Shabbos in Boynton Beach

This blog post was written in October 2009. Looking back now close to 15 years later, it is hard to imagine this reality any more. The community has exploded in its growth. There are easily over 600 homes, condos and apartments owned by Orthodox Jews in the local area - many for "snowbirds" (all of winter) and "snowflakes" (come in for weekends or for short stints), as well as many full-timers and younger families.. What you'll read below is a little nostalgic, because things have changed dramatically in the neighborhood.
Check out accbb.org and our Education/Program Book to see the kinds of things which are going on at Anshei Chesed today!

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One aspect of my job this year consists of being the part-time or visiting rabbi in Anshei Chesed Congregation of Boynton Beach. Anshei Chesed is the Ashkenazic shul in a relatively sizable Orthodox community in Boynton Beach. We have arranged to come for many shabboses throughout  the 5770 calendar year. [See my latest blog about Anshei Chesed from April 2012] [See Part III here!!! Lots of amazing things happening in Boynton Beach!]

Top 5 Reasons Why My Family and I Love Going to Boynton Beach for Shabbos

1. Small and Intimate Crowd

The congregation consists of about 15 to 20 families that live in the neighborhood year-round. In addition to these families, there are a number of so-called "snowbirds" who live in Florida from November until Pesach time who make the shul's membership and wintertime attendance considerably greater.

Because the crowd has been relatively small until now, everyone participates in the minyan in some way every shabbos (this will change when we have 50 people in the men's section on a shabbos). Whether a person serves as baal tefillah, reads the Torah, is the gabbai or gets an aliyah, no one is left out. The decorum has been very good as well.

Also, because everyone knows everyone else, the age gaps are dropped. There are some people with very young children, and some people in their seventies and eighties. But everyone knows everyone else by name, all are friendly, and the senior members delight in seeing the children of the younger families.

2. No pressure
The shul is so chilled out. There is no pressure to dress any way, there are no fashion shows, and no attempts to outdo anyone - neither overtly or covertly. [I would say in most places no one means to put such pressures on others, but the pressures nonetheless exist. Not so in AC of BB.]

There is also no pressure to do anything other than what people come to shul to do: To pray to God, in the company of like-minded people, and to enjoy each other's company in celebration of the holy day.

3. Appreciation
People genuinely appreciate what others do to make the minyanim run smoothly. Everyone who comes in is greeted by those already present. Attendees appreciate that others have made the effort to come.

Those who play the leadership roles are appreciated for doing their jobs efficiently and without shtick. The person who serves as baal tefillah (whoever he may be for whichever part of the service) is given due thanks and notice. The persons who share Torah-reading responsibilities are quite skilled in the art of Torah reading, and are appreciated as such.

4. In my element
Some rabbis enjoy speaking and teaching. I thrive on the opportunity to serve as rabbi on shabbos. I enjoy preparing and look forward to delivering sermons. I get a special thrill out of preparing classes, and a tremendous satisfaction out of sharing what I've prepared, and challenging participants to anticipate the next point in a class before we learn it from a text.

Outside of a class I may give, there are two types of questions people will ask: Ones I can answer off the cuff, and those for which I need to get back to them. When the former type of question is raised, there is a tremendous satisfaction which comes from not only answering it, but explaining the reasoning, and getting a response such as "I never knew that was the reason."

5. Like a vacation

My family has come to enjoy living our shabboses in Boynton Beach with minimal amenities. We bring just enough food for our meals (and snacks), we bring legos and baby legos (which are much bigger than regular legos), and a few books, and we relax and enjoy. The kids use their imaginations in their playing, and it's a delight to see them adjust to the change in scenery (the shul has arranged for us to stay in a furnished vacation home, which makes our stay so enjoyable).

And when we go out to take a walk, we meet new people every time, and enjoy being the "new faces on the block."

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT ANSHEI CHESED
ANSHEI CHESED CONGREGATION (O)
P.O. Box 740291
Boynton Beach, FL 33474
www.accbb.org

https://www.accbb.org/contact-information.html

www.facebook.com/ansheichesed