What makes someone a member of a community?
I’ve been mulling this question over the past nine months while participating in an interfaith fellowship called Solidarity Circles. All of the other clergy were from Christian denominations and so I ended up learning more than I had before about the membership models of churches. It turns out that unlike in synagogues, where membership is tied to paying dues, someone can become a member of a church regardless of if they ever make a financial contribution.
Considering that this fellowship was exploring ways to make religious communities more equitable, sustainable and relational, I loved this idea that money had nothing to do with who gets to count as part of the community.
In a little over a week we will celebrate Passover and recount the story of the Israelites Exodus from slavery. Passover is the most celebrated Jewish holiday. While holidays like Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur may draw large crowds for services, in my experience, Passover feels the most communal of all the Jewish holidays.
I suspect the holiday’s popularity and communal feeling are due to the fact that seders tend to be smaller. Instead of being seated in rows, like at services, we sit face-to-face and interact with one another. The seder is also more democratic- anyone willing to take on the task of hosting a seder is able to and every guest, even young children, are empowered to be active participants. Perhaps the seder serves as a model for how religious communities could and should be.
Unfortunately, it can also be really expensive to host a seder. I’ve organized several community seders and it has always broken my heart hearing from people that they would like to attend but they could not afford a ticket. Passover catering is EXPENSIVE and in order to cover costs, the tickets to the seder were not cheap. But turning people away felt counterintuitive to the holiday considering we recite “May all who are hungry come and eat.” Shouldn’t everyone who wants a seat at the table be able to have one regardless of their financial situation? Shouldn’t everyone who wants to be part of a community be able to be a member even if they can’t afford it?
Yes! That is how it should be.
I’m thrilled that for Karov’s seder we are doing a hybrid model to keep costs low. Karov is having an entree catered and all guests are bringing sides, drinks and other necessary items for the meal. Even better is that the caterers are refugees from Venezuela, so in addition to having a tasty meal, we will be supporting them through our financial contributions.
As Karov offers more programs, we will soon need to start thinking creatively about how to cover the costs associated with education, Shabbat and holiday offerings, while also not conflating what it means to be a member with money. If that is a topic that interests you, please reach out. And, even if it is not your choice topic of conversation, you will likely hear from me asking for your input. All of your voices matter and I want you to have the opportunity to share your thoughts.
