Monthly Update from RJCC President, Kim Werker

Shalom, friends.

I work in publishing, which is, as the kids say, a whole vibe in the summertime. The publishing industry has historically downshifted in July and August, with Summer Fridays (half days or even days off) being a common practice.

But this summer, all manner of common practices are being called into question, and even as my family is at a cabin in the semi-wilderness of the Interior of BC for a couple of weeks, I am working pretty much every day—though sometimes it’s from a lawn chair beside a lake. I’m catching up from a wildly disrupted spring, as I imagine many small business owners are doing, no matter the industry they operate in.

Summer is also a time when synagogue boards and the board work of other Jewish communal organizations typically slow down. Meetings are skipped as many lay leaders and clergy take time off and time away, programming is sparser, Shabbat candles are lit from travel kits in cabins, cottages and hotel rooms around the country and around the world.

But in the Canadian Jewish community, this summer has also not been so slow. As local events, national events and world events keep us on alert, we may struggle to feel that we can unplug fully amid what can feel like an unrelenting news cycle of pain, suffering, anger, hate, and fear.

As we navigate these overwhelming circumstances both very close to home and very close to our hearts, it is beginning to feel, to me at least, as if some Canadian Jews are beginning to turn on each other. As family members, fellow congregants, community leaders, and organizations begin to turn their despair and their overwhelm to blaming each other for any number of sins. Sins of hardened hearts, sins of exclusion, sins of indignation, sins of selfishness, sins of betrayal.

Our Reform community is both solidly committed to our shared values of progressive Judaism, and wildly diverse in how each of us acts on those values. We agree that tikkun olam—repairing the world—is a core Jewish value, and within our community there are no doubt passionate arguments about, for example, whether or how much the government should tie oil and gas into plans for economic security.

Perhaps there is no more passionate an argument among Canadian Jews this summer than about what the Israeli government should or should not be doing, and about what the Canadian government should or should not be doing.

From a place of shared belief that all human beings are created b’tzelem elohim—in the image of God—if you ask two Reform Jews what policies should be enacted to bring the hostages home; to end the suffering in Gaza; to bring safety, security and dignity to all; to forge, finally, peace in Israel/Palestine, you will no doubt get three opinions.

I see, more and more, Jewish organizations speak as if all the Jews they represent agree. Yet, we know from our own conversations and from our own experiences that this is not the case. We know that within our own community we struggle to keep our tempers when arguments get heated. We know that emotions are high, even feverish.

It is a strength of our Canadian Reform community that we are so diverse in our opinions and so steadfast in our shared values. Focusing on those values enables us to navigate the diversity of opinions we encounter from a place of open-mindedness, open-heartedness, and, I hope, trust. Trust that the reason each of us feels strongly is that we feel personally engaged and affected. Trust that no one opinion could possibly be correct in the context of a challenge that has gone unsolved for generations. Trust that each of us must contribute to keeping the peace at home—shalom bayit—even as we navigate the unsettling feeling that this time is different, that the status quo might be shifting, that more is uncertain or uncontrollable than we can bear. No one of us has the right answers. No one of us can solve the problems we face. But all of us can work to ensure the fabric of our community—our home—remains strong by keeping exactly that in mind.

As summer begins to wind down and we look ahead to the fall and to the High Holy Days, I hope we can focus just a bit, every day, on the things that tie us together rather than the things that drive us apart. It’s hard work, but perhaps especially in times like these, the work is crucial to our wellbeing as individuals, as Reform Jews, and as a People.

If your local community would like to facilitate difficult conversations from a place of shared values and trust, get in touch and we will connect you to resources from the Union for Reform Judaism to help.

Kim Werker

President, Reform Jewish Community of Canada

PS A warm welcome to Rabbi Emma Gottlieb, who will be installed at Am Shalom Congregation in Barrie, ON, in early September!

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