July 2011

          Our Community gathered recently for the David Gewing Bar Mitzvah.  This event reminded me what a loving and supportive Community we have at B’nai Israel.  As I sat on the Bima looking out at our Sanctuary filled with people, I saw two families.  One – those friends and relatives of the Gewing family who had come from far and wide to show their love, honor and support for Martin, Cheryl  and their son David.  Two – The Congregation B’nai Israel family, our members,who were here to also show their love, honor and support for the Gewings.    By the end of the Service and the luncheon, we were one family.  The Jewish Community welcoming a new member.  The B’nai Mitzvah is central to Jewish life, marking a young person’s coming  of  age.  In America, we have no coming of age ritual other than, perhaps, getting a driver’s license.  Maybe this is why we are so thrilled to see a young person become a B’nai Mitzvah, because that young person now knows thathe/she is part of something much larger than themselves.  B’nai Mitzvah have often been about how big, how fancy and how expensive they could be.  Here at Congregation B’nai Israel the B’nai Mitzvah are about how real, how meaningful and how authentic they can be.  We want to teach the B’nai Mitzvah young person to look at the Congregation from the Bima and realize he/she is part of them and they are part of you.
           This is about a connection to the past and future generations.  Those of us who are older kvell at the B’nai Mitzvah because watching the young person chant from the Torah fills us with hope for the future.  We have accomplished a command from God to pass the Torah to the next generation.  This adds meaning to our lives.          Welcome to the Jewish Community David Gewing.          

Fred Zola