Spiritgrow member, I am proud of you. You aren’t the typical 21st century Jew. It’s likely that your Jewish background has been somewhat limited, if not scanty. Yet you are committed. You probably don’t keep 613 Mitzvot, but you are sincere and do your very best to keep some. Some of you make a real attempt to come Friday nights and/or Shabbat mornings to shul, although balancing home, family, and work-life presents challenges to your good intentions. You give Tzedaka. You attend our lecture series. You know that the mind cultivates good health and happiness. You are genuine.
But there is one particular feature that distinguishes you. You are spiritual and deeper than most Jews. You are prepared to study the profounder texts. You quest for meaning. You are spiritually adventurous. And you ask questions of inquiry rather than questions of challenge.
There is a reason why you have chosen Spiritgrow as your community. You seek a meaningful life. It’s not enough for you to be a member of a Jewish club, or use Spiritgrow as a social network, or see Spiritgrow as a convenient venue for Shabbos or High Holydays. Nor are you after synagogue spectacles and dramatic sermons. You want truth. You also want to grow and be Jewish during the week as well. You seek a total holistic centre and community – one that views time and space through Jewish-coloured glasses.
You love the Hassidic tradition and teachings ranging from the Ba’al Shem Tov through to the Lubavitcher Rebbe. If you are a man, you sometimes fancy yourself in a black coat, fedora and black silk ‘gartel’, dancing raucously in a traditional Hassidic circle, belting out the Niggunim, as you whirl around and around – the circle that represents the never-ending story of the world! (Don’t worry Mrs Spiritgrower, your husband’s imaginings are just that – at the moment!)
You are loyal and love Eretz Yisrael. You face antisemitism with a mixture calm and inner strength. You are comfortable in society, but you know who you are and where you are in this confusing world where being Jewish can be a physical and psychological challenge. You succeed because you have studied Chassidus and possess a deeper soul-full identity as a Jew .
You want a meaningful bar and bat mitzva for your children. And you try to celebrate the anniversary of your own barmitzva, even if this be decades later. You love herring and whisky on Friday nights before davvening, and/or the Torah and Kiddush on Shabbos mornings. And you know that Spiritgrow has the best Shabbos cholent in town!
One of the most admirable characteristics of a Spiritgrower is that you are not fixed in your ways. You are open to change and growth, and you possess the courage to try on different Mitzvot for size. You cannot be classified as ‘steady state’ Jew, fixed in your ways. You are more of the ‘big-bang’ variety, who explodes with excitement when you hear a dimension of Judaism that you hadn’t explored yet.
That’s why I am proud to be a Spiritgrow fellow-traveller, a like-minded journey-man, or a courageous and nurturing journey-woman.
Keep moving. Don’t stop growing. Keep searching. And find meaning. You are a Spirit-grower!