MHSeattle, Joel: Lessons Learned

I’m traveling for work this week. On the tarmac awaiting takeoff, I thought of what a relief it would be to get far away from the office, where economic panic and layoffs have laid down a fog of toxic mojo. I thought about how much I used to love this job, and how gloom and stress might sap the last ounce of fun out of it before long. I also found myself thinking that the prospect of getting laid off myself doesn’t scare me like it would have two years ago. The financial hit would hurt, but so much of my heart is in this community I’ve been building, I think the emotional loss would be bearable. I even thought: if I lost my job, I would have more time to spend on the Jews! Not that I want to lose my job. The lesson learned is just that having a community you love is all the more important in insecure times.

So that was nice. I sat back and snoozed my way into some other time zone. When I awoke, the very friendly lady in the seat next to mine, who had been unable to sleep, began asking me questions about where I was going and what it is I do. I wanted to go quietly back to sleep, but I took a breath and answered her questions. I told her about the convention I’m attending, I told her about the job I am attending it for—but, I added, I also have this moonlighting gig building Jewish community. She became even more inquisitive. She asked all sorts of very detailed questions about our programs, our people, our ideas of cultural and religious identity in changing times. Despite myself, I got into the conversation, because she asked good questions and the subject makes me happy.

Before long, it came out that she is married to a Jewish man who grew up going to synagogue but would much rather be a “cultural Jew”—just like so many of the new and old friends whom we’ve been working to give a Jewish home that fits—and that she herself balances a full-time profession with a big volunteer role helping to run a nonprofit organization. She also wishes she could make her community contribution full-time, but depends on the professional income. Not only did she give me valuable insight and solidarity in my struggle to maintain competing commitments, she also offered some great ideas, taken from her own experience, for more effective organizing. I was sorry when the long flight was over, and thanked her for initiating the conversation. She told me: “You should always try to find out who’s sitting next to you on the plane. There’s no telling who they’ll be.” Lesson learned.