I came to the Lake Norman region as the first full-time Rabbi more than two years ago. Looking back, I cannot believe what we have achieved.  The congregation has grown from 55 families to 120; from 40 children in our religious school to 85, and from limited monthly services, programming and community time, to weekly opportunities. Our children actually enjoy their religious school experience and our adults regularly take part in Jewish learning.

You may ask, what does being the Reform congregation mean:

As the Reform Congregation, we embody the ideals of the Reform Movement; introducing innovation while preserving tradition, embracing diversity while asserting commonality, affirming beliefs without rejecting those who doubt, and bringing faith to sacred texts without sacrificing critical scholarship.  We believe that all human beings are created in the image of God, and that we are God’s partners in improving the world. Tikkun olam— repairing the world — is a hallmark of Reform Judaism as we strive to bring peace, freedom and justice to all people.

In addition to our belief that Judaism must change and adapt to the needs of the day to survive and our firm commitment to Tikkun Olam, the following principles distinguish Reform Jews from other streams of Judaism.

• Reform Jews are committed to the principle of inclusion, not exclusion. Since 1978 the Reform Movement has been reaching out to Jews-by-choice and interfaith families, encouraging them to embrace Judaism. Reform Jews consider children to be Jewish if they are the child of a Jewish father or mother, so long as the child is raised as a Jew. 
• Reform Jews are committed to the absolute equality of girls and women in all areas of Jewish life. We were the first movement to ordain women rabbis, invest women cantors and elect women presidents of our synagogues. 

As one of my rabbis once wrote: “The synagogue is a kehilah kedoshah– a sacred community. Like a sukkah, it is constructed of many different branches woven together: the young, the old, the rich and the poor, the married and the unmarried, single parents, grandparents, gays and heterosexuals, non-Jewish spouses. The broader the Sukkah’s reach, the more tightly its branches are woven, the stronger it stands.  So, too, the synagogue:  the greater variety of people welcomed within it, the closer they feel to one another, the stronger the temple stands.”

Critical to our community is that we not only talk about building community and living out our values, but we do it. Join us as we take the next crucial steps in our congregational journey.

“We will take you along a new path – one that is very old, but completely new.” (Rabbi Natan of Bratslav)

B’Shalom (In Peace)

-Rabbi Michael Shields