Jewish Gateways

Jewish Gateways, an open community, invites all to explore and connect with Jewish traditions.

Our “come as you are, no experience necessary” environment encourages wandering and wondering Jews and their families and friends to discover what is personally meaningful.

Learning and discussing at an adult gathering

Listening to a story at a family gathering

Learning the shofar song at

Rosh Hashanah family service

Learning and discussing at an adult gathering

Upcoming Events

REIMAGINGING POLICE AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE

Mondays, June 14, 28, 7:00-8:30pm PDT, online

Jewish tradition calls on us to see the divine in every person and to work for justice.

In this series, we focus on issues of policing and criminal justice through informative presentations followed by breakout groups to share feelings, experiences, and opportunities for action. You are welcome whether you can come to one or all four sessions.

During these conversations, we will learn, explore, and reimagine our own connections to this topic. It offers us the opportunity to energize, engage, and expand ourselves in community. We look forward to seeing you!

Learn more and register here.

JOIN US FOR CANDLELIGHT AND FRIENDLY FACES

Shabbat candle lighting

Fridays, 6:00 pm PDT, online

Set up your candles, wine or juice, and challah, and join Rabbi Bridget and community members online for singing, candle lighting, and blessings! All are welcome, adults or children, Jewish or not. The words to the songs and blessings will be visible as we sing them.

Join via Zoom here

Get a Taste of Rabbi Bridget Wynne's Teachings

Making Room for Our Fears, Opening Our Hearts

Sermon for Rosh Hashanah 2020 • 5781

Do you remember, many long months ago, the Great Toilet Paper Panic of 2020? In case it’s hard to think back that far, I’ll share a few highlights. Some folks responded with unusual solutions, ranging from creative to desperate to illegal. A Los Angeles restaurant started selling “emergency taco kits” that included several pounds of meat, rice, beans, and, crucially, four rolls of toilet paper. There were fights in store aisles over the precious rolls. Police even caught one person transporting nearly 18,000 pounds of the stuff in a stolen 18-wheeler.

Then there were the ordinary folks, rushing to Costco, scouring the internet, perhaps considering a columnist’s suggestion that when children find the afikoman – a hidden piece of matzah – at the Passover seder, rather than the usual small prize, we give them something far more valuable – a roll of toilet paper.

Ironically, panic buying helps cause the shortages people fear. But it’s understandable. We’re frightened. We are aware of the truth we usually push away, except in times of illness, or other crises – that life is uncertain, we don’t know what the future will bring. We want to feel secure, protected. We want to regain a sense of control.

Sermon for Yom Kippur 2020 • 5781

In my first position as a rabbi, one of my responsibilities was to organize a group of synagogue members to help those who were ill or facing other crises. We had a few meetings and set up a communication system. Then, we ran into a problem we hadn’t expected: hardly anyone was willing to accept help. A committee member would call a family in which someone was ill and offer to bring food, or help with rides, and almost every time the response was something along the lines of, “Thank you, but we’re OK.”

I dug deeper to try to understand what was going on. Here’s what I discovered. Many people were embarrassed to have others see them not at their best, or to say that they couldn’t manage things on their own. They were afraid of feeling indebted – if they accepted help, what would they have to do in return? Needing help from others seemed to be an admission of failure.

This shouldn’t have been such a surprise. We live in a culture in which we are taught to be self-sufficient, and to strive for perfection. We like to prevent or fix vulnerability.