Hanging Our New Mezuzot: A Symbol of Purpose and Progress
It’s hard to remember back to last October – harder still to remember what it felt like to gather in this lobby, pre-renovation, with our terracotta tiles, and the orange couches, and the drop ceilings! But last fall, at our joint groundbreaking and 40th birthday celebration, I shared that renovating the JCC lobby and upgrading its security infrastructure has been a dream of this organization’s for many years. The fact that we did the project over this past year, which was both a milestone year for the JCC, and one of the most challenging years in our recent memory as Jewish people, has great resonance.
The core purpose of the renovation was to make a security upgrade, and a gathering upgrade. In a way, that goal holds all our fear and all our hope inside it. This month, we had the wonderful opportunity to mark the completion of this project by affixing new mezuzahs to our doorposts. In doing so, we took tangible and meaningful action representing those same feelings of sanctifying our JCC with prayers for protection and with hopes for our future.
A mezuzah declares: The people who dwell here live Jewish lives. Every mezuzah has within it a scroll that is inscribed with the shema on one side and, on the flip side, the Hebrew letters of “Shaddai” shin, dalet, yod. Shaddai is one of our many names for God and, it is also an acronym for the phrase Shomer Daltot Yisrael, the Guardian of the doors of Israel. To have our doors guarded by love and community has been the prayer of Jewish people for thousands of years, and we are in very good company as we hope for the same.
The Mezuzot (plural of Mezuzah) that are now affixed to our doorposts at the JCC are fittingly special. The first, on our exterior door, is engraved with a Tree of Life, which represents the generations of children, parents, and grandparents who are continually growing together here in our community. We hope that all those who walk through our doors will feel connected to those who have come before us, and those who are yet to come.
The second mezuzah, on our interior door, is carved from Jerusalem stone. This mezuzah connects us to the Jewish people in Israel and all around the world. Our hopes for peace, protection, and a joyful healthy future are for us here in this building, and extend to all of them, soon and in our time.
These Mezuzot live side by side with those that were hung more than 40 years ago by the individuals who came together to build this JCC for all of us. One of those original Mezuzot has been lowered to what is both official ADA height and the perfect height for our ELC students to see as they walk through our doors. Standing on the shoulders of those who came before us, improving access and inclusivity for every member of our community, and passing our traditions on to our littlest learners are all commitments and values that we hold dear.
Our Board Chair, Mara Riemer Goldstein, had the following kavanah, or intention, to share about the hanging of our new Mezuzot:
We fix the mezuzah to the doorpost of this building to fulfill the command, “Write them upon the doorposts of your house,” and to remind ourselves and all who enter that we should love our tradition, our community, and one another with all our heart and all our soul and all our might.
We ask for blessings on this JCC and all who make it their home for work, for learning, and for gathering together. May its doors be open to those in need, and its rooms be filled with kindness. May love dwell within its walls, and joy shine from its windows. May it be a place of peace.
We are so grateful to everyone who was a part of the process that got us here today. As staff members, lay leaders, donors, gym goers, ELC, Discovery Club, and camp parents, and JCC champions, your belief in us, in this place, and in this community enabled us to get to this day where we can enjoy the beautiful new spaces that now make up our JCC. Thank you so much.
Lily Rabinoff-Goldman
