“When the roots are deep, there is no reason to fear the wind.” An African proverb in origin, (according to the internet, which unfortunately does not get more specific), some version of this saying has been passed around my family, as well as “we shall proceed as the way opens” and “but Jimmy, is there enough food?” (the latter being the first thing said by my grandmother to my uncle upon arriving home unexpectedly early one night in 1974 to find her teenage son throwing a house party. Side note - she was not Jewish, but as her question suggests, certainly a fellow traveller.)
All three of these sayings come to mind as I think about Hinenu. They speak to who we are, how we are, and why we are.
“When the roots are deep, there is no reason to fear the wind.” Community connects us, community sustains us, community strengthens us and helps us face the challenges of the world.
“We shall proceed as the way opens.” From a group of about 20 visionary organizers and dreamers to a multinational membership of over 260, in the past four years Hinenu has rooted, grown, branched, and reached. When the Pandemic stood in our way, our online services and programming blossomed. When, g-d willing, it will be safe to gather in person, continued online presence and commitment to accessibility will be shaping our path forward.
“But Jimmy, is there enough food?” Nostalgia for our potlucks and the opportunity for lentil jokes aside, this may speak to what is most powerful about what it means to be a part of Hinenu. The ability to respond, to take care of each other, to be generous and thus be capable of so much more together than any one us could be apart. Because of who and how and why we are, Hinenu was able to respond to a direct request for fiscal sponsorship for Humanitarian Parole for an extended family needing to flee Afghanistan and raised over $4000 within 90 minutes, over $7k for their continued support in a day. Over the past year, Hinenu has raised funds for Baltimore Jail Support, Baltimore Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee, and Baltimore Right To Housing Alliance. Our community has also supported over 15 mealtrains to bring comfort to the bereaved, healing to the recovering, and assistance to newly expanded families. Is there enough food? Yes, we believe there can be and we are working to make it so, not just in the World To Come but also in the here and now.
In the past four years we have grown large in size and large in scope, and we still have so many dreams for the way ahead. Which is why we return to the proverb, “When the roots are strong, there is no reason to fear the wind.” With heavy hearts, we acknowledge that the winds, both literal and metaphorical, have been fierce this year, and with each year seemingly growing fiercer. We need community more than ever, and we need our communities to be sustainable. To keep up with our growth and all of its promise and possibility, we need to return to our roots, to shore them up. We need the intertwined support of our community, and our community’s communities, to help us stay upright and continue to provide a home base in which we take shelter, from which we organize, and where hopefully, some day, we once again throw some really epic parties.
For most of Hinenu’s existence, we have been held together through the employment of one brilliant and seemingly boundless leader (the amazing Rabbi Ariana Katz) and the volunteer efforts of fewer than 100 members giving thousands of hours (big shout out to all of you, particularly everyone who has put together these beautiful High Holy Day services). Our community is made of people, people who contribute their time, their knowledge, their labor, their love. This outpouring of goodwill and volunteer effort is one of the most beautiful things about Hinenu.
It is also not sustainable.
We need, and we envision, a dedicated staff; people paid for their labor because we recognize and honor the value of their work. We need, and we envision a Rabbi who can bring the full power of her immense energy to the pastoral and developmental needs of the Shul because she is not simultaneously filling in as scheduler, communications director, graphic designer, and apparently, prop master, among many other roles. We need, and we envision, an Education Director and teachers to fully staff a Beit Midrash and provide child and adult learners alike with a Jewish education in alignment with our values. We need, and we envision, an infrastructure that we can reliably lean upon without overstraining or burning out the people who again and again offer themselves when the call is made.
And because we believe there is enough, we have already taken many of these steps - bringing Rabbi up to a full time position, hiring Rachel Kipnes as our inaugural Director of Education, hiring Milan Brown as our incoming part-time administrator. We have grown tremendously, and so now we need to root down, to return to what makes it all possible.
Shortly after the holidays, all registered attendees will receive a link to Hinenu’s newest and most ambitious development campaign, “Rooting To Rise,” which you will also hear much about over the upcoming year. We will ask you all to give as generously as you can, in as many ways as you can. Share our story, reach out to your own networks, help us replenish our soil and feed our roots, help us support the tremendous growth we’ve made and the opening of our future paths. Together we’ll make enough food. Together, we won’t fear the wind.