A synagogue's shoulds...

Synagogue of Symbolic Exemplar
In Rabbinical school, I read this book, Rabbi as Symbolic Exemplar which talks about how as Rabbis, we are symbols of people's Judaism, of all the hopes and dreams they have, all the SHOULDS of being Jews that they maybe cannot fulfill or want to fulfill…well, we embody all of that for people just because we are called "rabbi." It is a daunting responsibility and I have rejected it for a while until this week at the synagogue when I started seeing IT as a symbolic exemplar. I began asking the question-how SHOULD a synagogue function? What role should it play? How should it look?

I think the synagogue, the house of worship and house of prayer and house of study SHOULD be a place where we (clergy and staff and faculty and congregants) all together model the ideal. I want a green space with energy saver bulbs, no Styrofoam plates and energy efficient machinery. Motion sensor lights which are only on when you need them, left over food given to a food pantry or to other people in need, recycling (definitely recycling), minimal mailings and avid use of internet and other modes of communication like the phone and all the rest of the beautiful values Judaism teaches that we can embody. What if we insisted on saying in the synagogue "hey, sending a flier kills trees, let's have a phone tree to call one another to advertise the programs." What if insisted on saying in a synagogue that people are hungry and we have all this extra food, let's give it to them (They are hanging out down the street). What if insisted on saying in the synagogue people have nowhere to sleep, let's make a shelter.

Imagine what would happen if we made caring for the earth and one another a habit, what would happen in the lives of the congregants? It might be habit for them at home too. We could model that setting these things in place, yes it takes time and energy but saves time, energy and money in the end (particularly important today). We might be more conscious in our comings and goings of the widow, the orphan and the slave. We might just raise enough consciousness in the lives of the people who enter the house of God to make the broader community a home for God as well. If I were God, I would only live in a house that was truly a home in this way. Maybe by raising our awareness and insisting on it we could raise their awareness too and make a place where God felt truly welcome and we could live up to the name of the place in which we dwell….

Shoot, I have to go home and change my light bulbs. If I want this to happen, I better start with me.