by Rabbi Marshal Klaven Rabbi Klaven is the rabbi of Congregation B’nai Israel in Galveston, Texas.
“Let’s rock! Everybody, let’s rock! Everybody in the whole cell block was dancin’ to the Jailhouse Rock.” That is how the first G-TOWN LOCK-DOWN at Congregation B’nai Israel in Galveston (a.k.a. Galvatraz) began and – thanks to GiFTY and their 30+ guests – rockin’ and rollin’ is how the fun-filled lock-in continued throughout the night and into the next morning!
From the afternoon of May 2nd through the morning of May 3rd, there was not a moment of true rest. It began with a homemade Pasta Bar feast, which carried the tag-line: “Try Something New!” It’s a tag-line that pretty much carried all of us through the next morning, as we went on to try a beautiful Havdalah on the beach, followed by some new, hair-raising adventures on Pleasure Pier.
Once we returned to the Temple, the guards (a.k.a. the advisors) put the building on lock-down. Unable to get out, we were left to our own devices to pass the hours. We did so with youth led mixers, designing pillow-cases (instead of license plates), watching movies, devouring snacks, and – well – the unspoken fun that transpires in most lock-ins.
If you want to know, you’ll just have to come to the next one!
In addition to the fun, we also had deep, meaningful engagement over the nature of police interactions with civilians that saturates the news these days. Thanks to our honored guest, Sgt. Destin Sims from Galveston’s Police Department, we discussed the challenge of the Torah’s mandate to “reprove your kinsman but incur no guilt because of it.” God willing, we’ll be able to walk that line going forward.
The G-TOWN LOCK-DOWN ended with prayer, as we – the NFTYites of TOR – modeled sincere intention to God for the younger students of Congregation B’nai Israel’s Religious School. Although, when our prayers for release were answered, we did not want to go. As in the movieShawshank Redemption, Shawshank stated, “we became institutionalized,” desiring to remain here where friendships were forged and strengthened!