They live five thousand miles from New York City and they
call themselves the “Frozen Chosen.” They are Alaskan Jews who make their home
in the cold North Country and who have carved a vibrant Jewish community out of
mountains and glaciers, oceans and forests in our 49th state. For
one month, beginning with Rosh HaShanah and concluding with Simchat Torah, I
had the opportunity to serve these hardy Alaskan Jews as visiting rabbi for
Congregation Sukkat Shalom in Juneau.
Like most folks who prepare for a long journey to parts
unknown, I used the internet to learn more about what would become my Alaska
adventure. I googled photos and videos, articles and slide shows to see what
Alaska would be like. Once I arrived I realized that the computer could not do
justice to the magnificent natural beauty that was mine to enjoy each day for
31 days. And Juneau’s unique synagogue was at the top of the list.
Synagogue Sukkat Shalom was founded as a chavurah many years
ago but it wasn’t until 2005 when the congregation was able to purchase its own
building – an unusual structure built on the trestle rails of what was once the
railroad track for an active gold mine. Imagine the setting - a long, narrow
building more than ten times as long as it is wide, secured on trestle rails
high above a deep gorge. A congregant’s architect daughter and her students
designed the sacred space to conform to the natural beauty of the area. The
result is breathtaking. Synagogue Sukkat Shalom, surrounded by glass on three
sides, literally wraps the congregants in a panorama of majestic pine trees, verdant
mountains and rolling sea. Imagine reading about the creation of the world at
the very moment that you are immersed on all sides in nature’s beauty!
It was an honor and a joy for me to serve the Sukkat Shalom
congregation and I enjoyed leading services and teaching the children in the
after-school program as well. I learned that Alaska kids, living as they do in
the rugged mountain country at the top of the world, are strong and confident.
Putting up the sukkah was no problem for these eight, nine and tend year olds
who worked outside in the pouring rain to get the job done. In a climate where
rainy days are the norm for much of the year, Juneau Jews echo the sentiment of
most residents when they say, “If you don’t put on your boots and slicker and
get outdoors, you’ll never get out at all!”
Jewish Alaskans quietly have been securing their own place
in history for more than one hundred years when the first Jews came northward
in 1898. Ernest Gruening, Alaska’s first governor and the first senator, was
Jewish and four of Alaska’s magnificent mountains are named after Jews. You’ll
find a Star of David window in Alaska’s most famous Christian church and more
recently
Alaska Airlines assisted in the airlift of Yemeni Jews to
Israel. Today there are 6,000 Jews in the entire state, concentrated in three
major cities – Anchorage, Fairbanks and Juneau
After having spent one month in Juneau, I understood how
“Sukkat Shalom” is the perfect name for this Alaskan synagogue. “Sukkat Shalom”
means “shelter of peace,” and indeed I felt sheltered by the love and caring of
this marvelous congregation. It was the “meshpucha” feeling times ten as
members of the congregation opened their homes to us, guided us on the trail to
the Mendenhall Glacier, and made certain we saw giant whales swimming in the
Pacific Ocean. On our last day in Juneau, our hosts pushed us out the door just
in time to see a towering mother bear, nearly seven feet tall, frolicking with
her cub beside a mountain stream.
It was at that stream, called Gold Creek, where we tossed
away our sins during the Tashlich service. As October rains poured down, the
rugged Juneau Jews carried on as though the sun was shining. Dressed in orange,
yellow and neon green slickers, “wader” boots and hoods, nearly 50 hearty congregants linked arms to
sing “Hi ne ma tov,” How good and
pleasant it is, here in Alaska, when we
not only “sit together,” but walk together, hike together, trek and schlep
together as brothers and sisters at the top of the world.
