When the nascent Congregation Emanu-El of Napa Valley began planning its High Holy Day services, its president expected maybe 50 people to attend.
“I thought if we have 50, I’ll be so pleased and amazed,” said Donna Heine. The turnout at last month’s services, however, far surpassed her expectations.
“We had over 125 people. We received our corporate papers in January, so we’ve literally gone the full gestation period and really gave birth at these High Holy Days. People who were here came to me and said, ‘I’ve been going to shul for 30 years and never enjoyed it as much.'”
Rabbi Shelley Waldenberg, formerly of Lafayette’s Temple Isaiah, led services and continues to lead Shabbat services as well.
Only about 15 families from Napa Valley’s Congregation Beth Sholom at first broke out to form the new synagogue, called Emanu-El.
According to Heine, who was one of those break-aways, the reasons were varied, but the group generally felt that Beth Sholom wasn’t offering enough of what they wanted — mainly adult education opportunities.
“Most of the group have raised their children,” said Heine. “All our efforts are very ambitious, in adult education and cultural programming. We really want to bring Jewish culture and expand it into this community.”
Meanwhile, changes are afoot at the 160-family strong Beth Sholom, the congregation that has served the Napa Valley for the past 49 years.
“We had a vote in April, where we got 90 percent affirmation to affiliate with the Reform movement,” said Phil Fram, Beth Sholom’s president. The synagogue was accepted as a member at the Union of American Hebrew Congregations’ last conference.
While the majority at Beth Sholom believed in affiliating with the Reform movement, Emanu-El prefers to remain unaffiliated.
“Being nonaffiliated allows us to bring a variety of rabbinical scholars to the community and that’s important to us,” said Heine. They’ve already had one rabbi from the Orthodox organization Aish HaTorah. “This is what we’re trying to explore,” Heine continued. “We feel right now that the benefits of not being affiliated give us latitude.”
Emanu-El holds Shabbat services twice a month, alternating between in an interfaith space called the Center for Spiritual Living in Napa, and in members’ homes.
While Beth Sholom has long been led by Rabbi David White, he does not work full time nor does he live in Napa Valley.
“Our goal is to have a full-time rabbi living in the Napa area, starting with the next fiscal year, which would be in May or June,” said Fram. A search committee has been formed and the interview process has begun.
“We have a needs list for the ultimate rabbi,” said Fram. “We have jokingly referred to this as finding our Moses.”
The decision to hire a new rabbi is mutual, since White never planned to move to Napa, nor does he want a full-time position. He suggested that perhaps when Beth Sholom has a full-time leader, that will be incentive for some of Emanu-El’s people to switch back.
“It seems like too small of a community to have two Reform congregations,” he said, adding, “the best thing about Napa is that they’re all good people.”
Fram admitted that Beth Sholom moved slowly when it came to certain decisions. “Both our congregation and their group have similar goals, but we’re doing it with 48 years’ worth of history we have to move with. We have to do it with the understanding that our congregants range from 2 months old to 85-year-olds, with a broad range of beliefs we need to accommodate. We may be slow but we’re thorough.”
For Emanu-El, establishing a Hebrew and religious school is not an option right now, though there are a handful of families with younger children.
“We eventually hope to establish a Hebrew and Sunday school for them, but now it’s not practical for us,” said Heine.
Nevertheless, she said, the momentum is there. The board is in the midst of establishing its goals for the next two years, and formulating a five-year plan.
“We’re on the way,” she said. “We will continue, thrive and grow and that’s what it’s all about.”