The Right Fit?  

Is Kehilla the Right Fit for You?

There is no way to absolutely answer this question without trying out the community by dropping in and getting a sense of it. That said, Kehilla Shabbat and holiday services vary widely and are led by different spiritual leaders, so coming a few times will give the visitor a sense of the range of spiritual experiences and the variety of congregants that define our synagogue.

A good sample of activities to try out are: a non-Bar/Bat Mitzvah Shabbat morning service, our special “Chai Shabbat” services, our Singing Shabbat (usually the first Friday of each month), a Bar/Bat Mitzvah Shabbat, an adult education class, a High Holyday service, our annual summer retreat, a Tot Shabbat service (usually the fourth Friday each month).

It is hard to generalize about Kehilla congregants. Many come from non-traditional families and are coming to experience a fuller Jewish experience (for some—for the first time in their lives). But others have come from extensive Jewish backgrounds and enjoy Kehilla because it takes Jewish traditions with which they are familiar and renews them in a contemporary spirit. Kehilla is a place where people with alternative households and lifestyles participate comfortably with those of a more mainstream demographic. Kehilla households include those that are multicultural, multiracial, LGBTQ, singles, as well as those that are heterosex and Jewish-born. The children in Kehilla School come from all these backgrounds and take this reality for granted. At minimum, someone considering Kehilla membership should be someone who feels comfortable in this setting.

Spiritually, Kehilla is polydox, i.e. people in the congregation have different degrees of observance of Jewish ritual practice and each person is expected to feel comfortable with their own practice and to be non-judgmental about other people’s observance. Also, Kehilla people vary widely about their beliefs in God, including those who have traditional beliefs, those with innovative theology, and those who do not believe in a personal God at all. Our prayerbooks include language that strives to make space for the variety of theologies and atheologies in the community. Someone considering Kehilla membership should feel comfortable with this spiritual variety.

Our services have a distinctly “Kehilla flavor,” and yet no two services are exactly alike. While we use prayerbooks that we have composed ourselves, based on the traditional service, we have innovated the liturgy to reflect our anti-sexist/anti-exclusivist sensitivities.

Politically, as one could deduce from all the above, Kehilla folks are generally left-of-center. The congregation has a strong progressive-oriented tikkun olam (healing the world) tendency. We are active in local political activities through Oakland Community Organizations, as well as through our involvement in labor and environmental issues, among others. Kehilla has a long-standing resolution against the death penalty. We also overwhelmingly passed a resolution in the mid-1980’s favoring a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine long before it became a more popular position. Our Middle East Peace Committee is very concerned about Israel’s survival, safety and prosperity, but it is also deeply committed to Palestinian self-determination as well. See our Brit Shalom document to understand our position that the two peoples must recognize the sufferings and aspirations of the other and need to incorporate the aspirations of each into its vision of peace.

Kehilla is not only a synagogue for religious services. It is a community banded together to empower each of us to draw nearer to our truest selves. As a community, we can support each other in the hard moments of our lives, and we can celebrate our joyous times together, as well. We have found that as a community we have more clout to be able to affect the world around us than we do in isolation. If this appeals to you, then try us out.