Hello from Miriam Levin

While I know lots of you already, this Thought for the Week is my opportunity to say hello and introduce myself as the Chavurah’s new chair. I’m taking over from Joel, who’s left me particularly big boots to fill after 5 years in the job, gently stewarding this fantastic community as it grows and matures.

I’ve worked in community development and community empowerment for a lot of my career. But building community was something that I worked on in other places with other people. It was only when I joined the Crouch End Chavurah that I felt personally what it means to be part of a community. The comfort of walking into a place where you might not know everyone, but you share something in common, a familiarity, that puts you at your ease because there’s a whole load of stuff that you don’t have to explain.

This was brought home to me again at last Friday night’s service and picnic. Our youngest, Eden, broke her wrist playing football with a bunch of the other kids and the community stepped in to help in so many ways. From Marthe who calmed Eden down and asked all the right medical questions, to Dan who drove plates of chavurah food over to Miki and Eden at the Whittington as they were in for a long wait, Megan who drove me and Arielle home, and Dan and Shaggy who collected all the Chavurah's plates and cutlery and have taken them home to wash. Not to mention all the people who got in touch afterwards to see if Eden was OK. (She’s fine! Just sad to not be able to drum or play football for a few weeks).

We’re a vibrant, strong and just community with a big sense of responsibility to wider society. Our strength comes from everyone playing a part – from being part of a rota to get the kids to chaverim classes, bringing smoked salmon to a Friday night potluck supper, volunteering on Mitzvah Day, stacking chairs after a service or joining a study session. I hope that we can offer a space for everyone to find the aspect of Jewish communal life that works for them.

As a community, we’re now 10 years old, we’ve put down strong roots, and it’s a good time to take stock of where people are at and what you want from the Crouch End Chavurah over the coming years. In my day job now, I work for a democracy charity which aims to put people at the heart of government decisions that affect them. In the Chavurah, our collective wisdom and individual agency should drive our future development.

Me, Sandra and the rest of the committee are thinking about how best to listen to community members and take what we hear into the planning of what we do. If this sounds like something you want to help with, please do get in touch with me (chair@crouchendchavurah.org) or Sandra. I’m really looking forward to being a part of this and getting to know members better.
I feel incredibly lucky to be part of the Crouch End Chavurah. Thank you for trusting me with its stewardship.