Shalom, friends!
This month, I am sharing my space with Emily, our mutual support chair, and Sheri, a wonderful writer and mutual support super-fan. Our committee is excited to announce this year’s Cooperative Dinner (Saturday night, April 18th, mark your calendars!), and as we begin to publicize this signature RSNS event, we thought it would be helpful to share how this dinner fits within the broader context of mutual support at RSNS. So please enjoy the article below, stay warm, and stay connected!
-Cantor Eric
Mutual Support is a network at RSNS, in place and ready to act: to drive to doctor appointments, deliver meals, and visit one of our own who may be homebound.
Mutual Support understands that none of us likes the feeling of being vulnerable and that we will deny it and hold onto a self-image of competence even when doing so makes our life more difficult in extraordinary circumstances. Because of this, or maybe out of a sense of privacy, most of us will never ask for help.
However, Mutual Support also understands that when we let people know what’s going on, friends, family, community members, and sometimes even barely known acquaintances are amazingly generous. Even simple things make a real difference, are remembered, and have an important, relieving, and even healing impact.
Welcoming others into a difficult time is a kind of embrace that more than compensates for feelings of vulnerability, that reminds us we are not alone, and we belong to a group that very much cares about us.
We hope that if you have a need, you will say yes to what is willingly and lovingly available to you. Mutual Support is actually a manifestation of the arc of a covenant we share as a people, as a community.
In addition to all of that, Mutual Support also coordinates a lovely evening that binds us together, helps us get to know each other across social groups and generations, and strengthens and nurtures us as a community. The Cooperative Dinner brings us together in small groups, over shared food, lively conversation, and potential new friendships, in our homes. We hope you will come and participate in this Mutual Support offering.
Cantor Eric Schulmiller
