I am thankful for the coverage of our fabulous new K’hilah center. It is a beautiful addition to the greater Seattle Jewish community.
However I want to clarify one thing: as a student of Mordecai Kaplan who taught that Judaism is a religious civilization, I wholeheartedly embrace his notion that synagogues should be centers that encourage the blossoming of all aspects of Jewish life — whether religious, cultural, or communal. While I am proud of what we are doing here at Beth Am, I am grateful for the good work taking place across the Jewish community here in Seattle and throughout the Jewish world. In the interview I am sure that I said that it is my hope that we be ”a” center of Jewish civilization, not ”the” center of Jewish civilization.