blogs/brentspodek

אם אתה מאמין, שיכולין לקלקל, תאמין שיכולין לתקן.

If you believe it can be broken, believe it can be repaired.

So teaches Rebbe Nachman, illuminating a hard, but essential spiritual truth. 

The world is dynamic, and just as change for the worse is possible, so too is change for the better. Sometimes it really is the case that an enslaved people walks out of Egypt free, or no less miraculously, a lichen takes root on a rocky surface and life sprouts. 

Sometimes pandemics end, even if the end is not perfectly clean. 

We last met indoors as a community at Purim 2020 and God willing, we will meet indoors as a community again for Purim 2022 on Wednesday, March 16. 

Needless to say, we know that things can change at any point, but here is he provisional plan:

• For Purim, we invite those who can show proof of vaccination to celebrate with us indoors. Mask use will be welcomed, but not required. If you would like to be part of the megillah reading or purim spiel, please be in touch with me. 

• Our building hasn't been used much in the past two years, and it will take some work to organize and prepare our building. The BHA board is coordinating our clean up efforts, and if you are willing to pitch a hand to make that happen, please be in touch with Jesse Lunin-Pack.

• We anticipate moving more of our programs back into the building over the next month; during this transition period, please be sure to check the BHA calendar for location information for any program. 

That which is broken can be repaired, and that repair takes significant effort. For sure, there is work to be done on our building and on our programs, but that work alone will not repair that which has been broken in our community. 

A community is not simply programs and a building; a community is people who are committed to a common project. A community is not a series of transactions, in which some people build and some people approve or reject those offerings - a community is what we build together. BHA is a place where, at our best, there are no “consumers” of Jewish life, only “producers.” There are no bystanders.

Things will not be perfect as we reopen; they were not perfect before, either. 

If BHA is to move forward, I hope that members of this community - including you, dear reader - will commit to our common project. 

It will still be the case that our programs are earlier than you like, or perhaps later. I hope you will be there anyway. It will still be the case that there are too many children present, or too few, or it will be too sunny or too rainy. I hope you will be there anyway. 

Nothing that the clergy, staff or volunteers of BHA can do will make things perfect. I hope you will be there anyway. 

As we find our way to literally, physically, come together again, perhaps, with the help of heaven and the courage of our own hearts, we can repair some of what has been broken in our wonderful and inevitably imperfect community over these past two years. 

With blessings,

Rabbi Brent