Last month a congregant asked me the following question, "I'm Jewish. My spouse is not Jewish. Can we be buried together at Sinai Temple's cemetery?"

It was a very focused question, and I think it's important to share it with you because, in between the lines, I suspect the congregant may have been asking an even bigger question. "If one of us is Jewish and the other isn't, how do we belong in the Sinai community altogether?"

I hope most of you reading this message already know the answer to this question. Our congregation is home to all.

It's true that I don't ask non-Jews to recite the Hebrew blessing at the Torah when their child becomes a Bar or Bat Mitzvah, but I think any non-Jewish member of Sinai who has ever participated in his/her child's Bar/Bat Mitzvah knows how significantly and respectfully he or she was involved. Each was invited to join his/her Jewish spouse when the Torah blessing was said and the non-Jewish parent was invited at that very precious moment to share a personal message for the child.

As I said last year during Yom Kippur, we are all in this together. In fact, our community is enriched and strengthened because so many of the non-Jews who belong to Sinai give us their heart and soul. We are grateful.

Beyond that, however, I do think there are questions and issues about forming a Jewish home which arise uniquely where there is a mixed marriage. For that reason, I am very pleased to let you know that our Temple member, Peter Zimmer (a former Vice President of Sinai and a skilled group facilitator) is going to offer a three session discussion group for mixed married couples. The details are described inside this Bulletin. The agenda will be wide open. Peter will be there to listen and help shape a meaningful discussion.

Sinai is open to everyone as we build for the Jewish future. (And, by the way, the answer is YES. Jews and non-Jewish spouses may be buried in our cemetery. It's a natural part of how we understand building a loving community.)

Prior Bulletin Messages from the Rabbi are available on this site.