Does Judaism
Speak To
The Heart?
e Jews belong. We belong to or-
ganizations and institutions, synagogues
and centers, federations and defense organ-
izations. We contribute to building drives
and to Jewish appeals and we give gen-
erously.
We are public Jews led by public officials
and public personnel carrying out the man-
date of public agenda. We maintain social
welfare, educational, recreational and
cultural Jewish activities, support Israel,
fight anti-Semitism locally and abroad. We
serve on committees, commissions, task
forces, boards of directors and boards of
overseers. We attend meetings, conven-
tions, conferences, assemblies. We have
been trained in the skills of public life. We
know Robert's Rules of Order, how to for-
mulate a motion, add an amendment, call
the motion. We are organization Jews.
Who are we, alone after the conference
is over, after the last gavel has been
pounded? Who are we after Ne'ilah, after
the last shofar is blown? Who are we, not
as delegates or solicitors or representatives
or dues-paying members or members of the
minyan, but as individual Jews?
Who am I alone in the hospital bed after
the visitors have gone, after the shivah
mourning period is over and the minyan
has left? What personal Jewishness do I
Rabbi Schulweis is spiritual leader of Valley
Beth Shalom Congregation in Encino,
California. This article is excerpted from an
essay in his recent collection, "In God's
Mirror."
28
FRIDAY, MARCH 6, 1992
CLOSE-UP
We
emphasize
outreach,
but
Inreach'
comes
first.
RABBI HAROLD SCHULWEIS
Special to The Jewish News