What is the role of a Jewish community and a shul?  

Human beings develop via three pathways, the intellectual, the emotional and the social. Sufficient nurturing, education and guidance within our families of origin help us to do this. As Jews, we also must develop ourselves as spiritual and religious personalities. This is the primary mission of a Jewish community—to help each individual within it and all of us as a collective to grow our spiritual and religious selves by utilizing these three areas, the intellectual, emotional and social, as tools.  

Our intellectual development as Jews comes through Torah study, our religious emotional development primarily through prayer, song and the performance of mitzvot, and our social development through community—constantly building a stronger, more cohesive community. (For us, this sense of community and Jewish development can at times extend also to the whole Jewish people and the land of Israel.)

Since this religious and spiritual development, through our intellect, emotions and social life, is our mission as a community, everything we do as a shul must fit one or several of these ends. For instance, when we have a Purim party, we must ask ourselves how it maximizes community building and cohesion. When we raise funds for the community, we must ask how the method itself, not just the end, benefits community connection.

We are currently starting to put effort into enhancing our shul building to make it one which will provide us with a better space to pray and learn and build a community. One that is safer and more accessible to all individuals in the community. A building that provides more ample spaces for intellectual, emotional and social development. Raising the funds for the building, envisioning its structure, and working to make it a reality will take a great deal of effort on the part of our community and its volunteers. We must ensure not only that we achieve the goal of having a more adequate building but also that the process of reaching it aligns with our mission as a community, that is, fostering our intellectual, social and emotional development as individual Jews and as a Jewish community. Part of the way we can do this is by ensuring that the effort is not just the product of a few or a few dozen hard-working volunteers but a community-wide effort which itself helps to make the community more connected and its members more committed and more involved.   

The parshiot which we are reading now are all about the building of the Tabernacle. Recall that the entire process begins with God instructing Moshe to be sure that the Tabernacle is not built for the Jewish people, but by them. Everyone must bring their assets and their talents to bear. Achieving communal growth takes people with wisdom, wealth and a willingness to work hard.   

The Jewish people are told by Moshe to give from the heart—gold and silver and cloth—and to use their talents, such as weaving and metal work, for the construction of the Tabernacle. God understands this important message, that the building of a house for God in the midst of the people cannot be done without them. The building process itself must serve to bring the people together.   

As our community embarks on the process of enhancing our small Tabernacle, our shul, be sure to ask how you can be part of this communal effort by bringing your talents, knowledge and resources to the community.