CJN May 2026_online | Page 20

The Charlotte Jewish News- May 2026- Page 20

Temple Beth El’ s Ruth Pordes to Receive MeckMIN Bridge Builder Award

By Madeline White
At Sterling Elementary School in southwest Charlotte, Temple Beth El volunteers have become a familiar presence over the years.
Some sit beside students working through math problems, while others arrive with books or classroom supplies. During the holidays, families receive gifts
Ruth Pordes
from members of the congregation.
Helping hold much of that effort together is congregant Ruth Pordes. For her work with Sterling, and much more, Pordes will be honored on May 7 with the Bridge Builder Award at the 2026 MeckMIN Community Leader Awards Breakfast at Friendship Missionary Baptist
Church.
MeckMIN, the Mecklenburg Metropolitan Interfaith Network, connects faith communities across Charlotte to build relationships and collaborate on issues affecting the broader community. The Bridge Builder Award recognizes individuals whose volunteer efforts reflect those ideals.
Pordes joined Temple Beth El after moving to Charlotte five years ago. Not long after arriving, she became the congregation’ s liaison to Sterling Elementary through the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools’ Faith Community Partnership program.
During Temple Beth El’ s Justice Shabbat earlier this year, Pordes reflected on the Jewish values that guide the work.“ Our support is grounded in the tenets of our faith,” she said, referring to a teaching of Maimonides that calls every wise person to teach every student, even if they are not their own children.
Sterling Elementary is a Title I school that serves about 700 students. The long-standing partnership between the school and Temple Beth El allows the congregation to respond quickly when needs arise.
Last fall, when the arrival of
U. S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement( ICE) in Charlotte created fear among many families, attendance at the school dropped sharply. Some classrooms that normally hold more than 20 students had only a few children present.
Temple Beth El quickly gathered donations of food and diapers for families who needed them.“ We were immediately able to get new donations for food and diapers,” Pordes told the congregation.“ School staff delivered dozens of fresh fruits and vegetables so families could prepare healthy meals at home.”
Even during that difficult moment, the partnership’ s everyday work continued. Congregants donated money to provide bilingual books during a SPICE potluck. Holiday gifts were prepared for 35 Sterling families through Temple Beth El’ s Giving Tree. Volunteers stepped into classrooms so teachers could take part in their annual holiday lunch.
“ Sterling is always grateful for our ongoing support,” Pordes said.“ And we, in return, appreciate the school for making Temple Beth El part of their community.”
Beyond her work with Sterling Elementary, Pordes tutors
through Heart Math Tutoring and volunteers with the Augustine Literacy Project. She supports immigrant and refugee families through the Carolina Refugee Resettlement Agency and the Jewish Community Refugee Initiative and volunteers with Abraham’ s Tent alongside Temple Beth El’ s Shalom Park partners. In 2025, she served on MeckMIN’ s Friendsgiving Committee.
For those who work alongside her, Pordes’ impact often happens quietly. The Bridge Builder Award recognizes volunteers whose work brings people together across communities, something Temple Beth El congregants have seen in action for years.

Opening Our Doors Wider: The Power of Share Shabbat

By Rabbi Lexi Erdheim
This fall, Temple Beth El launched Share Shabbat, an initiative designed to radically welcome non-Jewish friends and neighbors into the experience of Jewish tradition. At its core, the goal is simple but profound: to demystify Judaism, deepen relationships, and build authentic connections in a moment when our community often feels misunderstood at best and under direct threat at worst.
We set an ambitious goal of reaching 540 individuals by the High Holidays of 5787( 2026). We are thrilled that just over halfway through the year, we have already reached more than 450 individuals. Congregants have opened their homes for Shabbat dinners, welcomed guests into Friday night services, and hosted tours of our synagogue.
And yet, the true success of this initiative cannot be measured in numbers alone. It lives in the stories, the conversations, and the relationships that have begun to take root.
Non-Jewish friends, neighbors, and co-workers have experienced the joy and rhythm of Shabbat – one individual even tasting challah for the very first time. Guests have asked questions they had always wondered about but never felt comfortable asking: Are divorced Jews allowed to enter a synagogue?( Yes, of course.) Do Jews believe dogs go to heaven?( That’ s a more complicated one ….)
Around Shabbat tables, the conversations flowed as freely as the wine and grape juice. People from different backgrounds reflected together on what rest means in their lives and how they might create more space for the peace that Shabbat offers.
Students from local high schools, teachers preparing to teach about the Holocaust, and members of other faith communities have toured our synagogue, learning about Jewish tradition and asking thoughtful questions. One congregant even brought his trivia team for a synagogue tour – which, naturally, led to a spirited round of Jewpardy. Each time we open the Torah, there is a moment of quiet awe as our guests encounter our sacred text, written in its original Hebrew.
But Share Shabbat is not only about sharing our traditions with others. It is also about creating space for others to share their traditions with us – something that feels especially rare and precious in this moment. At one dinner, a guest of Persian descent brought an eggplant stew and tzatziki that paired beautifully with her host’ s signature sourdough challah. At another, Jewish hosts explained the holidays of Chanukah and Passover while their guest described Christmas in Mexico and how differently it is celebrated there than in the United States.
Again and again, we heard the same response:“ I want to do it again.” And that is precisely the point.
Share Shabbat is more than an initiative. With every dinner, every Shabbat service, and every synagogue tour, we are cultivating something powerful: a habit. A habit of opening our doors. A habit of curiosity instead of suspicion. A habit of learning from the people around us and allowing them to learn from us.
Slowly but surely, the ethos of Share Shabbat is being woven into the fabric of our congregational life. It is not a separate campaign or a temporary program. It is becoming part of our congregational DNA – an expression of who we are and who we aspire to be.
And perhaps that is the most powerful outcome of all: that in a time of misunderstanding and division, we are choosing to respond not by closing our doors, but by opening them wider. If you have not yet participated, we invite you to join us. Host a Shabbat dinner. Bring a friend to Shabbat services.[ NS1.1 ] Organize a synagogue tour. Because sometimes the most powerful way to change how people understand Judaism is simply to invite them to the table.