Three Things Sustain the World:
Torah, Worship, and the Performance of
Goodness.
Talmud, Masekhet Pirkei Avot 1:2
TORAH
The idea for this synagogue originated among a group of
people eager to extend their comradeship and love of Jewish learning into a
larger community. Torah and its study
are at the heart of our life as a congregation. At Shabbat and
holiday worship services, the reading of the
entire Torah portion is accompanied by public study, led by the rabbi and
concentrating on the text and its classical commentaries while stimulating, as
well, a free and spirited discussion about implications for contemporary Jewish
life.
Outside the framework of services, too, our aim is to bring
Torah closer to our congregants and our congregants closer to Torah. The weekly Talmud class is a focus of
spiritual and intellectual energies in our community, and classes in Hebrew and
in liturgical skills prepare congregants for involvement in religious services. We have established a vibrant school for our children,
designed to help them become fully familiar with Jewish texts and
practices. We have begun, and plan to
expand, a program to publish works related to Judaism and the Jewish people.
In brief, we are determined that all within our
congregational family come to understand, experience, and hold in their
possession the authentic sources and traditions of Judaism—the impetus, after all, of our founding.
PRAYER
Shabbat and holiday services at Or Zarua, to which all are
welcome, are conducted in accordance with the traditional order of prayer, and
with the active participation of men and women alike.
Following the principle that God dwells in the presence of a
community, we have returned to a model of worship in which the bimah is in the center of the congregation. From that central point, facing the Ark, the
ba’al tefilah leads the worshippers in prayer; and from that same point the
Torah is read.
Behind the physical arrangement is a religious purpose: to
help reinvigorate the idea of the Conservative synagogue as a house of
assembly, of the prayer leader as a messenger, and of the congregation as a
true community.
We aspire, through the discipline of classical means, to
experience that state of personal and communal transcendence which is, at once,
the promise and the reward of divine service.
Young and old, married and single, in blessing, praise, and petition, in
speech, silent devotion, and song, we gather to celebrate together the
indwelling of God.
THE PRACTICE OF
GOODNESS
As Jews drawn together by spiritual conviction, we are
impelled both by divine command and by our own religious energies to see to the
welfare of our fellows.
Part of our responsibility as a religious institution is to
attend to the greatest human needs immediately around us, and to alleviate
suffering insofar as it lies within our capacity: firstly among our own, then
also in our physical neighborhood.
Toward the larger Jewish community and toward Jewish society
around the world we gladly accept our obligation to contribute what we can for
the common good, and actively to protect, defend, and enhance the honor of the
Jewish people.
Finally, our tie to Zion and to our fellow Jews in the state
of Israel is unconditional and unbreakable—a solemn and exalted religious duty
whose fulfillment will be among our chiefest joys.
Our name,
Or Zarua, is taken from Psalm 97, verse 11: “Light is sown for the righteous,
and joy for the upright of heart.” In
founding Congregation Or Zarua, we pray that out of light may issue light. Out of that infinite yield of light freely
bestowed upon the world by a profuse and loving Creator, May we, in turn, seed,
nurture, and cultivate light, and live to scatter joy and light among ourselves
and our children, and amid the house of Israel.
BECOME INVOLVED!
When we say that we're a participatory synagogue we mean two things: first, that, as an egalitarian synagogue, everyone has equal opportunity to participate; and second, that our activities are led by congregants. This is perhaps most notable during services where you'll see that we don't have a hazzan or dedicated ba'al korei: rather, our services are led by members of the shul who are both extremely dedicated and capable. To us this is the essence of Or Zarua - that each person be able to participate to the level he or she desires and that noone feel relegated to being only an observer.
We hope that new visitors to our shul will be as captivated by Or Zarua as we continue to be and that you, should you wish to join us, will become actively involved in the daily rhythms of synagogue life!
Application to Join Or Zarua (Acrobat .pdf file)
