L'Chaim: February, 2019 - Expanding the Meaning of “Us”

I want to add a Hebrew word to our vocabulary. I know there are already a lot of Hebrew concepts and phrases that are challenging to keep track of, so adding one more isn’t great, but let’s give it a shot anyway. Over the last few years, we’ve done a lot of work together, as a community, to be more inclusive of interfaith families, of the LGBTQ community, and of other cultural, religious, and racial groups. In Hebrew, we might say that we’ve been really emphasizing the value of Kiruv (pronounced “KEY-roov”).

Kiruv comes from the word “Karov,” which means “to be close.” It is, in essence, the Hebrew word for “Inclusion.” What I like about the Hebrew word Kiruv, is that it reminds us that we have to get close to one another. We have to let others in, be vulnerable ourselves, and really change and shift our mindset to make room for another. We’re not just trying to absorb someone else into our homogenous, melting-pot-of-a-community, so that they too will adopt our values. Instead, we are trying to expand our capacity as a congregation, to make room for everyone’s needs, priorities, hopes, and expectations.

Among many other things, February is Jewish Disability Awareness, Acceptance, and Inclusion Month (JDAIM). This year, on the weekend of February 22nd and 23rd, we are going to spend some time examining our own Kiruv when it comes to our inclusion of people with disabilities. We do aspire to make our synagogue accessible and open, with a lift to help everyone ascend the bimah, a rear entrance that accommodates wheelchairs, and a sound system that assists those with hearing impairments. What more can we do? Well, for one thing, we can ask ourselves the question: “What more can we do?”!!

I know that I want to dedicate our Friday evening Shabbat B’Yachad service to this topic, and our D’var Torah on Saturday morning as well. More than that, I’m not sure. Will you be part of this conversation? And this planning process? If this topic resonates with you – whatever you interpret that to mean – please be in touch with me in the next couple of weeks.

Kiruv is a central Jewish value, and Ohev Shalom already aspires to make all who enter the doors at 2 Chester Road feel included, seen, and important. One way that we continue to embody this core principal is to repeatedly ask ourselves how we can do more. How can we bring more people closer, creating a spirit of inclusion and welcoming that endures and expands?

I cannot answer this question alone. In fact, if you look back up at that acronym for this month of Disability Inclusion, it’s almost the whole word “Judaism.” It’s just missing two letters, which happen to be the two letters this project needs most – US.

Sincerely,

Rabbi Gerber