A Message from Rabbi Rubinstein

May 2008

Members of our congregation have been engaged in conversations with each other over the past months in what was called a “Listening Campaign.” The purpose of these exchanges was to hear each others’ stories and to uncover the deep concerns that each of us may have for ourselves, our families and our community. We wanted to know whether there were common elements in what keeps us up at night.

It has been an amazing process during which hundreds of personal conversations have taken place. Members have met other congregants; friendships have been formed or deepened, and we have learned a great deal about our congregation and each other.

In early March over a hundred members involved in the “Listening Campaign” joined with most of our senior leadership to celebrate the conclusion of this phase of a larger proposal. We heard several individuals speak of their experiences and publicly profess their concerns. We learned that there were in fact common elements to the concerns voiced by our congregants. They could be grouped into three areas:

• How do we provide, live and teach values, especially to our children?
• How can we provide opportunities for gathering as we foster greater personal connections within our congregational membership? How might we bring people together around common interests or life situations?
• How do we increasingly provide strength, substance and healing in our city and society? How can we ensure the availability of housing, access to health care and excellent public education?

As a result of these conversations, we have decided to move the Listening Campaign into an action phase so that we not lose our momentum and energy. We will focus on the three major areas outlined above. We have assembled three action groups, each to deal with one of the above issues, under the rubric Central is Action.

We know that every worthwhile plan emerges from an organic desire of constituencies to change what exists. What we know about our congregation is that we have always believed in the possibility of the “unimaginable.” We have challenged common wisdom, declined to agree with “accepted truth” when it was obviously unacceptable, and we have pursued transformational solutions to previously intransigent problems.

I have no doubt that we will make great headway in assessing the challenges we face in order to format possible responses and solutions to our expressed concerns. Our hope is that we will be able to empower ourselves and our congregation in the belief that there is much that we can do if we want to make a difference.

It is not yet known what solutions we might imagine or pursue, but we are committed to ongoing communication with our entire membership as we think through these matters. We believe that we function at our best when we mobilize the passions of our members in pursuit of justice, decency and significant connections to our congregation, Jewish life and each other.