By David Herz
I don't know what enters people's heads when they walk into a public space, but I am sure I don't get it.
My beef of the day is the limits that people set, or don't, for their children in the synagogue.
I get you want your kid to participate, but that doesn't mean that the synagogue needs to take on playground rules. I am sure your child can participate in prayer just as well without climbing on the furniture, or standing, in bare feet or shoes, on the surface on which the next person will be putting his hands and prayer book, or even on the upholstery (that wears too).
If your child wants to be at your level, you could actually just hold him there. And if you really must let him climb all over the furniture, let him do it at home.
So my invitation is that you advise your child that the floor is the standing place, and the seats are for sitting, at least in the synagogue.
There must be a hundred staples in the side of the synagogue. There is also the remnant of some pasted up poster, and the evidence of the tape of numerous other posters and announcements along the way.
There are bits of candy stuck to the floor, and sometimes food, and in this season the occasional evidence of tea, certainly in the ever full garbage can, with too small bags, and plenty of cups, and almost always candy wrappers that didn't quite make it into the garbage can.
We live in a small community. If we all take on a slightly higher level of ownership, and teach our kids to, we can all enjoy a much nicer place with a minimum of effort.
If we want a nicer world, it starts with making our own world nicer. And if we want others to see a light, we should make sure we aren't doing things that cloud their vision. And when people, even if only very few, are disgusted and repulsed by our action, or inaction, we're only adding to the cloud.
So as you prepare yourself for this holiday, my second invite is that you take on doing something (on a regular basis is even better) to make the space we share more welcoming as well.