by George Gazarek
I couldn’t help but smile as I looked at our list of upcoming major events and noticed that the majority of them involved portions of the community outside of Sha’are Shalom. This is a sign of a healthy congregation that looks beyond itself.
October 18th, we will participate in the Southern Maryland Jewish Community Picnic along with members of the other four Jewish congregations in Southern Maryland for the second time. November 1st, we will be hosting the Jewish Food Festival, where the entire community is invited. November 8th, we will be hosting a Kristallnacht Remembrance event, once again open to the entire community.
November 14th, we will host a Wine & Cheese Evening, where we can get to know our friends from Shaare Tikvah better. November 21st, we will once again participate in the Charles County Walk to End Homelessness. December 6th, we will be lighting our new six-foot high menorah at the La Plata Town Hall.
Our Sha’are Shalom Vice President, Nancy Gould, has joined an interfaith group in St. Mary’s County. At a recent meeting, Nancy shared many of our upcoming events with them, and their members expressed an interest in at least two of our events.
Every synagogue’s website I’ve seen claims that the congregation is “Warm & Welcoming.” But I think our small, intimate Sha’are Shalom is more Warm & Welcoming than most others. With all of our upcoming community-wide events, we have a real opportunity to be Warm & Welcoming to our neighbors – to be true ambassadors for Sha’are Shalom. Let us welcome all who come through our doors and make them feel like friends of our family.