| Original Message |
Anonymous (no login)
Posted Nov 6, 2006 4:44 PM
Sure, the JCC is nondenominational, but it purports to be Jewish. Absent a commitment to Jewish values, it's just a health club with CJP funding.
A shared Jewish institution which closes on Shabbat is in fact not antagonistic; it is rather an example to all that Judaism stands for something that transcends the world's 24/7, always-open mentality. Even if Boston's denominations observe Shabbat in different ways, is it not important to send the message that we make a distinction, any distinction, between Shabbat and the rest of the week?
I first learned about Shabbat twenty-two years ago in a JCC preschool class. I came from a secular home, and I bet most of the other kids did, too. I couldn't internalize the lesson at that age, but it doubtless had a lingering impact through two decades of spiritual progress to where I am today.
Even if the beauty and transcendance of the Sabbath is over a preschooler's head, kids have an easy time recognizing hypocrisy. How would today's four-year-olds interpret a lesson that's flouted by the very institution providing it?
So, when you talk about drawing the less-observant toward frumkeit, consider how these "unsatisfactory" little matters can have a tremendously positive effect. Let's not antagonize, but let's not coddle or deceive, either. |
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