Here are some concerns and questions we’ve heard and our responses to them:
- There is another faith tradition in my background or in our household … Great! That is common in our community and has been common at many points in Jewish history. We don’t just welcome interfaith families, we celebrate them and the richness we each bring to participating in our Jewish community.
- I’m unsure if I believe in God? That’s OK. Many of us are wrestling with that too. Belief in God has never been a dogmatic part of Jewish life. The more you learn and listen as part of our Kehilah, the more you realize that a “God-allergy,” as Kehilah founding member Rabbi Jessica Shimberg calls it, is a common response to a steady diet of pediatric notions of God … the man with the long white beard on a throne in the heavens, passing judgment on our actions and punishing us for bad behavior. How can that notion of God speak to a world so complex, so full of wonder, and so broken? How can that notion of God meet the challenges of our intellectual and spiritual rumination? You will find that we too don’t believe in that God that you don’t believe in. Rather, we embrace the ways in which our liturgical and spiritual practices foster a complex and deeply personal notion of the Sacred within the world, and that we can each be a manifestation of that sacred presence.
- How can I learn more? Come visit us! A great way to learn more about Sukkat Shalom is to join us for an event. Check the calendar and come to a service or learning event. We would love to meet you. For general questions, you can also email us at info@sukkatshalomcolumbus.org.