When our shul’s next-door neighbors built a pool in their backyard, I toyed with the idea in my mind, that if our synagogue wanted to expand, we could become a modern day “shul with a pool.” Sounds so cool.
The phenomenon became popular in America in the early 20th century. In his book Shul with a Pool: The Synagogue-Center in American Jewish History, David Kaufman credits the synagogue-center idea to Henry Berkowitz (1857-1924), a member of the first graduating class of Hebrew Union College in 1883. The principal problem Berkowitz and other early HUC graduates of the day faced was a serious drop in synagogue attendance, Kaufman wrote. “Our Jewish congregations have gradually surrendered their influence to the social clubs,” he bemoaned. An auxiliary umbrella organization, formed in the late 19th century to oversee non-religious activities within congregations, marked the first attempt to develop a religious-social synthesis in America. The idea caught on, Kaufman said. “In less than a generation, Cleveland’s temple, under the leadership of Rabbi Moses Gries, would become the first congregation in America to build its own gymnasium — Americanizing and Judaizing its members at the same time.”
Where is the shul with a pool idea today? SWAP, as I decided to call it, is an acronym that alludes to its original spirit — an exchange between the shul and the pool, between the religious and the secular, a sort of separation between Church and State within the shul. In essence, pretty much every synagogue today (perhaps excluding Ultra-Orthodox) is a variation of a shul with a pool. Synagogues designate separate spaces for prayer, study, and socializing. Maybe we forgot to distinguish between religious and secular, and that people can have a choice. Perhaps we can have different memberships. How would a futuristic affiliation to this type of synagogue look?
It would be interesting to contemplate the future model of a SWAP, but in the end, what matters is the pool of people, a pool of loving kindness, the pool as a symbol of good people coming together to develop bonding relationships, to maintain and grow them. Like the Pool of Bethesda in ancient Jerusalem and its inspiration, Bethesda Fountain in Central Park is surrounded by a beautiful, circular pool — meant for healing the city. In the end, it’s about the infinite business of creating a community, going round and round, year by year. It’s the warmth of those who want to have a spiritual pool, a mikvah of healing water to all who gather around it.
Our Journal honoree this year is a definitive example of such warmth and hospitality. Amiability radiates throughout Roberta’s numerous activities in the shul community, and her acts of kindness and charity beyond. May all her merits help us balance our communal merits before God.
As we approach the month of Elul and another new year, I want to thank the members of Congregation Tifereth Israel for granting me a vote of confidence to continue to serve as your rabbi. I hope to carry on this fruitful relationship for many years to come.
May we have a happy and sweet new year of 5783.
—Rabbi Gadi Capela