Archive for March, 2010

Passover at Lake Norman

Wednesday, March 31st, 2010

The Jewish People gather every year at this time to remember and relive the story of our people, the Exodus from Egypt. The message of this story is that oppression wherever it rears its head can and must end.  Through a sacred partnership with God, individuals and communities can redeem the world. The Exodus story hopefully inspires us to vision of the world as it might yet look and work towards that vision every day.

This past Monday and Tuesday more than 260 people gathered for Passover. On Monday, nearly all of the 75 Jewish students at Davidson College gathered together with friends, faculty, staff, and honored guests to welcome the Festival of Matzot.  It would have been unthinkable 10 years ago that 130 people would gather on the Davidson College campus for a Passover Seder.  It reflects the increasing diversity at the College and the significant growth of the Jewish population at Davidson.

On Tuesday, more than 120 people celebrated Passover with the Lake Norman Jewish Congregation (www.lakenormanjc.org).  90 adults and 36 children of all ages prayed, sang, laughed, and of course ate together as they commemorated the sacred story of the Jewish People. This community seder reflects the dramatic growth in the Jewish community over the past three years. The Lake Norman Jewish Congregation has grown from 55 families to nearly 120 families.  Our school has grown from 25 students to more than 75 students.  We are truly blessed.

I hope all will feel welcome to join me in marking the end of Passover with Pizza and Pilsners with Rabbi Shields” at the Brickhouse in Davidson (209 Delburg St.) on Tuesday October 6 at 8pm.

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=365517053815&ref=ts

All are welcome!

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Posted in Building a Jewish Community, Davidson College, Davidson College Hillel, Lake Norman Judaism | No Comments »

Partnership is Community.

Wednesday, March 17th, 2010

The Jewish Community in the Lake Norman and North Charlotte region is growing. As a new community we have a unique opportunity to fashion a community that will embrace the many new innovations that have emerged in Judaism in the last decade. We can maintain meaningful liberal traditions and practices, reclaim and reframe traditional Jewish practices in our liberal religious context.  Most importantly, we can see every person in the community as partners in this exhilarating creation process.

Partnership is the most important word. As the Rabbi I want partners not members.  Partners help to build.  They invest their time and/or their resources. In my mind the title, “member” connotes  a private club whose members are served. They pay their fee and get ‘a’, ‘b’, and ‘c.’

In our congregation, it is true that I play a role as the Rabbi of the community; I teach, I facilitate worship, I provide guidance when appropriate. But without partners, our community will fail. Each of us brings are unique gifts to our shared table.  Our successes as a community have proven that though we still call it “membership,” we are truly partners in an exciting creation.  This is why we ask everyone to pledge financially what they are able, but honor all who wish to join us on our search for spiritual meaning through a welcoming Jewish community.

We have 75 religious school students in 8 classes who gather every Sunday to learn what it means to be Jewish.  We have 15 middle school kids that will lead our youth group movement. More than 60 people are spread over 10 committees.  Nearly 100 people from the congregation are coming together for our community seder.

I am so blessed to have sacred partners.  Please partner with us as we continue to grow, moving rapidly towards a home of our own.

Posted in Building a Jewish Community, Lake Norman Judaism, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Bringing the Torah to Life and/or Bringing Life to the Torah

Wednesday, March 17th, 2010

At a session I attended at the recent Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR) Convention, we discussed our relationship with Torah.  Do we find greater meaning in our lives through the study of Torah? Or, do our lives impact how we view the text? Do we see ourselves in the text and in that way find comfort or holiness in ourselves because we share many of the same strengths, weaknesses, insecurities, flaws found in the Biblical characters?

I believe it is some combination of the two positions.  The text of our tradition and the text of our lives are traveling along the same road. Sometimes the flow of Torah infuses our lives with meaning and sometimes the river of our lives flows into the Torah, bringing it to life.  The intertwining and flows of Torah and our lives can be an exciting dance.

Just some thoughts…..

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The Well Connected Rabbi and Congregation

Saturday, March 13th, 2010

Social media is the wave of the future. A session at the most recent CCAR Convention challenged us to explore how Facebook and other social media can be entry-points for community and tools to increase connection.

Facebook (twitter, etc. etc) is a river. While it is difficult to have a constant stream of information flowing by, through, and around us, if we do not enter the stream, then we will not be able to meet our congregants when they choose to “dip” in to the great Facebook river.

