-----Original Message-----
From: Shomeir
Sent: Tuesday, November 11, 2003 9:27 AM
To: House of Israel Newsgroup
Subject: Unity in disunity

Shalom friends,

Something that Wendy Sutherland mentioned in the last email that I forwarded to you reminded me of something I have been meaning to write for some time now. While her letter dealt with open dialogue between Judah and Ephraim, my letter deals with open dialogue within Ephraim.

What Ephraim needs is more disunity. This may seem like a really wacky notion on the surface; but let me explain.

To the Christian mindset, unity means that everyone conforms to a common "statement of beliefs." Dissension is seen as "spreading disunity." In Judaism, on the other hand, opinions are respected, tolerated, and even encouraged. It is said that if you have two Jews together you will have three opinions. While a synagogue may identify itself as Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, or Reconstructionist it is not CONTROLLED by any central organizational body the way that Christian denominations CONTROL their member congregations. I have seen communities where there is only one synagogue (usually Reform) serving the entire community and some members of that synagogue will identify themselves as Orthodox, others as Conservative, and still others as Reform, etc.

Ephraimites have been leaving mainstream Christianity and forming small congregations and fellowships (usually identifying themselves as Messianic congregations). Ephraimite synagogues should resist the temptation to have a "statement of beliefs." A statement of beliefs inhibits any and all spiritual growth because it says "This is what we believe and we will not permit non-conformity." In the Ephraimite movement we are all coming from different directions. Each of us comes with different strengths and weaknesses; with different knowledge and different blind spots. Only in an environment of freedom (and apparent chaos and disunity) can we experience real growth as a movement. A synagogue must be a place of public prayer and worship, and allow open and free discussion. Congregational leaders must understand that two apparently opposite and contradictory ideas may actually be just different perspectives of the same thing. The rabbis teach us that each verse of the Torah has 70 facets.

I teach at an Ephraimite synagogue. Within this synagogue we have trinitarians, binitarians, and unitarians. We have members who are Torah observant, others who are Torah pursuant, and others who are just Torah curious. Within our group there is no judgment or condemnation. We teach Torah from a Jewish perspective and lead by example. I have seen much growth (spiritually) in our little group over the past few years.

I (this is my own opinion here) am totally opposed to any efforts to "organize" the Ephraimite movement or to try to decide things for the movement. My approach has always been to "network" rather than "organize." In a network (as I envision it) all parties contribute but no one controls. In an organization all parties submit to a controlling authority and non-conformity usually results in expulsion. Synagogues should network together just as individuals must network together to form a synagogue.

Ephraim will come together in spite of our efforts to bring it together. As we have seen, this movement is a spontaneous grass roots movement which no one can claim credit for. Hashem is bringing it about and no man can control it; men can only impede it (temporarily).

Kol tov,
Shomeir