Vayetze: Rapid Growth for Jacob, and for Kavana!
It's striking just how much happens in this week's Torah portion! The opening/title word of the parasha, "Vayetze," means "went out" (as in: "Jacob went out from Beersheva and headed towards Haran" - Gen. 28:10). And indeed, this Torah portion tells the story of the patriarch Jacob, having just emerged from the intense sibling rivalry with his twin brother Esau, now going forth to find his own place in the world. In Parashat Vayetze, Jacob moves through a rapid growth phase in his life: he establishes a connection with the Divine, seeks loving relationships, secures his own territory, and brings the next generation into being (12 children are born and named in this parasha alone!).
It was fun for me to re-read this parasha this week and reflect on how Kavana, too, is moving through a rapid growth phase right now. Over the course of the many years since 2006, we have built this community up intentionally and carefully... assembling wonderful people, articulating our shared values and strategic priorities, and creating programs to meet our community's needs. For the past several years, the limitations imposed by the Covid pandemic kept the lid on this pot and slowed Kavana's natural growth. But now, this year, we're feeling a new palpable energy and seeing an uptick in numbers to match. Some 750 people joined Kavana for the High Holidays this year (including 150 who were attending for the first time!), we've witnessed a >10% jump in the number of Kavana partner households in the last few months, and there's high demonstrated interest in programs, life cycle events, and community connections across multiple demographics.
Kavana has never chased growth for its own sake, but when new people show up eager to engage actively and meaningfully in Jewish life, we want to be able to say yes. And, as we continue to grow, we are also committed to deepening relationships within our community and supporting our partners more fully than ever before! As such, when we were approached and invited to apply for Project Accelerate last year -- a program that supports capacity-building in Jewish non-profit organizations that are poised for growth -- we knew the timing was right. Being accepted into their cohort was a big honor, and it offered external validation for what we already knew to be true: that Kavana is a unique organization and a leader in Jewish communal spaces!
As you hopefully saw in yesterday's special email announcement, we are launching the "What's Your Why" community campaign to raise funds that will help us unlock a matching challenge grant from Project Accelerate (click here to learn more about the campaign). These funds will help Kavana strengthen our organizational capacity (think: create all the systems and structures we need in place behind the scenes -- staffing, tech infrastructure, training, etc.), which will, in turn, result in new avenues for connection and meaningful Jewish engagement, for Kavana partners both old and new.
For Jacob, it's important that even as he "goes out" to begin a new chapter of rapid growth, he hears an echo of the blessing God had bestowed upon his grandfather Abraham: "through you, all families of the earth shall be blessed" (Gen. 28:14). For Kavana, too, this chapter of rapid growth we've embarked upon is exciting and new, but also represents continuity with where we've come from and who we've always been at our core.
On this week of Parashat Vayetze, it's exciting to think about Kavana experiencing its own "going out" moment, and about all the possibilities that this new chapter of growth will bring for our community! Thank you for being part of this unfolding story... a source of blessing, indeed.
Shabbat Shalom,Rabbi Rachel Nussbaum
