The Great "Save-In" - TONIGHT

October 22nd, 6:30-9:30PM ET
Masjidullah, Philadelphia, PA and virtual
Register here.

When Reb Arthur reflects on why the original Freedom Seder has had such an outsized impact on American Judaism, he borrows a metaphor from chemistry. That is, when you drop a single seed crystal into a supersaturated solution, the whole solution crystallizes.

That metaphor - that approach - is foundational to The Shalom Center’s first 41 years, and it will be foundational to its next chapter. How can we, in the midst of societal upheaval, tense political times, and moments of whirlwind, offer something into the world that meets us in the present in just the right way, cracking open a portal we didn’t even know we needed, catalyzing a ripple beyond itself that we didn’t even know was possible?

That’s what the Freedom Seder did. That’s what actifests are trying to do. And that’s what The Great “Save-In” - tonight’s Hoshanah Rabbah actifest honoring Arthur at 91 and the world at a crossroads - is trying to do.

In this moment in history - with the polls closing two weeks from tonight and two very different paths laid out before us, to be decided in the end by a final tally, on the eve of the one year Jewish calendar anniversary of October 7th, with war still raging in Gaza and rockets still falling on Israel, and our angst and anxiety at all time highs - wouldn’t it be super if we could just know that everything is going to be alright? That our GOTV efforts will pay off. That our vigils and our marching and our worrying will end the violence. Wouldn’t a Promise from On High be so helpful right about now, letting us know that we’re being held and YHVH’s got us?

Hoshanah Rabbah begins tonight. Arthur’s 91st birthday. The final day of Sukkot. The culmination of our High Holiday season. The gates stayed open for just a little bit longer, eager to slam shut with the setting sun. A final chance for us to lift our prayers and our supplications and our questions, asking for that elusive and alluring and ultimate saving. One gate closes, another one opens. A supersaturated solution just waiting for a seed crystal.

Will we be saved? Is that even possible? Is it even the right question?

Please join us tonight, as we traverse the cosmic crossroads of this moment, tending to our hearts and caring for our spirits.

We will be surprised. We will dance. We will nourish our bodies with delicious food. We’ll hear how Arthur Waskow helped Gloria Steinem remain an activist in 1968 and listen in on a conversation they recorded yesterday. We will sign up to phonebank in PA and create an altar and make Arthur a ritual keepsake of our blessings for him. We will honor Arthur and celebrate him and hear his final message as The Shalom Center’s Director. We will sing Happy Birthday and eat cake with him. We will be present for the passing of the lulav, as Arthur becomes Prophetic Envoy and Nate becomes the next Director of The Shalom Center. We will play The Great “Save-In,” a first of its kind Hoshanah Rabbah game show, where the points don’t matter but the questions do. We will be held in ritual and rhyme and song and spirit by radiant emcees and our wildly talented house band. And did we say we will dance?

Whether by Zoom or in person in Philadelphia, we sincerely hope to see you tonight for The Great “Save-In.”

Registration remains open. Walk-ins are welcome. Share the link with your friends in Philly and everywhere. Let’s traverse these crossroads together.

With love,

The Shalom Center