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Oct. 12, 2007
The OU reaches out
Tour of synagogues launches in Vancouver.
BAILA LAZARUS
Orthodox Union president Stephen Savitsky will visit Schara Tzedeck
Synagogue in Vancouver this weekend to attend services and to meet
with its leadership and congregation. The visit is the first of
10-city North American tour. The Independent spoke to Savitsky about
his trip.
JI: What is the purpose of this upcoming trip?
Savitsky: The purpose of the tour is twofold. One is to listen
and learn what's needed at the local level; because each community
is unique and their needs are different. It's very easy to sit back
at the corporate headquarters of the Orthodox Union and think that
we are the bastion of all knowledge and that we know everything,
but the real truth is when you go out and listen to people and you
hear what they have to say. Part of my tour is to spend time with
the leaders in each community. What are their problems? What are
their concerns? So we tailor-make a response for each individual
community.
Second, I want to impart the message of the Orthodox Union, that
we are an umbrella organization for all Orthodox Jews ... and the
message we have of the Torah life that we believe is the correct
way of life in conjunction with living in the modern world, but
at all times being guided and being focused on the precepts of the
Torah and responsibilities of the Torah Jew.
JI: What have you heard on previous tours with regards to
the challenges facing synagogues today?
Savitsky: Synagogues have to become, and should be, the focal
point of someone's life as a Jew. The synagogues should be such
a multifaceted premise, you're not just going there to say your
prayers, but you're going there because it's socially and culturally
rewarding; spiritually rewarding in may ways. We have to find ways
of making synagogue into the community centre where people want
to come for all of their needs. That's a challenge, but it's a challenge
we want to face.
JI: What about issues of youth and the youth movement?
Savitsky: We have a very good program. Our NCSY [National
Council of Synagogue Youth] has done a good job, but there's still
a lot to be done. We're still battling assimilation and intermarriage.
Those are real issues that are out there. What you have to do is
make people feel, especially young people, the pride in being Jewish
... with that comes a responsibility, with that comes an obligation
and with that comes an opportunity. That's the message we're giving
over to our youth.
JI: What kind of effect have some programs, such as Birthright,
had on youth?
Savitsky: I think it's a good program for young people's
identification with Israel, which is important. That invokes the
Jewish spirit of "Let me find out more," but it's just
one program. You have to take it to the next level, which is why
in the Jewish Agency they put together the massah program, where
you spend more time in Israel – six months or a year. I think
if everyone of our kids spent six months to a year in Israel, they'd
come back different.
Our own programs are very Torah oriented. We believe the Torah is
the central point in Jewish life.... If you understand about the
beauty, the wisdom, the spirituality of Torah, that's your connection
to the Jewish people, to Jews in Vancouver and Montreal and Toronto
and New York and Israel. We're not trying to tell someone this is
how you have to live your life; you should be a Torah Jew, you should
learn Torah. However you want to, take it to the next level.
JI: As you meet with different synagogues, have you noticed
changes in their challenges over the past 10 years?
Savitsky: Synagogues have certain issues that come up on
a regular basis. Synagogues are trying to become outreach centres....
How do we become a community synagogue so that every single person
in that community should feel comfortable in my synagogue. You can
come in whether you know a little or whether you know a lot, whether
you've prayed or haven't prayed, whether you know what a prayer
shawl is, whether you know what a siddur [prayer book] is
... it shouldn't make a difference.... Synagogues come to us and
say, "Well, how do we do that?" That's one of the things
we're going to talk about over the weekend.
For more information about Savitsky's visit, call the synagogue
at 604-736-7607.
Baila Lazarus is a freelance writer, photographer and
illustrator living in Vancouver. Her work can be seen at www.orchiddesigns.net.
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