davis_square | Temple B'nai Brith Spring Open House: March 29, 11am-1pm

Temple B'nai Brith Spring Open House: March 29th, 11am-1pm

Looking for a vibrant, egalitarian, and welcoming Jewish community? Temple B'nai Brith is an independent Jewish congregation serving Somerville and surrounding communities for over 100 years. We offer regular Shabbat and alternative worship services, High Holiday services, and other Jewish holiday services; non-members are welcome!

We will hold an open house on Sunday, March 29th from 11am-1pm. Meet congregants, enjoy a light snack, visit the children's school in session, and meet our school staff. TBB is located at 201 Central St, in Somerville, just off Broadway in Winter Hill.

I'm a member of TBB, and I'm on the board of directors and a co-chair of the Membership Committee. I've been a member of TBB since sometime after I moved to Somerville, and really like the place! I'll be at TBB the morning of the open house (though it seems I'll probably be teaching a cooking class for much of the time), and otherwise can occasionally be found at Shabbat services, other holiday services, or various programs that catch my interest. Feel free to ask me more about Temple B'nai Brith!

www.templebnaibrith.org is our website. (The Open House announcement isn't there yet, but it will be.)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Thanks for posting this. Since it is six weeks away, please consider posting it again a week or so before the event.

No problem.

The Jewish community believes they are the only ones with the truth, right? If so, I don't see how it can REALLY level with non-Jewish and/or Atheist people. I mean, BS aside. Please, correct me if I'm wrong.

Well, it could be egalitarian *within* the community. Meaning, for example, that girls and boys don't have to sit on opposite sides of the room. Or, that a woman can read the weekly Torah portion.

obvious troll is obvious

That only indicates where YOU are coming from. Why else would you be so defensive?

That was totally out of line. Please re-read the community rules:

Racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia, sizism, ableism, and similar intolerances have no place here.

As I said "Correct me if I'm wrong". I heard no arguments. My EXPERIENCE is that the Jewish community around here is not that open to non-Jewish or non-religious folks. And Ron, I think you forgot the term you really wanted to use in your list.

Hi Ron. Can you explain how that rule applies to nvidia99999's comment? I mean, I'm familiar with her charming trolling, and she seems to be quite inappropriate and snarky at times, but if you're going to throw the book at someone it has to make sense. I just don't see the "intolerances" there.

Well, some people see anti-semitism everywhere...

This comment feels unnecessarily antagonistic.

I know you probably think you're being tremendously witty, but you've stepped pretty far into 'troll' area, and you're also bordering pretty closely on 'asshole' area too. I am apparently the third moderator of the community to ask you to knock it off this week. You need to stop.

Nothing to do with trying to be witty. Again, read my note and reply with something of substance. Such as: "No, in my experience, the Jewish community is really open to non-Jewish and/or non-religious people".

If you had simply asked whether non-Jews would feel welcome at the event or in the shul, without the insulting remarks, you would not have received the reaction that you did from the other moderator and me.

I consider the original poster here to be a friend, and I am also a member of her shul. So I did not appreciate seeing accusations hurled against the local Jewish community as a response to a simple event announcement post.

Edited 2009-02-13 19:53 (UTC)

The term "egalitarian" here has a pretty commonly-used meaning in terms of Jewish communities - it refers to equal participation by men and women
in Jewish ritual practice, such as reading from the Torah or counting in having a group "enough Jews" (10 people) present to recite certain prayers or read the weekly Torah portion. TBB is egalitarian, and in fact particularly concerned about interpreting ritual questions while being guided by this principle.

To address your question about "leveling with non-Jews and/or atheists": TBB is also open to participation by non-Jews, though in fact non-Jews don't participate equally in things like reading from the weekly Torah portion or reciting the Torah blessings. I'm sure we count plenty of Jewish atheists and agnostics among our members too - there are reason to participate in Judaism that have nothing to do with belief in God. I believe that most of the non-Jews who are members of our congregation have a Jewish partner or other Jewish family members though. Non-Jews attend events because they find something interesting about them, be it a concert or folk dancing session or class or talk. I don't know why someone would be motivated to attend events if they didn't have some connection or interest in Judaism, but they'd certainly be welcome to. Membership at TBB is officially open to anyone Jewish, to anyone who shares a household with someone Jewish, and to others on a case by case basis. We do have at least one member who is not Jewish, doesn't/never did live with anyone Jewish, and just likes to come to religious services at TBB.

As for your religious philosophy question - I wouldn't have a definitive answer on what truth there is or how to "level with" people who perceive things differently. But in my experience, Judaism is more about Jews believing that they are the ones with the obligation to follow and teach the Torah which their descendants have been doing since antiquity than believing we have "truth" and nobody else does...

Thanks for the explanation. Interesting to know the Jewish implication of the word.

OK, thanks, that is what I was looking for and what is needed to help get beyond stereotypes.

In the future, I hope you can think of ways to ask questions like this in ways which do get you the information you want, but don't unnecessarily insult or piss people off, because it is possible to do so. In this case, you were unaware of the well-established meaning of "egalitarian" as it applies to Judaism, but rather than considering the possibility that you might be lacking information, you jumped to conclusions in an aggressive-sounding way.

Temple B'nai Brith Spring Open House: March 29, 11am-1pm

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Perhaps it's vibrant, but frankly, I don't see how it can be egalitarian...

Re: Perhaps it's vibrant, but frankly, I don't see how it can be egalitarian...

Re: Perhaps it's vibrant, but frankly, I don't see how it can be egalitarian...

Re: Perhaps it's vibrant, but frankly, I don't see how it can be egalitarian...

Moderator note

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Mod note:

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Perhaps it's a troll, but here's a straight answer...

Re: Perhaps it's a troll, but here's a straight answer...

Re: Perhaps it's a troll, but here's a straight answer...

Re: Perhaps it's a troll, but here's a straight answer...