Five years ago today, on the 18th day of the Omer, corresponding to the attribute of netzach she’b’tiferet, my friends and I started a congregation in Harlem.
We didn’t mean to.
You see, we didn’t have any experience building synagogues. Many of us didn’t even grow up going to synagogues regularly. We were not rabbis, nor were we machers. But that fateful week we decided “let’s get together this Friday night.”
Our friend volunteered his garage. We pooled together our collective folding chairs and prayer books. We invited our friends. And now, five years later, we have engaged hundreds of households in prayer, celebration, learning, and volunteer service. We lead with our commitments to both deep rootedness in Jewish tradition and also outward-facing integration in our neighborhood, in one of the most vibrantly multicultural places in America.
The attribute of netzach is associated with endurance, and the quality of tiferetwith harmony. To endure in harmony is the blessing I offer today to all of us, whether we build communities, companies, social change efforts, or families. May the things we build endure precisely because of this unique kind of harmony — between rootedness in tradition and engagement with the broader world.
