Blog

As world events unfold and we find ourselves living in a heightened antisemitic world, we can easily become paralyzed; feeling fearful and isolated, not knowing who our friends are and with whom we can feel safe.

I feel fortunate to participate in the Sandy Springs Interfaith Clergy Association (SSICA), a group of spiritual leaders from Sandy Springs who meet once a month for lunch to discuss the needs and challenges of our community and to support one another as we lead our respective communities through the seasons of life. The non-Jewish clergy and congregations in our community have shown up for us with messages of love and support these last 3 weeks. It has been quite heartening to know they are our friends both in good times and bad.

As a group, we also all support the Community Assistance Center (CAC). This shared dedication to this vital institution is the genesis of the Love Your Neighbor concert to take place next week. Participants from Mount Vernon Presbyterian, Holy Innocents, the Weber School, B’nai Torah, Or Hadash and multiple clergy members will be offering an inspiring show to benefit the CAC, which helps thousands of people experiencing food insecurity, joblessness, homelessness and general hard times.

It’s fair to ask if we should even be holding a benefit concert right now. The Jewish community needs us. Israel needs us. But the answer is an unequivocal, yes. Not just because it has been in the works for months, but because it is exactly now that we need to stand with our neighbors and see each other’s humanity. We want others to see our humanity, so we model it by how we show up for others. We can both live with our pain and help relieve the pain of others at the same time. We can join with our neighbors of many faiths for an important communal cause, and share with them our struggles and invite them to support us.

The world needs goodness of all kinds. Our local community continues to need us, even as the global Jewish world and Israel need us. It is a both/and, not an either/or.

I hope you will join us on Thursday, November 9 at 7:00 pm for this inaugural benefit concert. It is sure to be a fun and inspiring show. The link for registration follows (registration is being handled by B’nai Torah, but the concert is at Sinai). 
https://www.bnaitorah.org/form/cacconcert

With prayers for better days ahead and wishes for Shabbat Shalom,

Beth