Building Bridges: Creating meaningful connections with our elected officials

From Executive Director, Rebecca Stanfel:

There are times when our work here at MJP can feel heavy. Too often, our politics on a state or national level can feel broken.  All the while, antisemitism and hate continue to grow, according to a new report from ADL. How can we make progress in what feels like a permanently fractured world?  

When MJP launched our Building Bridges initiative, our intent was to create meaningful connections with our elected officials to counter the idea that Montana is too divided to address antisemitism, or that our state is too hyper-partisan to allow for multiple voices.

We believed that MJP could create opportunities for elected officials to join with our Jewish community and find what we share, whatever our partisan affiliations or faith traditions. We wanted to create a space where we could come together and see one another as more than single reductive qualities, known only through our political party or faith tradition. 

Building Bridges got off to a great start in January, with our open house in Temple Emanu-El. We had time to start a new conversation, one that didn’t begin with the worst of what’s happening in Montana, such as threats against Jewish communities. We wanted to start with some of the joy, rather than reducing the totality of the Jewish experience in Montana only to antisemitism.

On a more personal note, I had some reservations about sharing our traditions. As we approached our interfaith Building Bridges Passover seder for Montana’s elected officials and members of our Jewish community, I grew anxious. It’s one thing to gather informally with live klezmer music, wine, and tasty appetizers within our community. It’s another to sit down to a ritual meal that involves Hebrew blessings, prayers, and traditional songs, all of which would be unfamiliar to many of our guests.

Our Building Bridges seder was beautiful. Our community room in Temple Emanu-El was completely full: 20 state legislators, the Lieutenant Governor, Helena city commissioners, and members of the Jewish community sat together, without much elbow room.

We were so fortunate to have Rabbi Ed Stafman, the rabbi emeritus from Congregation Beth Shalom in Bozeman and a state representative, lead our seder. His wisdom, experience, and humor made what could have felt like an obscure ritual welcoming and open—and still a Jewish experience.

We were equally fortunate that our guests came ready to fully participate. Our group was bipartisan, of two faith traditions, and from cities and towns across Montana. They sang along, read aloud, answered the questions Rabbi Ed posed, told stories, and asked questions of their own. The laughter we shared was a balm, providing moments of spontaneous connection.

One of the concepts we discussed that evening was dayeinu, which is a songthat is part of most seders. In the context of the narrative that we retell at Passover—the journey from slavery to freedom—a song about gratitude belongs. Of course the Israelites would have been grateful that God took them out of Egypt. But the idea of dayeinu is also a challenge for us today. This idea of radical gratitude pushes participants at a seder to consider all they have to be grateful for in their own lives.

Rabbi Ed asked us about our personal moments of dayeinu. Some of the answers were funny, while others were deeply personal and moving. I won’t divulge what I heard. After all, what happens in Temple Emanu-El should stay in Temple Emanu-El, right?

But I will tell you about my own thoughts on dayeinu. It would have been enough for us if MJP found so many friends and supporters as we tried to buy back Temple Emanu El. It would have been enough for us to return Montana’s first synagogue to Jewish community ownership for the first time since 1935. It would have been enough for us to build Jewish community in Helena and around the state. It would have been enough for us to bring together Montana’s elected officials in Temple Emanu-El. It would have been enough for them to join us with open hearts and minds.

As wonderful as this evening was, there is still work to do. MJP’s next plans for our Building Bridges work will take us to different cities and towns in Montana, to organize smaller gatherings, where we hope elected leaders will meet with Jewish community members to formulate strategies for addressing some of the very real challenges Jews in Montana face.

There is always a next step. There is always more to do.

For now, dayeinu.Thank you for your ongoing support,

Rebecca

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