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County's Jewish congregation has experienced steady growth
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Published: October 4, 2008
The month leading up to Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, two of the most significant Jewish holidays, is a time for reflection about the past year.
For Cabarrus County's only Jewish congregation, it was a year to remember. The group of about 30 families officially became the Temple Or Olam in 2008 with student Rabbi Barbara Thiede leading the way.
Thiede founded the Congregation Havurat Olam in 2003 with fellow UNC Charlotte professor Brian Cutler.
They started with about five families who wanted to get together for Passover and other Jewish events.
It has continued to grow and will celebrate Yom Kippur Wednesday and Thursday with services at McGill Baptist Church in Concord, where the Jewish congregation rents space.
Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, really begins 10 days prior to the holiday, Thiede said, as Jews think about how they treated people.
They think about transgressions committed against other people and against God.
They ask forgiveness directly from anyone they have wronged and from God, she said.
"Some denominations (also) will refrain from bathing, using perfumes, putting on makeup or wearing leather shoes,"
Thiede said. "My congregates would probably refrain from ostentatious jewelry, any makeup or perfume. They will be likely to wear white and may indeed not wear leather, but I don't mandate those things so it's a matter of personal choice."
Then at sundown on Wednesday, they will begin a fast that lasts until sundown the following day.
Yom Kippur is observed with religious services on both days. Congregates pray for forgiveness together and as individuals.
"The liturgy is a very intense liturgy," Thiede said. "The entire community goes through a list of potential sins and asks for forgiveness in the plural."
The service includes reading from the Torah and chanting from the scroll, Thiede said.
Temple Or Olam will break the fast together with a large meal following the service. Thiede said it's important to her that her congregation enjoys a strong sense of community.
Most of the Temple Or Olam members live in Cabarrus County, but the congregation also draws members from the Lake Norman area, Salisbury and University City.
Starting small has meant working with other religious communities in Cabarrus County, Thiede said.
Temple Or Olam has a unique relationship with McGill Baptist Church that began when she, her husband and son visited the church to discuss Judaism and answer questions.
"The questions were loving questions that weren't designed to prove anything about my worth or my decisions or who I was," she said. "Two things occurred to me that night. One was that I should go to school to become a rabbi. The other was that if we could meet at this church, we wouldn't feel anxious. We'd feel comfortable."
McGill has made the Jewish congregation feel welcome.
In 2004, Temple Or Olam received a Torah from Temple Emanu-El. The Torah was restored by nationally recognized scribe and calligrapher Neil Yerman. McGill leaders told Thiede to keep that month's rent and use it toward the restoration.
Thiede said the relationship with McGill has been "a very beautiful and very unusual fact of our existence."
But the relationship does lead to some confusion at times. Temple Or Olam sometimes gets mistaken for a Messianic denomination of Judaism, which it is not.
It most ways, it's traditional. But Thiede does try to find unique and modern ways of presenting the liturgy, which is all in Hebrew and can be difficult to follow.
Last winter, she changed the songs in one service to Beatles songs to help congregates understand.
"The prayer of Ahavat Olam is about God's love for the world," Thiede said. "If I ask them to imagine God singing, 'You know how long I've loved you, you know I loved you still,' which is from 'I will' from the Beatles...the understanding of Ahavat Olam becomes instantly deeper."
Thiede said she'll probably have another Beatles service this winter.
But as she prepares for Yom Kippur, she's thinking about her community.
"I will always perceive this as an effort to create a sacred community and in a sacred community; it's not just about walking into your place of worship and walking out. It's about learning to grow into your life Jewishly ... There's nothing like knowing that the people in the congregation have in some way connected more fully with their spiritual and cultural heritage."
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