Dear Friends,

What follows is a rather long weekly newsletter, and I appreciate how valuable your times but I also appreciate your reading it to the end because I have included some important information that bears on our programs and the very future of Jewish Journeys.

First of all, thank you again for the treasures you donated towards our Jewish Journeys yard sale.  We are going to go ahead and hold the sale this Sunday, at Paul’s home (142 Morala Avenue, Runaway Bay), starting at oh-dark-thirty as that’s when the fanatics come out shopping.  We are not going to also sell hot food, because we got no offers of help.  If you’re out and about and would like to visit and talk about anything and share a cuppa, come by Paul’s place during the morning through early afternoon.  If you’ve got items we could sell, this is your last chance to donate them; please let me know immediately!

Thank you to those who have donated for the shipping of the siddurs that Temple B’nai Israel in Oklahoma City gave us.  The following donors deserve our gratitude:  Anonymous, 16 books; the Barberas, 6 books; the Halls, 3 books; Jeff, 1 book; Karen, 1 book; the Levys, 17 books; Louise, 6 books; Mavis, 1 book; Reva, four books; Sharon, 4 books; Shirley (and Michelle), 2 books.  We are grateful to all of you and will be inscribing the books according to your instructions.

Thank you also for the fantastic showings this past Shabbat, both Friday evening and Saturday morning.  We had over twenty souls present at each gathering.  We certainly had a good week, attendance-wise and therefore we had a good week in terms of enthusiasm.  Let’s be honest; when our numbers go up, it is energizing to all present.  As I like to say, we’re only human; we all need the affirmation that comes when we know that others wish to share our fellowship.

I’ve been asked to address the change of venue from the Southport Community Centre to our home on Friday evenings.  The primary reason Clara and I decided to try the change is that attendance at Friday evenings has been down significantly for several months, plain and simple.  With the exception of a week here or there, we’ve had barely over a minyan – perhaps 11-13 people – on most Fridays.  When we’re having a contributory dinner after the service as we do weekly, that’s not enough people to ensure a good mix of food to share.  At the same time, attendance on Saturday mornings, which we’ve been holding in our home from the start, and where we feed you from our kitchen, has been consistently higher. 

This would make a reasonable case to conclude that the type of service and dinner at the Community Centre is not an especial draw, whereas the program at our home is.  And given the low attendance Fridays, we thought that the $40 we pay for the Community Centre each week, would be better spent feeding everybody a nice, hot meal at our home.  So that was our reasoning; a more ‘haimische’ atmosphere and less institutional, plus better spending of the money we were paying for the venue.  Before making the change, we did consult individually with just about everybody who is a ‘regular’ attendee on Friday nights to see if there were significant objections to the change.  We received very little negative feedback in prospect.

So last Friday evening was the first time we met at our home.  And wouldn’t you know it…we had a much bigger crowd than usual!  Yes, it was crowded and as a result we had to move the dinner outside.  And despite my setting up two shelters and lighting a gas heater, I understand there were several complaints about the cold. 

So I’m in a bit of a quandary.  Several of you were uncomfortable because of the cold, and as a result would prefer to return to the Community Centre.  But I’d felt forced to move the program to my home because of inconsistent attendance.  So in setting our course going forward, I need solid feedback.  Are you happy with meeting at our home, or would you strongly prefer the Community Centre – or some other, more public venue?  Please be open with me and tell me straight.

But I’m going to be straight with you…if we can’t sustain a consistent attendance more like what we had last Friday, I don’t see us going back to the Community Centre.  So if that would be your preference I need you, first, to make sure that you are committed to attending weekly unless you’re out of town or very unwell.  And I will also need your help in getting the word out about how much you enjoy our programs.

I need your help for us to increase in numbers by talking up our programs and gatherings to your friends who are presently not attending shule somewhere.  I know they’re out there, and I know you interact with them.  I’m not saying I want you to kidnap them and bring them in by force!  But I do want to you to be more forthcoming about telling your Jewish friends and acquaintances, especially those who are not attending anywhere presently, and especially those who have been turned off by the ‘politics’ and unwelcoming atmosphere at other area congregations, how much you enjoy attending our minyan and how much you think they would enjoy it.  For some reason, Jews are very shy about talking to others – even to other Jews! – about what they’re doing religiously.

And as for your friends and acquaintances who are not Jewish but who have expressed interest in attending a Jewish service or learning more about Judaism; I say, bring them also!  As you know, at this time in our history we do not proselytize.  At the same time, we are happy to share our story and our traditions with others who have an interest.  If that leads to them starting the process of becoming a Jew, then that’s wonderful.  During most of our history, we Jews have warmly accepted potential converts and our present community is no exception.  But we’re also happy to have people who are simply curious to visit us and share our Shabbat celebration with us.

Just understand – and perhaps help them to understand as well – that they might hear the expression of some doctrine that they will not appreciate hearing.  I’ll give a very specific example; not long ago we had a visitor who was apparently put off by having it explained to him during fellowship hour on a Friday evening that Jews (not ‘Messianic Jews’) do not include Jesus of Nazareth, or the writings promulgated by his followers, in our worldview.  We weren’t obnoxious about it, but we are not going to tell a non-Jewish visitor something that isn’t so just to give him or her a ‘positive’ experience.  So we were privileged to share our service and our fellowship with this visitor, but unfortunately he experienced the evening in a not-very-positive light.

I’m not here to lay blame for this incident, because in reality there is no blame to lay.  It happens that I sat next to the visitor at dinner after the service, and I’m reasonably sure nobody said anything overt that should have made him feel less than welcome.  But the experience does offer an insight in how we receive visitors.  If you have a non-Jewish friend or acquaintance whom you’d like to invite but are afraid they might hear something that they would consider undercutting their beliefs, then by all means put them in contact with me before bringing them to a service; as you know, I am frequently involved in interfaith dialogue and would be happy to have a coffee with your gentile friends who wish to learn more about Judaism in a more private setting.  Then, after I will have had a chance to explain what we’re all about, they can decide whether or not to accept our invitation to attend as our guest.

Now regarding venues, please note that we’re not using the Community Centre for the upcoming High Holy Days, and it’s for one reason only:  the Community Centre has no availability for those days.  There is something special that has the entire Centre booked for two weeks.  It didn’t interfere with the High Holy Days last year, because they happened later in September and October.  So this year, we’re going to meet for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur at the Queensland Country Women’s Association Hall, which is located just around the corner from the Community Centre at the corner of Garden Street and Young Street.  It’s a lovely venue and should work out quite well.  More details about that will be forthcoming, but perhaps this is a good time to give you a ‘save the date’ notice:  Rosh Hashanah, Sunday evening 13 September and Monday morning 14 September; Yom Kippur, Tuesday evening 22 September, and Wednesday afternoon 23 September.

I look forward to seeing you this Shabbat as follows:

        

  Friday night at the Levy home, 6.30PM, followed by a provided hot dinner.  (BTW, we also have two special occasions to celebrate for a couple of our members.  You’ll just have to come to find our what/who they are!)

-          Saturday morning at the Levy home, 11.00AM, followed by a provided hot lunch.

-          In both cases, we ask for a donation of $15 for each adult attending.  If you have become a member, we of course want you to attend, with your guests, without any additional donation.

I pray that everybody is well and having a great week!

Rabbi Don