We’ve all heard the joke: A sole Jewish resident of a village builds two synagogues. Naturally he’s asked: Why two? You’re the only Jew. That one there, he replies, is where I pray. The other, pointing to the far block, is the one I won’t step in to.
We’re also all familiar with the adage, “It’s funny because it’s true.” Sadly in Denver this joke rings all too true.
A few weeks ago a unity minyan was held on the east side of town, bringing together members of various Orthodox synagogues and minyanim. The concept is great, especially as there were participants from shuls across town, logisitically too far to walk. But a larger question must be asked: Why does a 1-mile neighborhood require a unity minyan? Why are there so many disparate groupings? Why can’t more of us pray together on a regular basis.
We’re not knocking diversity, and we understand that different minyanim may satisfy various needs or ideologies. But let’s not forget that we’re talking about all Orthodox minyanim. In a community the size of Denver’s, in a maximum two mile radius, do we really need to ferret into so many small individual groupings? Could we not all bring our something different to one table, under one umbrella?
Make no mistake; we commend the organizers for holding the minyan and showing us that perhaps it’s not impossible to imagine different people praying together. If only more people could make this effort on a regular basis, perhaps unity instead of difference could define Denver’s Orthodox community. Perhaps the need for a unity minyan wouldn’t even exist.
The questioner about the need for a unity minyan is right on target. The DAT minyan broke off from EDOS and serves the exact same ideological population. Now the Kehilas Bais Yisrael draws from both DAT and EDOS. Meanwhile, the BMH-BJ Shaarei Simcha is also of the same stripe. Yes, you can find these very small differences, but let’s face it, except for Rabbi Sirota’s Russian minyan, and possibly Rabbi Engel’s chasidic minyan, there is no reason why all of these other minyanim cannot exist under one roof, with one rabbi, and one powerful presence — or permanently.
At least the unity minyan showed it’s possible. I hope we can move in that direction much more often.
The Orthodox community could learn something from the Reform and Conservative synagogues and temples. Denver has two of each, in different geographical areas. More is not always merrier. Better to build fewer but stronger synagogues rather than a plethora.
Just for the sake of argument geographical location shouldn’t affect a Reform or Conservative shul because there’s not restriction on driving!
Seriously though, I think 2 of something is good. Always good for people to have a choice. 2+….well there the benefit is not as clear. We’ll hole up in smaller and smaller groups of people who share our exact way of thinking, which may sound good on the surface, but personally I think it’s always better to be exposed to other POVs and ideas.
This is a courageous blog entry.
It all began with the break off DAT Minyan. I fail to understand why this group was unable to work together with the shul that preceeded them and was the only orthodox place of worship for decades. Of course TRI was there, but they offered something different. DAT Minyan is no different than EDOS whatsoever. Why do people need to be so controlling and run their own show instead of building one stronger community? It is ridiculous that there are two very similar minyanim that are each pretty small within a two mile radius. All it says is the issue is ego. At this point it is too late because the nastiness of the DAT Minyan breakoff has understandably left many people hurt and bitter.