But to what?  At the annual meeting, we agreed that Tri-Valley Cultural Jews no longer expresses who we really are.  Our membership ranges far outside the Dublin-Pleasanton-Livermore area to include Brentwood, San Ramon, Fremont and Castro Valley, and we want people in the wider area to know they have a place to belong.

Two issues to resolve are whether we need to indicate our geographical area (“Tri-Valley) and how to describe ourselves (“Cultural Jews).  Do we want to say where we are located, or will just a description suffice, as it does for our sister organization, Sholem, in Los Angeles.  And do we name ourselves in English, Hebrew, Yiddish or a combination of all?  And how do we express our core values in our name?  Do we call ourselves Beit Yerushateynu (house of our heritage), Kehillat Tzedek (Justice Community) or Hiloni (freethinking)?  Or do we say “cultural,” “secular,” “gods-free,” or “freethinkers?”

So, weigh in!  Suggest names, pieces of names, combinations of names.  Here’s a start: East Counties Jewish Freethinkers.  Cultural Jews of the East Bay, Kehillat Hilonim.

Anyone can suggest a name – or several names, but only members can vote.  (If you’d like to join, please let us know!  We’d be delighted to welcome you into our community.)

Do you go to work on Yom Kippur? Why or why not?

In the Secular movement, we see three distinct camps – yes, no and it depends. Those who decide to go to work explain their viewpoint this way:

I think Yom Kippur is a good idea. It’s useful to examine your life for the past year and make a plan for how to do better. It’s a good idea to give up your grudges and forgive people. It’s a good idea to take a specific time to do these things. But it doesn’t have to be exactly on the date that everyone else does it. I’m not attached to the particular date – I can do this any time. I don’t need to take a day off work, lose a day of vacation (or a day of pay) when I don’t really care about the specific date.

Then we have those who modify the above depending on what’s going on in their Jewish community. They say:

When I didn’t have anywhere to go on Yom Kippur, I worked. It seemed either wasteful, silly or hypocritical to take a day off for a Jewish holiday and not do anything related to that holiday. When I’m a member of a community that holds a Yom Kippur observance, I go to it. That makes taking the day off worthwhile.

Finally, there are those who take the day off no matter what. One reason they give is:

I do not go to work on Yom Kippur. When you are a member of a minority culture, you need to work to make sure people respect that culture. By not going to work on Yom Kippur, I’m teaching people that Jewish holidays deserve as much respect as other religious holidays.

Another reason some people choose to take Yom Kippur off from work could be stated this way:

I do not work on Yom Kippur because it’s important to me that I observe this holiday on the actual date, with other members from my Jewish community. Even though this community is secular, I still enjoy the shared experience of observing the cultural aspects of Yom Kippur together on the day itself.

Where do you stand on the issue?