Havurah Guide
What is a havurah?
(Excerpted from The Havurah Guide, produced by the Havurah of South Florida)
The word havurah is Hebrew for fellowship. The plural is havurot. We form a havurah because something is lacking in our Jewish lives. Perhaps we lack intensity in Jewish study, or Jewish prayer, or Jewish celebration, or Jewish community, or Jewish social action. If our desire to fill the void is great enough, we become willing to expend some energy to find others who have a similar desire, and a havurah is formed. The havurah determines for itself how often it will meet, how many members it will have, what its programs will be.
While a havurah may form about one particular need — study, or prayer, or celebration, or community, or social action — ultimately all of the other expressions of Jewish life are experienced within the group. There cannot be study without community, or a community that ignores celebration, or a celebration devoid of prayer, or prayer without concern for the greater community.
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