Back in March, I got to do the D’var Torah for the TAS Board. My parasha was Exodus 35:21 where the congregation built the tabernacle, that is, “every one whose heart stirred them up, and everyone who their spirit made willing”. The congregation of the willing brought the offerings needed to do this; they did the service and were (in turn) filled with wisdom and understanding to know how to work all the work for the service of the sanctuary. Those in leadership — both congregational and MoTAS — tend to surround ourselves with the willing. Who we need to reach, however, are the unwilling. We need to learn why they are unwilling, and what we can do as leaders to help them find the will. Specifically, for MoTAS, what can we do to make you willing to be involved? Different activities? Different times? Unfortunately, it is unlikely the unwilling are reading this. But you, as part of the willing, are. Please talk to those you know who are unwilling, and let us know how we can listen to them and find more people willing to become active in MoTAS. And, by the way, we’re not asking the unwilling to be board members. Start small: attend a single meeting or activity. We would like to get to know you better.

Recently, I had the pleasure of attending a Shabbat service at Wilshire Blvd. Temple. During the service, Rabbi Leder talked about the Torah portion, which included a detailed description of the building of the Tabernacle. He pointed out that although one might think the Tabernacle was being built as the home for G-d, the portion was clear that it wasn’t. Rather, the notion was that G-d would reside in the Jewish people G-d would be a part of each and everyone one of us.

That’s a notion that resonated with me, and that resonance became strong when I thought of MoTAS. What makes us strong as MoTAS is not the buildings we meet in or even the specific things we do — it is the spirit within us that binds us as brother to brother. It is the relationships between men that turn into friendships, and those friendships that turn into unbreakable bonds that are essentially at the level of family. It is this connection and spirit that makes MoTAS special, and it is one of the reasons why those of use active in MoTAS love our MoTAS brothers.

We invite you to join in the bond: be part of our brotherhood of friends. Come to a membership meeting, come to one of our activities, or just come up to one of us at a Shabbat and say “Shalom”. You’re always welcome with us.