Hear Our Voice

Dear Shma Koleinu,

Thank you.  Thank you 1000 times, thank you. You have made this possible.  You didn’t inherit this congregation from your parents or grandparents, or the many anonymous founders who came before.  Houston didn’t “need” another Reform congregation but you decided it needed something new.  We are not funded by a long accruing endowment or generational gravity.  We are the Mishkan, the tabernacle, the portable structure of the Israelites, whose whole, as Aritstotle taught, is far more than the sum of its parts.  Arks, Torah tables, ritual items, scrolls, books, speakers, microphones and these days, cameras, tripods, sound systems, virtual machinery, on their own is just a bunch of stuff.  When put together, all they form is a “set.” But with you, holy space. 

This is the beauty of Shma Koleinu – we bring Judaism to life in the midst of our lives.  This is only thanks, though, to you.  You believe in us.  You support us.  You encourage us and you challenge us.  (And by “us”, I mean you too!) We are so very grateful. 

There are so many today, right now, who are struggling to afford the basics of life, let alone a Thanksgiving feast.  In an effort to make the blessings of our lives matter even more, we would like to strongly encourage you today to make a donation in any amount to support the work of the Houston Food Bank.  Every dollar you donate to HFB provides three meals.  Imagine sitting at Thanksgiving tomorrow knowing that you personally fed one person for an entire day, one person who would otherwise have gone hungry. 

This is what it means to live life Jewishly.  This is why Shma Koleinu matters.  For sure, we need to take care of ourselves along this journey of life.  But along the way, some fall behind.  Let that not be the determination of their life.  Help them pick up the part they are carrying, without which, we will not be whole.

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