Here and Now

From the pages of Kadima, the newsletter of Congregation Adas Emuno:

A Message From Our President

Dr. Lance Strate

Here and Now

Shana Tova! Happy New Year! As we celebrate the start of the year 5774 on the world's oldest calendar, we might take a moment to consider the many, many generations that have come before us, whose faith and commitment kept our tradition alive over the ages. We owe those generations more than we can ever repay, for all that they have given to us as inheritors of their tradition, and all that they have given to the entire world.

And so, we might take another moment to think about the debt that we can never pay back, and what we might do to pay it forward. We have a responsibility, an obligation, to the generations yet to come, to maintain the continuity of our tradition as one that is vital and evolving, and the unique form of religion and spirituality invented by the Jewish people, and that we continue to reinvent in every generation.

Our time is a very brief portion of our long, long history. But what is history, except a succession of such moments? And in each generation, there were individuals, heroes and sages, yes, but also and more importantly ordinary people like you and me, who did what needed to be done to respond to the challenges of their times, and keep the light of our faith burning, even in the darkest of times.

Adas Emuno is a small part of the greater Jewish community of our time. But what is the larger Jewish community, except a collection of congregations and associations such as our own? Each local community exists only through the presence and participation of individuals like us, all of us sages and heroes in our right. In keeping our little shul on the hill vibrant and strong, we are doing our part for the larger Jewish community of our nation, and our world.

Our time is now. Our place is Adas Emuno. Be a part of it! Be active! There is no substitute for being there. We need you to pitch in, volunteer, join a committee, contribute in whatever way you are able. Make 5774 an especially meaningful year by keeping faith with the generations of the future, and with the greater Jewish community all around the globe, by keeping faith with Adas Emuno here and now.