Our prayer book says that on Shabbat we should pray, rest and attend to the House of Study.
Yes, you can do all these things in the privacy of your home. And, yes, the practice of Judaism includes personal practices.
But…. Judaism also stresses the need to practice our rituals in community. The minyan is evidence of that. Our weekly Shabbat services allow us to gather as a community and pray together.
Two years ago, Indiana Landmarks/Sacred Places Indiana invited United Hebrew Congregation Terre Haute to apply for a planning grant, earned due to the congregation’s small size and the daunting challenge it faced in maintaining a large, historic house of worship.
“I’ve heard people ask, ‘is the synagogue still even open?’” says Vice President/Secretary Terry Fear. “From the street, our building looks dark all the time. Even on Friday nights, our lights are shuttered.”
That challenge also created opportunity, however, as the congregation won a $5,000 grant — and a succeeding $25,000 capital grant — through the work of a team dedicated to revitalizing Temple Israel, a neoclassical structure built in 1911.
United Hebrew Congregation Terre Haute has scheduled a busy series of events, including Shabbat services, Torah studies and the return of a popular Veterans Day program, for October-November 2017.
In addition, UHC has won a capital improvement grant from Sacred Places Indiana!
United Hebrew Congregation Terre Haute Sunday school students draped a bare sukkah (raised by volunteers a week earlier) with beads, boughs and drawings last weekend, shook the lulav and etrog and settled into the structure to enjoy holiday snacks.
View photos from the event!