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Temple Shalom surrounds itself in Wheeling community

WHEELING — The light at the Temple Shalom shines brightly these days as it welcomes neighbors to come and share in non-denominational community events.

Last month, it was the site for a political forum featuring candidates for the Ward 4 seat on Wheeling City Council. Each month it serves as home to the Woodsdale Crime Watch and community meetings sponsored by the city.

On an annual basis, it hosts Wheeling’s 9/11 remembrance ceremony and tribute to first responders. And in January, the Temple partnered with the Wheeling YWCA to host a discussion about race and the Jewish community.

“The more opportunities we have to engage with our neighbors, the better,” said Joshua Lief, rabbi at the Temple Shalom. “Churches and temples make ideal locations for community gatherings because we are at convenient locations with ample parking lot, and are able to be helpful as a community gathering place. The question is not whether we are able, but whether we are willing. Do we choose to engage in the civic life of our community? Or do we see that as secular, and inappropriate as a religious institution?

“Fortunately, as Jews, the two are inseparable. Because it is our religious values as Jews that tell us to be engaged in the community in which we live.”

Judaism represents only a small population in the local community, he said. Even so, the religion isn’t one that seeks to recruit others to their beliefs.

“It isn’t about getting people to join us. It’s about what we can do to be of service to our community,” Lief said. “It is what we can do to engage with our neighbors. It’s what we can do to bring people of all faiths together to work on good things that will benefit everyone — having a knowledgeable electorate, having an engaged community. … If we as an institution can validate that, we are doing something good not just for ourselves, but something good for everyone who lives here.”

The payoff is when the Temple does good things, “we have a better world in which to live,” according to Lief.

“It’s a wonderful reality that the more kind, the more generous, supportive and neighborly we are… the world is a more kind, generous and neighborly place,” he said. “That’s our goal — to make the world better through our actions.”

Much of the Temple’s engagement with the community comes through partnership with other organizations, Lief said.

“We partner with Wheeling Health Right as a ‘congregation for caring’ to try and get medical help for the uninsured and underinsured,” he said. “We can’t do that by ourselves, but by partnering with others we can make a real difference. … We can have a tremendous impact on the lives of those in need in our community.”

The Temple Shalom also helps provide food to those who need it by partnering with Catholic Charities, The Soup Kitchen of Greater Wheeling and the House of Hagar, he said.

Because Judaism through its beliefs is not a proselytizing religion seeking to convert others, other faith groups are willing to partner with the Temple for the good of the community and don’t see it as a threat, Lief explained.

“And because Judaism is the parent religion to our fellow monotheists — the Christians and the Muslims — we are not a threat theologically,” he said. “That is to say Jewish values are the underpinning of Christian values for our friends and neighbors in the community. So we would hope that others would see us as a very comfortable place to gather a diverse community.”

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