  Each one of us needs to view ourselves as a part of the process in building community.  It should never be an “us and them” situation but should only be about “us”.  Whatever you feel is your place in society, do not look to be a part of the community and say, “what can you do for me” but say, “this is what I can do for you” which eventually turns into “what can we do together – b’yachad”.

 

We need to enable each other to be welcoming, risk taking and lose some of those inhibitions that make the English and Americans different.  We may view their approach with raised eyebrows on occasion but bringing down some of those barriers to extend naturally the welcome to others that we want for ourselves – to not only think of our needs but the need of the other – is what I learnt from the communities I visited.

 

The best of American Judaism now has a fantastic “can do” approach. Is this because they are American or Jewish or both? I believe their Jewish identity is so strong it is what drives them on a day to day basis to play their part in their community. They understand that by being the resource and investment in their community they are creating not only the community for themselves that they want, but also the continuity for tomorrow.  Synagogue giving and  involvement is high on their priority list.

 

 

That’s not to say that amongst us there are already some who think and believe like this and understand these concepts.  However, to ensure that anyone and everyone walking through our doors has the opportunity to experience their own individual manna from heaven we need to widen the possibilities together of how we can achieve this.  From the ethos to the practical.  In one community – where they regularly have 200 people at a service – they give smart name labels to everyone attending; and many of the communities have trained member “ambassadors” whose sole role it is to ensure the welcome to everyone, at both prayer services and other events, goes beyond the front door in a variety of ways;

 

So, thank you Alyth for giving me the opportunity to see and learn.  I brought many “golden nuggets” of good practice back from America.  And I hope that the benefit of this learning will show over time as we use this knowledge to build on what is so already special at Alyth.  All of your voices and contributions are important in this process and I hope you will join me and my colleagues over time in this work.

 

 

 

In return I was able to show how “awesome” Alyth really is.

 

If it weren’t, I wouldn’t be secure in the knowledge that those of “us” already engaged and involved understand and appreciate the continuous “moving and shaking” that we need to do together to ensure our continuing successes well into the future.