Spirituality MAKING Cover Story Room from page 113 Rabbi Alon Tolwin, Aish's execu- tive director, said, "The unaffiliated who only attend High Holiday serv- ices are not attending to be social or out of membership loyalty. They are not looking to be part of a big fash- ion show with a rabbi who does all the talking," he said. "They are looking for a meaningful experience. They believe — correctly — that Judaism owes them that." Rabbi Syme Rabbi Nevins Rabbi Spolter Rabbi Klein Where To Go 4114 9/10 2004 114 Most congregations welcome non- members in one way or another. Some sell or give High Holiday tick- ets; others create special non-mem- ber services or extend an invitation to attend Yizkor or youth service at no cost. Still others may have limit- ed seats available and may stipulate the least-busy times for non-member attendance. At several area synagogues stu- dents and those new to the commu- nity are welcomed at no charge. While most congregations hope the non-members will later join their synagogues, it is not a stipula- tion. At the Reform Congregation Chaye Olam, the cost of High Holiday tickets is deducted from membership dues should the indi- vidual choose to join the synagogue. At the Reform Temple Kol Ami, High Holiday tickets are not sold, but prospective members are given a free 90-day trial membership, which includes High Holiday tickets and participation in all programs and events of the synagogue, except the religious school. A few congregations offer a unique service geared solely for those who are not members of the congregation. For example, Conservative Congregation Shaarey Zedek is offer- ing a service for non-members for the first time. Temple Beth El has been holding an unaffiliated service for the last eight years, spurred by Rabbi Daniel Syme's memories as leader of an unaffiliated service at the Conservative Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue, even before he entered rabbinical school. "Services were held at Ford Auditorium — for 1,000 people — who were not 'members of a syna- gogue," he said. "I never forgot the experience of being there for those who had nowhere else to go. "When I came to Beth El, I said I have to do this here. Ever since, we've held a special service — with 400-600 Rabbi Shemtov Rabbi Tolwin Rosenberg Usher people — welcoming those who are not members of a congregation on the High Holidays." While congregations typically include High Holiday seating with memberships, a few, mainly those affiliated with the Orthodox Chasidic Chabad movement, do not ask con- gregants to pay membership dues and therefore do not issue High Holiday tickets. "At the Chabad Jewish Center of Commerce, no membership is required to attend services," said Estie Greenberg, who, with her husband, Rabbi Schneor Greenberg, runs the synagogue. "Services are free and open to all regardless of affiliation, during the year and on the High Holidays." While formal membership is new at the Shul-Chabad Lubavitch, the majority of the 800 congregants expected at the Orthodox synagogue during the course of the High Holidays will be unaffiliated. "We understand that finances are Rabbi Silberberg Yamron Greenberg Schindler needed to operate our synagogue, but we want to be a place where Jews can be together with other Jews and not have that stand in the way of their participation," said Rabbi Kasriel Shemtov. "Our goal is to welcome the unaf- filiated and hope they become more involved in Judaism — and also that they feel comfortable and welcomed enough to keep coming and to become members." In the two years since the Shul opened its doors, Rabbi Shemtov said many who started as High Holiday- goers now are members. "One person came for two years only for Yizkor on Yom Kippur," he said. "Then, all of a sudden, he started to come twice a week as a congregant and a volunteer." rome Join Us' For some, whose lives have been devoted to organizing and leading congregations, the concept of wanting to attend services but not work to sustain a synagogue is baffling. "It has always surprised me there are those who, for whatever reason, choose not to support a synagogue and insure its stability and well- being, yet still expect there to be a synagogue to serve their needs," said Rabbi Joseph Klein of the Reform Temple Emanu-El, where non- members may attend Yom Kippur afternoon services. "I don't feel a synagogue has a responsibility to serve the needs of people who don't care if it exists or not." While the Conservative Adat Shalom Synagogue welcomes hun- dreds of non-member guests on the High Holidays and will make accommodations for those with dif- ficulty paying for tickets, Rabbi Daniel Nevins is frustrated that there are unaffiliated Jews. "Most Jews want the services of synagogue and a rabbi at lifecycle events and major holidays and feel better knowing there is a congrega- tion nearby, even if it is 'the shul I don't go to,"' he said. "Yet many feel no inclination to identify with those institutions and no responsibility to support them." Far beyond the institutional con- cerns are those he feels for Jewish families. "Those minimally affiliated Jews are placing the Jewish identity of their families in great jeopardy by staying at the periphery of our com- munity," Rabbi Nevins said. "The only way to preserve Jewish identity is to make it meaningful. And the only way to make it meaningful is to give it the spiritual, intellectual and communal depth that it deserves." Rabbi Nevins' concerns are that those who attend only High Holiday services "want their religion a la carte. They select the experiences they want and find the place and the professional who can provide it," he said. "They really don't care about ideology all that much. They just want a warm experi- ence with minimal commitment." But Charles Usher maintains that attending High Holiday services at Aish Detroit is a step upward in his Jewish observance. "I may not attend services during the year, but I consider my myself a Jew, and I believe in Jewish tenets, and I like to think I do good things on a daily basis," he said. "Besides, I don't remember reading anywhere that God says you must be a member of a congregation to be a good Jew."