By Heidi Gantwerk in San Diego
Today, August 14, we mark the first day of the Hebrew month of Elul and our season of spiritual reflection. The 40 days between Rosh Chodesh Elul and Yom Kippur represent, we are taught, the 40 days Moses spent on Sinai receiving the second set of tablets. The first set, written by the hand of God, Moses shattered upon seeing the golden calf. The second he carved himself. That work required human hands. And our tradition tells us the shards of the broken tablets were placed in the ark alongside the whole ones and carried together: brokenness and wholeness, side by side.
That teaching feels particularly apt this week. Last Shabbat, we experienced a sort of shattering, with news of a terrible antisemitic and racist attack against the off-campus home of a group of AEPi brothers from UC San Diego that horrified us all and made national news. Hillel of San Diego moved quickly to support the students, while our Community Security Director, local law enforcement, and the University all responded quickly. An investigation is ongoing. Every incident like this shatters us a little; it leaves shards behind that we carry with us. And still, we are builders.
On Sunday, following months of hard work by many human hands, more than 200 Jewish young adults came together to start building something new and totally their own. From every corner of the county and across the spectrum of Jewish experience, these proudly Jewish San Diegans, ages 25 to 40, showed up for the launch of Mosaic, a new community of communities created and curated by young people for themselves and others like them. They came searching for Jewish experiences and wanting to belong, to feel seen, valued, and heard in a Jewish space that meets them where they are.
Already these young people are connecting on the Mosaic app and in real life through geography, shared interests, spiritual practice, and the desire for learning, culture, fitness, and more. They choose, they create, they curate. A few of the groups already forming and making plans to gather IRL (in real life) include “Outdoorsy Jews,” “Pickleball Crew,” “Artists and Crafters,” and “Jewish Learners.”
People are signing up for cozy Shabbat potluck dinners, yoga and Jewish meditation, and a pre-Yom Kippur camping retreat. Every group and event will be facilitated by passionate volunteers who are taking responsibility for putting the pieces of this mosaic together to create something colorful, vibrant, and entirely their own.
There will be more moments of shattering ahead, no doubt, which we answer not by countering, but by building.
That brings us to this week’s Torah portion, Shoftim, or “judges.” The passage opens with the famous command, “Tzedek, tzedek tirdof — justice, justice shall you pursue.” It then goes on, however, to exempt from battle anyone who has built a house but not dedicated it, or planted a vineyard but not harvested it. The work of making a home, building your community, or, in this case, laying the tiles of your mosaic, is sacred work indeed.
To learn more about Mosaic, or to connect Jews you know between the ages of 25 and 40 who are searching for meaning and Jewish belonging, visit mosaicsandiego.org.
As we enter this season of reflection, may we find joy and purpose in the sacred work of building something vibrant, meaningful, and full of possibility.
Shabbat Shalom,
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Heidi Gantwerk is president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of San Diego.