By Leyna Krow, Assistant Editor, JTNews
Bet Chaverim, South King County’s Reform synagogue, is known affectionately by its members as “the small but mighty.” Indeed, the congregation currently has just 44 family units on its roster, but with a new rabbi and a growing social calendar, Jewish life at this little shul remains vibrant.
Currently, the synagogue offers three Friday night services and two Torah learning sessions per month. Services are led by Rabbi Rick Harkavy, who joined Bet Chaverim last fall. Before that, congregation had relied for a number of years on student rabbis who rotated through.
“The students always did a great job, but it’s nice to have someone with such great maturity and experience,” said Bet Chaverim president Sherwin Alpert.
Beyond Rabbi Harkavy, Bet Chaverim has no paid staff.
“Everything is done by congregant volunteers,” Alpert explained.
This includes daily operations, social activities, lay-led religious events, and outreach.
According to Lori Nevin, co-chair of the outreach committee and a former board member, finding new ways to get unaffiliated Jews in South King County to check out Bet Chaverim is at the top of her priority list.
“Basically, we’re just trying to splash our name all over the place,” she said.
To that end, Bet Chaverim is a sponsor of this year’s Seattle Jewish Film Festival. They are also planning to conduct focus groups to find out what people do and don’t know about the synagogue.
“We just want to see who’s out there,” Nevin said.
That’s not to say that exciting things can’t happen for a small-sized synagogue. Nevin, who has been with the congregation for more than 20 years, said that watching Bet Chaverim’s first generation of young people mature and then come back with their own kids has been a real pleasure.
“All our kids have grown up,” she said of Bet Chaverim’s founding generation. “Now, my daughter brings our grandson to temple. He has a Hebrew name and knows he’s Jewish. Because our congregation is so young, that’s new for us.”
Alpert noted, however, that there aren’t quite enough of the new generation for Bet Chaverim to have a religious school.
“We have members who are very knowledgeable educators and would be happy to teach,” he said. “But no kids.”
The “Religious School” section of Bet Chaverim’s Web site reaffirms Alpert’s sentiments, stating, “The last group of our children grew up. We are waiting for the next generation ‘Ldor V’dor. When they arrive, we will schedule our classes again.”
In the meantime, the synagogue is branching out in other ways.
Alpert said the congregation has been working to do more social action and interfaith programming. In November, Bet Chaverim hosted its first interfaith event, a joint service with the Saltwater Church with whom Bet Chaverim shares its facilities. A second service is in the works for the near future.