Update: Two people needed 6 to 9 p.m. on Saturday, October 12.
Two years ago, witnessing how much extra effort our partners at Temple Beth Emeth (TBE) had to put into organizing their high holy days due to security concerns, I talked with the vestry about our offering to help in some way. Our offer was gratefully received, and Blue Ocean joined us as well. We have helped with parking, crowd control, and walking around the building during the services, keeping an eye out for anything that is amiss, to make sure their sacred services could continue without disruption. I’ve heard so many times how much this gesture has meant to the folks at TBE; it truly was a meaningful and genuinely helpful show of support.
Things have not gotten any easier this year in terms of TBE’s being able to hold regular services without disruption. There have continued to be violent threats, off-putting incidents with people in the region entering Jewish sacred spaces or sending awful letters. It takes a lot of effort to evaluate those threats and shift behavior accordingly, in a way that doesn’t quash their life together and sense of community.
Please join me in continuing to support our partners in this important way, with just a couple hours of walking around our building on Rosh Hashanah or Yom Kippur, in early October. A brief online training was held on Tuesday, September 24 – you can access the recording here (use passcode P48wTtx@) and the slides here. Sign up for a shift at https://signup.com/go/EmSggye.
This is what it means to live into this partnership at this moment. It’s something that takes all of us to be a community.
Thank you for considering,
Rev. Anne