Andrew Guckes | Staff Writer
At Adath Jeshurun, a tradition that’s more than a century and a half in the making is in balance with a community that believes in acceptance and critical thinking. Take, for example, the class of soon-to-be converts that the congregation’s rabbi, Rav Shai Cherry, is teaching.
Some have been in the program for a year, some for five. There are five students total, and they finish the process this May. At one point, Adath Jeshurun Director of Programming and New Initiatives Beth Shapiro asked “Rav Shai,” as congregants call him, how it can be that a class has students who have spent half a decade learning and others who have barely been there for a year.
His answer was that everyone came in with a unique Jewish background, and the class is not made up of one type of Jew who needs a single type of instruction.
“[Cherry] said that it’s because of the diversity represented by this group. And I think that speaks to what we need as a Jewish community. ‘Jews of all hues’ is a real thing. We are not just one people; we are many,” Shapiro said.
The class includes students in their early-20s, people with an interfaith perspective, people of color and more, and they are welcomed members of Adath Jeshurun.
“They’re here on Shabbat, and they’re here for the programming, and they’re really excited. They’re going to read Torah and we’re going to celebrate them,” Shapiro said.
For congregants of Adath Jeshurun, which was founded in 1858, before the Civil War, maintaining history and continuing as observant Jews is still important. Shapiro only joined the community a year and a half ago, but she said that she has already gained an understanding of what history means to the synagogue. For one, Adath Jeshurun is kosher.
“[We are] raising awareness for how we are choosing to be kosher — it’s a huge push this year. It’s called ‘kosher 2.0,’” she said. “Our services are fairly traditional, but we do have what we call ‘strings attached’ on one Friday night a month, where we have a family room where little kids can come and make noise.”
She summed it up by pointing out that both old and new can exist at once.
“There are both ends sort of happening,” Shapiro said. “Tradition is who we are as a people, but it’s a pretty evolving community.”
Adath Jeshurun is also committed to giving back to the larger community outside of its doors. Members have a program called “Deep Roots, Open Arms” that looks to alleviate food insecurity in the local community. At an event last year where the synagogue packed meals for Elkins Park residents, 75 to 100 volunteers showed up and packaged 10,000 meals. That’s between 100 and 133 meals per person.
“We had folks in wheelchairs, and families from our early learning center,” Shapiro said.
“It’s a big endeavor, and we have people thrilled to be here with us.”
It’s not all hard work, though. Adath Jeshurun has received a jolt of life recently thanks to the arrival of Cherry, who brings an appeal that can’t be replicated by someone who is not truly young at heart. He runs a club of sorts called Kikar for high school students that focuses on empowering Jewish identity. Some members are from Adath Jeshurun, others aren’t. They meet at the rabbi’s house and hang out.
“They’ve gone to D.C. together. We saw a Broadway play together. We saw ‘Wicked.’ it’s an experience that they get excited about. He connects deeply with them because he’s so cool,” Shapiro said. “He’s academic, but he’s really cool. He has an endearing laugh, and he is wearing blue jeans and hanging out with his dog.”
She said Cherry gets along with the youngest kids and the moodiest teens.
“His impact here, it really engages the young people,” Shapiro said. “It’s his presence that continues to engage our youngest members.”
The friendly faces at Adath Jeshurun have managed to bring people from all corners of Philadelphia. Shapiro was brought to the temple largely to help steer the preschool program, and her time as a teacher in the School District of Philadelphia and working with museums in the city helped her appeal to people, Jewish and not, who need child care.
While the community at Adath Jeshurun is observant and steeped in tradition, don’t let that intimidate you. Members welcome anyone through their doors.
“Come if you don’t know, come if you are questioning, come if you don’t believe in God — but come, and talk,” Shapiro said.