Shepping Nachas
Nachas is a Yiddish phrase that describes the warm feeling we get inside when we experience a combination of pride, joy and satisfaction. You might hear a grandparent say they are “shepping nachas” (scooping up nachas) upon seeing their grandchild read from the Torah.
The last few weeks I have shepped nachas from countless instances of watching Karov folks show up for one another and our community. Here are just a few examples:
Watching some of our youngest community members volunteer to perform at the seder in our Passover play.
A family asking what they could do to make planning the Passover seder easier and taking off my plate picking afikomen prizes.
A woman with experience in grant writing volunteering her time to assist with a grant application to help cover the cost of having our Torah repaired and an ark built.
Another family making a very generous donation to help get us closer to repairing our Torah.
And, when I reached out to some of you for help getting a GrubHub gift card for a community member experiencing a prolonged illness, everyone donated in less than 24 hours so that we were able to give a $650 gift card.
It was around this time last year when I started thinking seriously about trying to start a community in Southeast Metro Denver. I found myself imagining what it would have been like to live in a shtetl, where people were deeply ingrained in one another's lives and really showed up for one another.
I’d never actually experienced this type of community myself, despite having been very involved in Jewish life. And I wanted it for myself, my family and everyone else who didn’t yet have a tightnit community. I fantasized about creating a modern shtetl of sorts (minus the terrible living conditions and persecution, of course).
In just six months, Karov has really started to feel like the community I imagined. It gives me such nachas.
In a world that often feels bleak and like we’ve forgotten how to see one another's humanity, your generosity of spirit and action gives me so much hope. I am so excited to see what our community will look like in another six months.
