Valley congregations vary approach to non-Jewish membersBarbara Lazarus,Temple administrator Beth Ami Temple We never ask (if members are not Jewish). We are a participatory temple and the congregation participates in the High Holiday services and we assign parts, we don't ask if somebody is Jewish or not... As far as aliyahs, we usually give them to people who do more work for the temple, but we don't ask. Rabbi Arthur Lavinsky Beth El Congregation When we have intermarried couples, and of course all the synagogues in the area do, we make sure to provide (High Holiday) tickets (with both spouses' names) because ultimately we want everyone to feel at home and comfortable in our services. We of course also have quite a few English readings so that the text is more available to everyone in attendance... The most important thing, however, is to create a warm and welcoming atmosphere for everyone who passes (by) our synagogue's mezuzah. Rabbi David Rosenberg Beth Emeth Congregation of the West Valley We didn't even single out the Jewish (members). We have a few people here in our congregation who are intermarried, but we're not like the average congregation; we have a lot of people in our congregation who control a lot of the sacred actions that we do. We had a service, a second-day Rosh Hashana service, that had a number of non-Jews in it. They were there and they were invited, they could come and they could participate in praying with us, if they wanted to. Rabbi Victor Beck Congregation Eitz Chaim of Ahwatukee Considering that this is our first High Holiday service, and in fact our first service period, we're just bringing everybody in as best we can. We are not making distinctions in terms of asking non-Jewish spouses or non-Jewish parents not to come, we're absolutely inviting them to join us, and we promise we won't hit them over the head and try to convert them. Basically we're just trying to make them feel as welcome as possible and give them a service which will allow them to understand and participate as much as possible. Rabbi Robin Damsky Congregation Or Chadash We don't single out one couple from another because I think that is something that would make people feel more uncomfortable. We're very committed to being inclusive of the community. It's really, really important to me that we make families feel welcome...I've met personally with a number of people who have had that concern and we invite (non-Jewish) people up for honors... We have a lot of (non-Torah) readings that we invite people to do... anything that's not a mitzvah that would have to be fulfilled by a Jew in order for any other Jews to be able to say 'Amen.' Whether that means a couple is coming up together, maybe to do a reading or one member of a couple is coming up, I think that it's a policy not only for our High Holiday services, but for other services as well. Rabbi Mark Bisman Har Zion Congregation We have no formal program; we don't try to distinguish those supportive non-Jewish spouses who want to be part of the synagogue. We encourage them to be there (but) there is no formal program for recognizing from the bimah on the holidays, but we're glad they're there, we appreciate their support, and we shake their hands just like we shake anyone else's hand. Rabbi Andrew Straus Temple Emanuel of Tempe Last year I did a piece...where we were talking about (the) need to honor and thank and appreciate those non-Jews that play such a vital role in helping to raise Jewish children, and we asked all those who were there to 'please rise' so we could acknowledge them and encourage other people to let it be known to their friends and family who were not there that we appreciate what they've done. And several came up to me over the next few weeks and said 'Well, I wasn't there, but my spouse told me, my friends told me, so-and-so told me, thank you for doing it.' I don't think it's the type of thing I would necessarily want to do every year because if we start doing that people are going to say 'Well why are you thanking this one and not that one,' so I think every few years we'll probably do it. Rabbi Lisa Tzur Temple Gan Elohim Although there are no plans to specifically honor those people who are not Jews who are members of the congregation, we make it a practice in the congregation to try to be extremely inclusive and to make sure that everyone who comes into the congregation feels welcome to participate in a variety of ways. Although we are not doing a specific prayer we absolutely are cognizant of the fact that many of the people who worship in the community are not Jewish and we try to be very sensitive to those issues. Rabbi Jordan E. Goldson Temple Kol Ami We don't have any special blessings honoring (non-Jewish members) or (are) doing anything (to honor non-Jews), as I know some different rabbis have done. It's not that we're trying to exclude those families, but we don't acknowledge them in particular anymore than we acknowledge any other group...(though) if you would come to our service as a non-Jew who was married to a Jew...I think you'd feel really comfortable. Rabbi Alan M. Berlin Temple Solel No, we're not doing anything specific, I think we try to be sensitive to the reality that there are a significant number of intermarried families in our community and try to make everything we do here accessible to them. List compiled by Editorial Assistant Julie Messner. |
|
|