Small Groups – Chavurahs at Tamid

From the desk of Rabbi Darren Levine

Dear Members and Friends,

Tomorrow night marks another new chapter for our congregation and I feel blessed and overjoyed for what it means for our community.

We built Tamid as a hub and spoke model which in my opinion is the way of community building in the 21st century. Our hub is virtual and our spokes are live. Our hub is anchored by our website and is the weave of email messages, Facebook postings, tweets, and the digital interactions we all have with each other. On the other hand, our spokes are the live interactions that that happen at our downtown-wide events and the gatherings and classes that take place in FIDI, Battery Park City, West Village, Tribeca, and the Lower East Side.

We’re the only synagogue in America that’s organized like this and it allows us to put our time, energy, and resources into what matters most, you and your families, your children, your friendships,  and your Judaism.

Tomorrow night there are two neighborhood shabbat dinners:  50 Murray in Tribeca and Asphalt Green in Battery Park City. The goal is to create Jewish community and friendships with the people that live in your hood, on your streets and in your buildings. On Nov. 15 we’ll be meet in the West Village  and on Jan. 24, we’ll gather in FIDI and the Lower East Side.

We’re calling these Chavurahs, Hebrew for groups.

Neighborhood groups are only one type of Chavurah. We’re also building Chavurahs based on your interests. We’ve got a Book Club Chavurah, a Russian-American Chavurah, and we’re starting an Empty-Nesters Chavurah and a New Family Chavurah for infants and tots. There are an unlimited number of Chavurahs to be created, and I hope that you’ll offer to start one around what interests you. All of these small groups are led and organized by our members. 

This way of organizing ourselves will allow for us to deepen our friendships and meet new people based on geography, interests, and stage of life. They’re casual, informal, intimate, and a great way to give your friends a your neighbors a taste of Tamid – so please invite them along to the next chavurah gathering. It’s also a great way for your Hebrew School aged children to rack up stars on their chart.

A sincere thanks to Jennifer Thaler for helping coordinate our groups and to Tammy Meltzer, Allison Powell, Jill Kaufman, and Alla Liberman for organizing the Chavurahs – helping to give our downtown neighbors a real sense of community and connection to Judaism.

I hope that you find a Chavurah or two that work for you – if not, let me know and let’s create it.

Best Tamid wishes,

Darren