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Suggest Early Reservations TR. 6-1057
tive or Reform Congregation; and
unqualified orthodoxy is rarely a
third choice; it is often no choice
at all.
The decision to make the first new
congregation in the community
Conservative or Reform is most oft
en made by vote, a democratic pro
cedure that provides something new
in Jewish history. The vote may
follow weeks of discussion, polls,
trial services, acrimonious or good-
natured debate and an excitement
about Judaism and religion in gen
eral that drives every other topic
of discussion, television, new cars,
the double-shift school session, late
commuting trains and wall-to-wall
carpeting into the background. But,
let us not deceive ourselves into
thinking that the matter is settled
by a vote. The arrival of the first
Rabbi in the congregation, the con
duct of the first services for the
High Holidays, the order of the
loyal opposition will keep the sub
ject of what type of congregation
is best for the Jews of Suburbia
going at a fever-pitch of excited
discussion for months and even
years, until the community has
grown to the dimensions of a sec
ond synagogue and the dissatisfied
Conservative group or the unhappy
Reform contingent will suddenly
decide that the time has come for
the formation of a second new con
gregation. While this seeming di-
visiveness may be deplored by those
who cry “unity” as a catchword,
it actually has beneficial results. It
keeps the synagogue organization
alert; it makes it evaluate what is
being done and planned; it removes
tensions caused by seeking to force
all men and minds into a single pat
tern; it stimulates the zeal of our
people as the leaders of the new
congregation go out and seek fol
lowers and members to join them.
It also prevents the congregation
from becoming too large, as well
might be the case in a new and
growing suburban community. In
the new suburban community
there are real social forces that
make Synagogue membership im
portant to status and self-respect,
with the result that the deplorable
condition of 50 to 75% of Jewish
families unaffiliated with the Syn
agogue in certain communities does
not prevail. The suburban com
munity begins to approximate the
situation of many of our smaller,
established communities, where up
wards of 75% of the total com
munity and sometimes as much as
95% are affiliated with the Syna
gogue. Under these conditions a
suburban community of two to
three thousand Jewish families
could not be Synagogue-centered in
one congregation.
There are a number of condi
tions in suburban life that affect
the character of the Synagogue. The
Synagogue building itself takes on
a new face and form. It is simple
by necessity and design. It re
quires a large plot for a spread-
out single story arrangement and
for a good-sized parking lot. You
can go to a suburban synagogue
without a hat as many do and
then take or leave a yarmulke, but
you can’t go without a car, and a
place to leave it is of prime im
portance. The class-rooms and soc
ial hall will take up a large part
of the Synagogue area. Many new
synagogues will for reasons of econ
omy have a large auditorium that
will serve as social hall and sanc
tuary. While the question of gymn
asium facilities will wait to be re
solved, a youth lounge and a soc
ial hall are "musts” that cannot long
be deferred.
The make-up of the congregation
in Suburbia influences its character
greatly. Membership is usually on
a family basis and women will ex
pect to sit with their husbands,
work with their husbands, have an
equal say at congregational meet
ings and hold office on the Board
of Trustees as do their husbands.
This makes orthodoxy at least in
these respects somewhat difficult, if
not impossible in Synagogue life.
The participation of members in
the Synagogue service becomes
more real in the suburban Syna
gogue, when many of them are
found in the Temple Choir, are
called to the reading of the Torah,
will conduct the services in the ab
sence of the Rabbi, teach in the
Religious School, publish Temple
bulletins and year books, serve as
traffic directors on Sunday morn
ings, gather for adult studies, join
in a Bible breakfast with the Rabbi
and even do a job of helping to
build, expand or decorate the Tem
ple structure.
The suburban synagogue provides
for the combination of religious,
social and educational activities.
The Sabbath Eve services are the
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For appointment with
Mr. Cliff
Call MElrose 6-6212
Open Evenings till 9
The Southern Israelite
9