September 25, 2008
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Orthodox synagogue invites newcomers to New Year prayers
If that doesn’t work, maybe the flyers at the local ShopRite will.
His congregation, Ahawas Achim B’nai Jacob and David — with over 450 members, the largest Orthodox synagogue in Essex County — is looking for new people, but not necessarily new Orthodox members.
Instead, they are reaching out to unaffiliated Jews in the area, hoping to attract them with a beginners’ service on Rosh Hashana. The free service will be held late in the afternoon on the first day of the two-day holiday. It will run just an hour and a half and will include shofar blowing and plenty of explanation in English.
Such outreach is not exactly standard fare for Modern Orthodox synagogues, but Bloom said the congregation felt the need to serve people in addition to their own knowledgeable and observant members. (The Chabad-Lubavitch hasidic movement is a pioneer of such Orthodox outreach to the unaffiliated, but most often in Chabad “houses” set up specifically for that purpose.)
“We think there’s a real need for this. We know within the Jewish community right here in MetroWest there are a lot of unaffiliated Jews. It’s a matter of giving people an opportunity to come in,” said Bloom, who is spearheading the effort and reinvigorating the synagogue’s outreach committee, which has been dormant for several years.
“Even though we’re in a relatively large Jewish community, we felt many people are out there and, with so much going on the world, are looking for something more to fill their lives,” said Rabbi Eliezer Zwickler. “Call it spirituality; call it meaning. We can’t sit on the sidelines. As the largest Orthodox synagogue in Essex County, we want to do something to help people grow. We love the lives we have, and we want to share it.”
Zwickler acknowledged that outreach has not been a priority for the synagogue at least since he arrived, but that that is changing. (In 2004 he was promoted from assistant rabbi to rabbi.) AABJ&D has already held training sessions to inspire members to want to participate and teach members how to welcome new people who walk into the synagogue.
The goal is to demystify what newcomers might see as an endless array of written and unwritten rules of decorum and observance, not to mention the long and opaque service performed entirely in Hebrew.
The congregation will use the abridged beginners’ service developed four years ago by the National Jewish Outreach Program, an Orthodox organization established in 1987 with the goal of reaching assimilated Jews. The service focuses on key prayers, like the Sh’ma, Avinu Malkeinu, and the Unetaneh Tokef, providing explanation and encouraging discussion.
“It gives people the feeling they participated in something meaningful, more than just dropping in and dipping an apple in some honey,” said NJOP program director Larry Greenman. “The model is for people to have a positive, joyous experience, to tell them it’s okay to dip their toes in and take a second look. It’s an opportunity to reengage and find spiritual meaning.”
Across the United States, 67 NJOP beginners’ services will be held this year.
Planners at AABJ&D said they hope the service will attract people not just from West Orange, but from across the community. In terms of numbers, however, they are starting small. While Zwickler said he’d be happy with 10 people, Bloom suggested that reaching just one person and changing that life would constitute success.
Additional outreach activities include Sukkot open houses, a crash course in Hebrew, a buddy Shabbat system, and individual efforts like inviting newcomers for a Shabbat meal, mentoring those who wish to learn, or just joining them for a coffee.
