By Nancy B. Greer
President & CEO
Every year, I look forward to Pride Shabbat, the community gathering that brings people together for an inspiring service welcoming all with uplifting songs and stories. As this year’s Pride Shabbat theme suggests, the evening promises “Stories and Melodies to Nourish the Spirit.”
I invite you to join us for this year’s Pride Shabbat on Friday, June 25, beginning at 6 pm. Like last year, Pride Shabbat will be virtual. Like many of you, I am eager for a return to in-person gatherings, but Pride Shabbat 2020 showed the advantages of digital spaces in spectacular fashion, when over 1,100 people tuned in. Let’s see if we can break that record this year!
However we gather, virtually or in person, Pride Shabbat has shown, year after year, that there is a hunger for connection. Through creativity and hard work, we and our partner organizations figured out ways to keep the bonds of community vibrant during the distancing necessitated by the pandemic. Now that reopening is drawing closer, we are working through a new set of challenging questions about finding a new normal for Jewish life.
The spirit of Pride Shabbat and the values it embodies point the way forward. Inclusivity and respect for our diversity, Kavod HaBriyot (honor the creations). The strength we gain through collaboration, because “a threefold cord is not easily broken.” I am so thankful for the 30 co-sponsoring organizations that have joined with us to bring Pride Shabbat to Jewish Puget Sound. Pride Shabbat is an amazing demonstration of Kehilla, the amplifying power of community to guide our focus toward the things that unite us.
Please join us for Pride Shabbat to light candles, listen to songs and stories that touch the heart, and let the hurry of the world fall away. It will be wonderful to see you there!
