January-February 2008 corresponds to Tevet-Shevat-Adar I, 5768 in the Hebrew calendar, and is another long stretch in the Jewish year without a holiday, except for Tu B’Shevat. Not to worry; there are an abundance of mitzvot to perform, texts to study, social action events to take part in, and, of course, services to attend. When our only sense of Jewish accomplishment stems from celebrating a holiday or writing out our dues check for our membership at Tree of Life, we are depriving ourselves in a major way of the many benefits of being Jewish.

One of those benefits, perhaps the most important of all, is the continuing reinforcement of a sense of belonging to a community, which carries a very clear message: You are not alone. To quote Harold Kushner, “In a society that segregates the old from the young, the rich from the poor, the successful from the struggling, the house of worship represents one place where the barriers fall and we all stand equal before God.” At our daily Minyan, there are no barriers, no impediments to participation, no litmus tests of any kind. Within the context of the daily prayer ritual, there are numerous opportunities for private prayer and reflection, for an “outburst of the heart.”

One of those opportunities is the weekly Torah reading. For this calendar period, we read most of the Book of Shemot, telling of the Exodus from Egypt and the Revelation at Sinai. In these readings we get to know the many individuals whose part in this great saga is noted almost in passing. But who can forget Shifra and Puah, the two midwives who defied Pharaoh’s order to kill all the male babies they delivered? And what about Moses’s sister Miriam, who watched over him as a baby and arranged for him to be nursed by his own mother after his rescue by Pharaoh’s daughter? There are so many events in Torah which focus on the courage and devotion of ordinary individuals who appear so briefly in the narrative, but who nonetheless play a vital role in emancipation from slavery in Egypt and the survival and ultimate triumph in the wilderness. The point is, ordinary people have a key role to play in the vitality and strength of the Jewish community. Yes, we love our great scholars and philanthropists, we admire our leaders and social activists, and we revere our Rabbis and teachers, but the lesson of Torah is clear: we all have a part to play, and playing that part, however minor it may appear, can provide a great sense of oneness, of belonging, to the great, ever changing, always striving Jewish community.

So, come to morning Minyan already! You can participate in numerous ways, as you please. Just being with us is so precious; when you help make up a Minyan, when you are the one who makes it possible for us to chant the Bar’khu or recite the mourners Kaddish, you will feel that inner sense of peace and calm which comes whenever we do something we know is right. And, you get breakfast and the conversation and acceptance which come with it, without extra charge. It’s a wonderful way to start to your day.

Joe Charny,
Morning Minyanaires Correspondent