Does anyone really know Rhode Island?
I grew up just down Rt. 146 in Worcester, and Rhode Island is the smallest state in the country. Consequently, I thought that I would get to know Rhode Island and the local Jewish community quickly and easily upon arrival.
I was right and wrong.
The local culture really did make me feel at home after years away in Chicago. And the Jewish community has been incredibly welcoming, making any adaptation I had to do both easy and pleasant. Everyone I’ve met so far has been welcoming, offering their own diverse perspectives on what is important to them.
My mistake was in thinking that I could quickly “know” the community. Everyone who’s grown up here knows — and will readily attest — that Rhode Island punches well above its weight. I learned that as soon as I got here and started trying to take in all the state’s offerings. In Thomas Wolfe’s short story, the main character opines that “only the dead know Brooklyn,” meaning that the borough is so sprawling and complex that no living human can fully know it. Rhode Island is the same way, in that no human can do or partake of everything the state has to offer.
The Jewish community is no different, as I also learned. I thought it would take me a month or two to have it down — but I’ve been here three months, and I am not remotely close to knowing it well. I’ve met with rabbis and other local leaders, visited some of the synagogues, spoken with community members, eaten at the city’s myriad kosher restaurants…. The list goes on, but there are still so many synagogues I want to visit, people I want to meet, Jewish restaurants to try — and more.
Writing for the paper has brought me to some interesting places. For this issue alone I went to places as diverse as America’s oldest functioning synagogue and a meeting where Israeli and Rhode Island university students showcased their inventions and business proposals…
…but there is so much more. Jewish Rhode Island is a small paper in the smallest state that nevertheless serves a big community that does even bigger things. In other words, we need more people writing for Jewish Rhode Island. We have some great people contributing already (though we sadly bid Patricia Raskin’s monthly column farewell in August) — but to really tell the story of Rhode Island’s Jewish community, we need more journalists and more columnists.
Do you write? Does your child or grandchild write? If not, would you or they like to? A story to tell? A desire to tell someone else’s story? If so, please let me know!
In the meanwhile, I look forward to starting 5787 with all of you.
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