CBI Blogs

“If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.” – Martin Luther King Jr.

In just four days it will be Monday, October 31^st. The one-year anniversary of the evening when an arsonist, full of hate for us, attempted to burn down our synagogue. I will forever feel gratitude towards the stranger driving by who saw the flames and called 9-1-1, ensuring the fire department would arrive as quickly as possible. To Harold Wilensky, our then Director of Community engagement, for rushing into the sanctuary – through the smokey haze – to collect the Torahs from the ark, putting them in a safe place. To Lori Adelman, just months into her presidency, for arriving on the scene and having the hard conversations, in a state of shock at what she was witnessing.

We had plans to return to in-person worship the following Friday – November 5^th. Now, with no sanctuary to worship in, we were forced to adapt – again – as though continuously adapting through 1 ½ years of the pandemic hadn’t been enough. Fortunately, as so many of us know, some of our best work, ideas, and inspiration is born out of challenging moments. After some conversation with Rabbis Levy, Folberg, and other staff members Parking Lot Shabbat was born.

On Friday, November 5^th, 2021, we welcomed Shabbat in the small parking lot next to our Child Development Entrance with so much ruach (spirit). As memories of this Shabbat come flooding back, I find myself smiling. You came, you sang, there were glo-sticks, and dancing. On that Shabbat, and in the year since, we have proven time and again that the arsonist did not win. That our community could keep moving forward.

So, we look forward to commemorating this anniversary with another Parking Lot Shabbat on Friday, November 4^th @ 6:30 p.m. This service will be an in-person service only (if you are unable to attend and are hoping to honor a yahrzeit we will be offering our Shabbat morning worship service at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday and will be live-streaming the service to our YouTube channel). Please bring your camp chairs, blankets, and electronic devices so you can follow along with the words of our service. We will be sure to post a pdf of the slides to our website in time for you to download them and bring them with you!

As it is the first Friday in the month of November, we would typically be celebrating with a Family Service at 5:30 p.m. To be ready for our 6:30 p.m. service we will NOT be hosting the Family Service. Instead, we hope everyone will join us at 6:30.

The quote from Martin Luther King Jr. at the beginning of this blog seemed so fitting to us. This past year it has felt like we have been running, walking – even crawling, and it has all been so worth it. We have blossomed, we have grown, and we have created new partnerships beyond our address here on Shoal Creek. Thank you for being on this journey with us and I can’t wait to see what incredible things we achieve in the year to come.

Shabbat Shalom.