I was grappling with the relevance of God and religion. It was hard for me to see how I could integrate my newly forming spiritual feelings with my everyday life. Rabbi Kushner writes about Emile Durkheim, a pioneering anthropologist and sociologist, who traveled to the South Sea islands at the turn of the century to study primitive religions. One of the most important things Durkheim learned is that the primary purpose of religion in early societies was not to put individual people in touch with God, but to put them in touch with each other. Thus religion is not only a set of statements about God.
Religion is also the community.
It is the way people learn to relate to each other and to belong to each other in truly human ways. Just as our bodies have a need for air and food, our souls have a need to be connected to other people, not to be constantly surrounded by strangers. Kahal implies an organized community where interactions are meaningful in ways beyond the superficial. Members of a kahal hold common values and goals, and their interactions with each other are measured within the context of these overriding concerns. At Shir Hadash our community is certainly a kahal.