Facebook is a conduit for connection and is often less “scary” as a first point of contact than a synagogue or a formal Jewish educational experience.  It is another way that people in every generation can link in to “their people,”  Am-LNJC (The People of the Lake Norman Jewish Congregation), and therefore also the larger Jewish People.

So, congregants, please join Facebook and link with me.  Join our community’s facebook group. Help us share the dynamic congregation we are literally building.

I hope to use Facebook to enhance our communal impact here in the Lake Norman and Charlotte region, and across North Carolina. When people are thinking about a geographical move, they should know that a new, loving community is based here in Davidson.

Some links to have:

Our Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=56271990719&ref=ts

My Blog, The Lake Norman Rabbi: www.mjshields.com

Our Causes Page on Facebook:  http://apps.facebook.com/causes/birthdays/286147?m=d1bec4b9

Posted in Building a Jewish Community, Lake Norman Judaism, Uncategorized | No Comments »

The Reform Congregation of Lake Norman

Thursday, March 4th, 2010

I feel so lucky to be the full-time rabbi of the Reform Congregation in Lake Norman (www.lakenormanjc.org) but also to be a part of a community in the Lake Norman region that is blessed with a liberal/Reform and a conservative choice.

If one is a Conservative Jew, Beth Shalom of Lake Norman can provide an intimate setting in which more traditional and ritually conservative Jews can connect and find support in navigating the ins and outs of Conservative Judaism (dietary laws, halakhah, t’fillin, mikveh, etc.)

Our Reform/liberal Congregation (as written in the Movement’s Statement of Principles) enables  the Jewish People and individuals to embrace “innovation while preserving tradition, to embrace diversity while asserting commonality, to affirm beliefs without rejecting those who doubt, and to bring faith to sacred texts without sacrificing critical scholarship.”

Reform Judaism recognizes the realities that Jews face in the 21st century, and seeks to facilitate authentic connection with Jewish culture, religion, and tradition.  Reform Judaism helps individuals and families as they strive for religious meaning, moral purpose and a sense of community.

See the following link for the full “Statement of Principles of the Reform Movement” adopted in Pittsburgh in 1999.

http://ccarnet.org/Articles/index.cfm?id=44&pge_prg_id=4687&pge_id=1656

An Excerpt from “A Commentary on the Principles of Reform Judaism”

The rise in mixed marriage and the embrace of Jews of patrilineal descent (children of one Jewish parent who were raised as Jews) had changed the demographics of the Reform Movement, contributing to a growing desire for increased learning, spiritual expression, and guidelines for Reform ideology. Women’s increased influence in the Movement (from three women ordained in 1976 the number had grown to over 250 by 1999) had changed much of the language and approach of Reform, and the Movement had pioneered in opening doors of Jewish life (including ordination) to gay and lesbian Jews.

Reform Judaism is moving forward and can lead the way in revitalizing Judaism in the 21st century.

Reform Judaism is committed to:

The complete equality of women and men in Jewish life.

Reaching out to all Jews across ideological and geographical boundaries.

Inclusivity: providing a home for all who seek a Jewish experience.  Our movement is enriched by those who choose to convert to Judaism and the non-Jewish partners raising Jewish children.

For the full text see:  http://ccarnet.org/Articles/index.cfm?id=45&pge_prg_id=4687&pge_id=1656

I look forward to the months and years ahead as we build a vibrant Jewish congregation, with a home of our own, in the Lake Norman and North Charlotte region.  Join us on this adventure: www.lakenormanjc.org.

If you are looking for a conservative congregation Beth Shalom of Lake Norman is a loving and warm congregation: www.bslkn.org


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Posted in Building a Jewish Community, Lake Norman Judaism, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Miracles

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010

“The early Rabbis (200-600 AD) affirmed the truth of the miracles in the Bible, yet still had trouble accepting miracles that violated the laws of nature. They resolved this tension by explaining that the miracles were in fact natural events engineered by God. For example, God planned the earthquake that would bring down the walls of Jericho. Some Jewish thinkers (Saadiah Gaon and Maimonides) posited that descriptions of miracles were not meant to be taken literally. They were instead meant to reflect a prophetic experience of dream or vision. We can view miracles in the Bible in a metaphorical or allegorical manner.

On a practical level, I personally believe that we bring about miraculous events through our partnership with others and our sense of holiness (God) in our lives as we perform sacred acts of Tikkun Olam (repairing the world). Miracles require that we do our part. ‘Pray as if everything depends on God but then act as if everything depends on you.’”

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