The Recipe for a Perfect Congregation

Ok, so it's been a long while since i've posted. I actually wrote something up earlier in the month, but after my masterpiece about engagement of empowered students, i just couldn't post it. Mostly because compared to the previous post....it sucked.

Alas. Gam Zeh Ya'avor. Here's a new post for y'all. :)

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I spend Yom Kippur at home in Baltimore, and attended services at Chizuk Amuno, which one of the flagship congregations of the conservative movement. My mom works at the day school there, and my family has recently become members there, mostly because with the exception of the youth group at BHC (the Reform Congregation we belong to), it's a dead place.

So here i am at this MEGA congregation with eight different services going on, and thousands of people in the building waiting for something to catch on to. 15 minutes. 30 minutes. 1 hour. 2 hours. nothing.

I'm struggling with the concept of a congregation, and it's effectiveness for people like me. I've been struggling with it for a long time now. Even when i belonged to Shaarai Shomayim, which was the Reform Congregation in Lancaster, PA that i belonged to, i found it hard to connect. The Rabbi was wonderful (and still is), the services were beautiful, but when push came to shove, my true reform connection was with NFTY-PAR, and the strong connection of friends i had built through there and through camp.

So this gets me thinking, what would go into my congregation? If i had the ability to create my own place of worship what would it involve?

Think long and hard about those questions. then something will hit you with a pile of bricks.

wham.

I have no idea.

Where do i find my judaism now? At a far and distant place about 50 miles outside of NYC for about 2 months out of the year. And friends, that's not a feasible concept.

On Friday, I'm taking a week off from NYU. I'll be going to the upper west side to pray at Kol Zimrah, which is one of these independent minyanim that have sprouted up recently. What am i expecting? A truly spiritual experience with music,and a full kabbalat shabbat and maariv service. But what am i truly looking forward to?

Spending the evening in the company of some amazing people.

What is it about Kutz that makes us crave the spirituality that it produces? In reality i don't really think it's how we pray, or what we do on a regular basis. It's the community, and the people in it that make it so amazing.

As a Jew, community is one of the most important aspects to me. Being in the company of friends and family is when i truly feel spiritually connected. It's not what prayers we do here, or whatthe caliber of the sermon is. It's who i'm sharing the experience with.

And friends, that's what makes Judaism so powerful.

So, i return to my previous question. If i had to make a congregation, what would it consist of?


you.