|
By Gerry Greber
 CARLSBAD, California —When members of the Jewish community here came together to form a Reform Jewish congregation and eventually have a place to hold weekly and High Holy Day service, they never imagined that their dreams would be realized in large measure thanks to the generosity and warmth of the Gentile community.
For some time in the 1990’s some creative individuals, among them Marilyn Clement, and Gordon Leake, recognized the need for a synagogue more conveniently located to the Jewish community in Carlsbad. Prior to their founding of Temple Etz Rimon, it was necessary to travel to La Jolla, or Vista, or beyond to participate in weekly religious services. Some felt a congregation in a community becomes a voice for social action to counteract people who make detrimental statements about someone else, or about some group of individuals.
These Jewish community members in the Fall of 2000 rented space from the Carlsbad Women’s Club and began holding Shabbat services led by retired or part-time rabbis several Friday nights and some Saturday mornings each month. In addition to Clement and Leake, were Barbara Browne, who became the first Etz Rimon president and Eitan Aharoni who became the second president in 2001 for the following three years. Clement assumed the presidency for the following four years. During that time they used a borrowed Torah from Temple Beth Tikvah in Fullerton, California.
They left the Women’s Club after three years following a scheduling conflict between High Holy Day Jewish services and a wedding. By coincidence, some Etz Rimon congregants were attending an “Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice” meeting at the “Pilgrim United Church of Christ.” Clement and Locke spoke to church officials about using the facility at the High Holiday time. Finding that the time was available, the church agreed. Successful High Holy Day services led to the congregation using the church building on a more permanent basis.
This has required some physical adjustments, as the front wall facing the church is dominated by a Christian cross. Before Jewish services, the cross is covered by a curtain. “If I don’t see it, it does not interfere in my Jewish thoughts and meditations,” one congregational member told me.
Temple Etz Rimon felt it had grown sufficiently over the last nine years to warrant hiring Rabbi Karen Sherman on July 1 as its first full-time spiritual leader. She had been ordained by Hebrew Union College in Los Angeles only a month and a half earlier, after an interesting career as a social worker. Sherman , a wife and mother, said she always “had a yearning to be a rabbi.”
Go to the top of right column
|
|
Asked how she liked her first pulpit being in a church, she responded, “I feel fine about it. It feels very comfortable here. I feel, along with the stained glass windows, that this is a beautiful worshiping space.” She then added “And we are grateful that the church is sharing this space with us.”
Conflict due to overlapping dates of some Jewish and Christian religious holidays services between the Pilgrim Church and Etz Rimon are known in advance and have been eased to the satisfaction of both groups. For example this coming Shabbat Shuvah, Etz Rimon will worship at the Chapel of Eternal Hills in neighboring Oceanside. Scheduling “conflicts” have been reconciled with complete support on both sides, including Sunday morning church services, and the conduct of Hebrew Sunday School.
Rabbi Sherman lives in Orange County but is available in Carlsbad at least three days each week for “services, meeting with family members, and with people who need a rabbi.” She can be reached at RabbiSherman@TempleEtzRimon.org
The minister of the Pilgrim United Church of Christ is Reverend Madison Schockley who holds his master’s of divinity degree from The Union Theological Seminary. He took the pulpit at the church in May 2004, after relations with Temple Etz Rimon had already been established.
He said he was familiar with the concept of sharing space with the Jewish faith, having attended “joint activities” at the United Church of Christ in Irvine, California, which has a similar arrangement with a Jewish congregation there. He said he has encouraged similar joint activities in Carlsbad, including a picnic shared by members of both congregations.
Last year during Sukkot, several members of the church were invited to have lunch inside the Sukkah. Members of both faith groups reported that they enjoyed speaking with each other.
More information about the congregation is available on its website, www.TempleEtzRimon.org.
|
