Suburbia isn’t the first place you’d expect to find diversity.
But leaders of Beth Chaim Congregation in Danville say there’s plenty of it, particularly among Contra Costa County’s Jewish community. And they’ve designed their synagogue as a welcoming place for that wide range of spiritual backgrounds and perspectives.
“We are a community that honors and embraces the diversity of our community,” said Rabbi Dan Goldblatt. “We’re not about tolerating. We’re about celebrating.”
Now, 22 years after its establishment as an independent congregation, Beth Chaim is preparing to add bricks and mortar to its identity: Members soon hope to build a permanent home of their own.
The congregation, which operates out of space at the Danville Congregational Church, recently took an option to buy a 4.5 acre piece of property on a hillside in town.
Members in the 175-household congregation want to raise at least $5 million to buy the land and build a synagogue. If that mark is reached, the congregation could move into their new home on Holbrook Place as early as fall 2003.
“This has been a goal of ours for many years,” said Ian Friedenberg, the congregation’s president. “I don’t think anything can replace having your own building.”
With a 30 percent jump in membership in the last year alone, temple leaders believe they can construct their own synagogue. Currently, there is no synagogue from Alamo in the north to Pleasanton in the south.
“The time is now,” Goldblatt remarked. “We’re ready.”
In addition to the overall expansion of the Jewish population in the Tri-Valley area , Friedenberg attributes Beth Chaim’s growth to the congregation’s improved outreach efforts. Last Independence Day, for instance, Beth Chaim built a Noah’s ark float for Danville’s annual parade, and the congregation holds membership picnics regularly.
Originally started as an adult congregation in 1978, Beth Chaim cherishes its lack of ties to any specific branch of Judaism.
“We really are comprised of people who have grown up from very different backgrounds,” Friedenberg explained. “We have people who came from Orthodox, some who came from Reform, some who left Judaism for a while.”
The congregation has blazed its own spiritual path as a way to meet the interests and needs of that diverse group. Friedenberg refers to Beth Chaim’s services as a “very interesting blend,” drawing from very “different Judaic sects.”
“It’s really meant to be very welcoming and something for everyone to relate to,” he said.
Important decisions, according to Goldblatt, are made based on what’s best for the congregation, rather than what’s determined by a particular Jewish movement.
Four years ago, for instance, members decided it was time to scrap the donated Conservative prayerbooks they’d been using. Old and stapled together, “they weren’t working for us,” said Goldblatt.
The congregation chose to invite all interested members to help select a prayerbook that was a better match for their congregation. Members opted for a siddur that included transliterations of all prayers alongside commentary, contemporary readings and historical background.
Goldblatt assembled five or six possibilities and the group chose a Reconstructionist version. Though the congregation is not affiliated with that movement, the prayerbook “has really made our prayer services much more accessible to our community,” said Goldblatt, noting that Beth Chaim has many interfaith families.
Beth Chaim has undergone big changes since its formation mostly as an elders’ congregation in Pleasant Hill. In the mid-1980s, according to Goldblatt, members decided to become more welcoming to younger families and move the congregation to Danville. Then five years ago, according to Goldblatt , there was “a bit of an identity crisis,” which led to “a parting of ways.”
Some members left Beth Chaim while others decided to head the congregation in a new direction with younger families and a religious school.
“We definitely reached out to all sorts of people who were looking for community and looking for a spiritual connection,” Goldblatt said. “There was a great spiritual renewal that the community went through.”
Beth Chaim has since strived to be both a welcoming and compassionate community.
These days, regular Friday night services draw about 100 people and 800 attend services for High Holy Days. The religious school, based at Green Valley School in Danville, has an enrollment of 150 youngsters.
Services, according to Goldblatt, are “filled with music and joy and movement. Some people might think of them as neo-Chassidic.”
Added Friedenberg: “If you knew no Hebrew, for example, you wouldn’t feel uncomfortable. If you don’t know the songs, you’re encouraged just to hum along.”
The congregation has formed a chesed (or lovingkindness) committee that cares for families in need. The idea is also to build close bonds within the synagogue. All families are placed in a chesed group of six to eight families who live close to one another. Each group is encouraged to get to know one another.
“We feel the spiritual values of the Jewish community direct us to act this way,” said Goldblatt.
The rabbi realizes that many members grew up in synagogues that were “spiritually moribund. A lot of people spoke prayers and had very little connection to what they were doing.”
He hopes to bring those prayers alive. “Blessings are not just words,” he said. “Blessings can be real in the lives of people.”