What I want for my birthday and making a difference

So friends - for my 49th birthday, which is coming up next week, I'm looking for 49 people to give $49 to Kehillat Tzur Hadassah.

I was talking tonight with a friend who is a leader in a Modern Orthodox congregation down the street. I told her that when we lived in Jerusalem, it didn't matter which congregation we belonged to. All the synagogues we were part of had plenty of people active in running them. No one particularly noticed if we came to shul or not (except maybe if our kids made too much noise).

Since we've moved to Tzur Hadassah, it's not really like that. Somehow over three and a half years we've gotten very involved in synagogue leadership. I've written elsewhere on this blog about what an eye opener this has been for me. I have so much more appreciation for the lay leaders of the congregation I served back in the states. With a minyan of other families, we find ourselves putting heart and soul and endless hours into keeping the congregation going. It's hard work and many times I feel we are not so successful.

Meanwhile, we're sustaining non-Orthodox Judaism in the Judaean Hills, which is actually no mean feat. We have ultra-Orthodox communities on either side of our town and a growing modern Orthodox community in our town. Of the so-called secular population, there are plenty for whom the synagogue they don't go to has to be orthodox. And many people in town just don't care whether there are synagogues of any kind here.

We keep going - with a preschool, a bar/bat mitzvah program, plans to start a youth group, weekly services, holiday programming, blood drives, food collections, etc. etc. We offer a non-orthodox alternative and lots of families want that, even if it's only a few times a year. The kids in the shul and community are living a different kind of Judaism than they can get elsewhere - it's something that's very important to me to offer my children.

If you've read this far, I know you are wondering how you can make that $49 contribution for my birthday. Just go to http://kbyonline.org. Then go to step 1 on the right and choose "Tzur Hadassah". And follow the rest of the instructions to donate.

Your support of Kehillat Tzur Hadassah will be a wonderful birthday present. And for every dollar donated, yes every dollar, I pledge to spend 15 minutes during the coming year either working for the synagogue (yes, I'm doing it anyway) or parenting Gabi and Sasha (yup, I'm doing that too). And if you ask nicely, I might even agree to spend a free minute or two enjoying my partner (instead of discussing synagogue business). So make that donation today! and THANK YOU!!!!!!