In this week’s parashah, Va’etchanan, the Israelites enter into a new stage of their development. The Tabernacle is built and functioning, and the life of wandering in the desert towards the Promised Land has begun. The Torah describes a fascinating phenomenon which instructed the Israelites when they should stay put and when they should continue on their journey. A cloud would hover over the Tabernacle, indicating to the Israelites that they should make camp. When the cloud would lift, they would pack up and move ahead on their journey, stopping whenever the cloud would stop. And this is how their journeys went; this is how they would learn when it was time to move ahead.
Unfortunately, we don’t have a cloud to tell us when to move forward in our efforts of community. We have to do the work of very closely analyzing who we are, where we’ve been, and when the right time is to move forward. We are at such an moment right now, about to vote on changing the bylaws of our congregation to include non-Jewish spouses of Jewish members as part of a family membership. This has been a thoughtful effort, thinking about who we are as Conservative Jews and what our religious values are. Those values include embracing our families that are comprised of Jews and non-Jews. This change will not affect what our services look like, who is offered Torah honors, or any other ritual matters. However, this change, a step forward for our shul, will hopefully be an embrace to all of our families. If you have not yet read the bylaws themselves and the accompanying letter you received last week, I encourage you to do so.
When the Israelites would move forward in the desert, in one sense, everything was different, and from another vantage point, they were still in the desert, sand at their feet and sun above their heads. So, too, with us. Our community remains the same, and our values are clear. We are a place of rich Jewish experience, and we are a place of inclusivity. We are the center of Jewish life and Torah learning, and we seek to bring that to all of our families. We want all Jewish families in Memphis who yearn for an authentic, deep, and meaningful Jewish experience to know that Beth Sholom is the place for them.
We haven’t had a cloud to tell us when to move, and in lieu of that, our Membership Committee and our Board of Directors have spent months discussing this issue and putting a tremendous amount of time analyzing the various elements it entails. We know that many of you might have questions or concerns, and I urge you to join in one of two sessions to talk about it, on either Sunday, June 3 (2-3:30PM), or Wednesday, June 6 (6:30-8PM). Additionally, we hope you will join us on Sunday, June 10 at 10AM to discuss and vote on this change in the bylaws.
With or without clouds above our heads, may we continue to be guided on our journeys, and may we all arrive at a strengthened sense of our yiddishkeit, our Jewishness.
