Each week, I help a small but exceptional minyan welcome Shabbat in what might be the most diverse and innovative “congregation” in the area. The wheelchairs and age-worn bodies throw obstacles easily met with innovative spirit by the group, residents of Brighton Gardens, an assisted living and memory care facility in West Orange. That collective willingness to navigate limitations creates an inclusive, ruach (spirit) filled Kabbalat experience that is a joy to experience for anyone lucky enough to visit (Shomrei’s young Joshua and Benjamin Gold were a big hit this week with their upbeat version of L’kha Dodi)!

The Talmud tells us “One should greet an elderly person as one greets the Shekhina” (Midrash Tanchuma, Ki Tisa 27).  But it is my elderly friends in this minyan, wise and resilient, that help me, and anyone who joins us, greet the Sabbath with a joy worthy of the Shekhina (presence of God).

Over the years with Brighton Gardens, I’ve learned how Shabbat can create communal connection to our shared Jewishness despite wildly different backgrounds. Since October, we’ve begun to host a monthly meal. Young visitors this week heard amazing stories of growing up Jewish in pre-war Brooklyn, 1950’s Newark (in famous civil rights Rabbi Joaqim Prinz’s congregation!) and of being the first women (and Jewish) architecture student accepted to the University of Michigan (a school my own child attends – a fact that delights the residents who know her from past Shabbat services).

Judaism emphasizes the importance of a shared memory. But Jewishness is about shared life. Those two ideals are evident when Neil, a proud grandfather of three girls at Ner Tamid, leads us in a Psalm his memory hasn’t yet washed away; when 99 year-old Chuck, blind but razor sharp, recites kiddish by memory;  or as Leah, who recently had an adult Bnai Mitzvah, leads the first part of the Amidah.

The Psalmists tell us the righteous shall flourish like a date palm, thrive like a cedar in Lebanon. In old age they remain fruitful, still fresh and bountiful…a shared Shabbat service or meal, like last week’s, brings life to that promise.

Chazak, Chazak, V’nitchazek (Be strong, hold fast, and let us strengthen one another)

If anyone is interested in joining the Shabbat service at Brighton Gardens, or helping provide a monthly Shabbat meal, feel free to reach out to me at email hidden; JavaScript is required