Shomrei’s Core Values

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This article is adapted from a speech given on Erev Yom Kippur:

nlevitinAbout three years ago with the encouragement of Rabbi Greenstein and our president at the time, Rich Epstein – a group began to meet, initially on an informal basis, to explore critical questions related to our future. The group represented a cross section of our community. The purpose was to look at what we needed to do in order to have a viable and meaningful future in a very changing world. A world in which the assumed synagogue affiliation of younger people could no longer be counted on and synagogues across the country were grappling with declining membership.

This group eventually became known as the 2020 committee and it was chaired by Fern Heinig – our current Executive Vice President – and Andy Silver a former board member and longtime member of our community. The group looked at every aspect of synagogue life and last year made recommendations to the board on two critical issues. One was for our congregation to explore the adoption of a new membership model. The other was to adopt core values to guide us as a community – and in our work on the board. All this ultimately resulted in the congregation’s adoption of the new model and what we at Shomrei now call Open Door Judaism.With the adoption of this model, we seek to make membership accessible to all, and encourage members to engage in the voluntary work required to sustain our community. We took a stand on who we are and what we aspire to be.

Now I would like to draw attention to the ground on which our new membership model and Shomrei itself stands  – our Core Values.

Creating a Sacred Community through Torah, Avodah, and Gemilut Chasadim: Learning, Worship, and Acts of Loving Kindness

Spirituality
Our synagogue is a joyful, sacred space, rooted in traditional Jewish observance, continually refreshed by new and enriching approaches to religious expression. Whether trying to connect with God or with one another, we are bound by a common desire: to live more fully Jewish lives. We are committed to supporting the individual search for spiritual growth and to strengthening our community through meaningful daily, Shabbat, holiday and life-cycle rituals.

Education
We believe Judaism’s wealth of knowledge and culture nurtures us at every age and stage of life. We provide dynamic Jewish education for our children and for all generations, emphasizing Torah, Jewish values and traditions, the Hebrew language, Israel, and a joyful appreciation for the richness of Jewish culture.

Tzedakah and Tikkun Olam
We believe we have a responsibility to “repair the world” and commit ourselves to caring for the homeless, the hungry and those in need of loving kindness in our own congregation and beyond.

Community
We value openness, acceptance, and informality, and we welcome all who seek to participate in a Jewish life. The diversity of our community is our strength, and the engagement of individual members is essential to the vitality of all areas of synagogue life. We create a web of opportunities — spiritual, educational, social and community — that connect us to each other. In times of need we comfort each other and together we celebrate life’s many joyous moments.

I think you can see that so much of what we do here – our services, our classes, our involvement in MESH (feeding the hungry), the Interfaith Hospitality Network (sheltering the homeless), our own Mensch Squad (taking care of our own), and our new membership model – are all a direct expression of these core values.

It is these values that have informed some of the many achievements of this past year and has resulted in:

  • Services that run from traditional to alternative, long and short, with music and without, healing services, yoga services and others that offer something to every member of our congregation.
  • A preschool that is known and recognized for its warmth, the loving attention of its teachers, and the joy of the children who attend.
  • A Jewish Learning Center that is embarking on the creation of a new curriculum in partnership with parents, teachers and congregants alike.
  • A B’nai Mitzvah, Lunch-and-Learn program led by the Rabbi and JLC Education Director, Sara Birnbaum that is particularly effective in involving parents and their children in the process of preparing for a Bar or Bat Mitzvah, and
  • Hinei Mah Tov, our intergenerational family service, one of our main community building efforts

For those whose connection with Shomrei is to pursue learning, we have ongoing classes led by the Rabbi in Torah Study, the Zohar, the Talmud, and all the Mitzvot.

If you had a chance to look at the “Some Words of Gratitude” pamphlet distributed on Kol Nidre, you could see the number of volunteers required to provide all that Shomrei has to offer. What you may not have noticed, however, is that many of the same names appear over and over again under each committee! We need everyone’s engagement in this work, if we are going to realize the incredible possibility that Open Door Judaism provides.

We are blessed to have as our spiritual leader someone who embodies our core values and is tireless in his work on Shomrei’s behalf. Rabbi Greenstein pours his heart and soul into responding to our spiritual needs and his wisdom and guidance have done so much to enhance our community. For all he gives and brings to Shomrei, our deepest gratitude.

We are at a major crossroad as we move forward. We have gone as far as we have because of our collective commitment to Shomrei. And, now we must go even further, if we are to truly take advantage of the moment. Our Core Values are our guide. May we find ways to have them reflected in all we do. And, may what we do, have an impact not just at Shomrei, not just in Montclair, but in the community at large, and the world around us. That is the opportunity of Open Door Judaism. That is the opportunity of Shomrei Emunah.

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