This year has flown by. Summer is almost here and B’nai Jehudah’s Shabbat in the Park is back.
Once again, we will be sweating together, sharing sweet treats, singing, and schmoozing on Shabbat. And we will do it as a community.
The first time I met the B’nai Jehudah community in person was at Gezer Park for Shabbat in the Park. Now, nearly one year later, we gather again for four phenomenal Erev Shabbat services in different locations with new unified community partnerships.
Our Kansas City Jewish community collaborates throughout the year for various programs (Selichot, the Ted Lasso Purim party, Yom HaAtzmaut, etc). Through our ongoing support of one another, and by pooling our collective resources and strengths, we can provide enhanced programming. One of my primary goals has been deepening these community partnerships and seeking out new opportunities, which allow B'nai Jehudah to collaborate more often with other synagogues and organizations - for the benefit of all.
I am thrilled that we will be praying together with two of our fellow Reform congregations this summer during Shabbat in the Park: New Reform Temple on June 17, and Congregation Beth Torah on August 20. We are looking forward to these inaugural Shabbat in the Park collaborations.
Our tradition teaches that when we build community together, we are stronger because of these relationships. When the Israelites set out to construct the Tabernacle - their portable sanctuary - they were reminded how important working together is.
According to Rabbi Mordecai Yosef of Izbica (d. 1854), “In building the Tabernacle, the entire Israelite community was joined in their hearts; no one felt superior to his fellow. At first, each person completed their own part of the construction… Only afterwards could they all see how their individual contributions to the building of the Tabernacle fit together perfectly, as if one person had done it all. Then they realized how each one of them had depended on the other…”
This Tabernacle was built at God’s request: “Vasu li mikdash, v’shachanti b’tocham – make for me a sanctuary, that I might dwell among them.” This summer as our Shabbat in the Park travels from location to location - and just as our Tabernacle did - we come together as partners in this community-building project; strengthening and deepening our connections to one another, while transforming parks into sacred spaces.
Shabbat in the Park is free of charge and is open to everyone who wishes to join us. To learn more about Shabbat in the Park and find dates and locations go to bnaijehudah.org/shabbat-in-the-park/.
Rabbi Stephanie Kramer is Senior Rabbi at The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah.