Our son, pictured below during our rescue to Dubai after living through the first couple of days of the war in Ashkelon. (Both of us were moderately shell-shocked when the photo was taken).
Before my son agreed, he wanted to be sure that there was a community there in Amarillo for him. By community, he meant Jewish community. because when one goes far from home to an entirely different landscape having a bit of the familiar can help one tackle the unfamiliar.
Of course we Googled "Jewish Amarillo", and "Synagogue Amarillo". The synagogue website didn't give us a whole lot of information. It was time to network.
My husband and I both have relatives in Texas, not close to Amarillo but at least in the state. I have two dear friends who grew up in Houston. Those friends encouraged me to work at the Young Judaea Camp in Wimberly the summer of 1980. My one summer in that camp has served, even until today, as a key to the Texas Jewish community.
We all know that the six-degrees of separation in the rest of the universe is usually only three degress of separation in the Jewish world because of family and camp and youth group ties. I decided to test that theory by posting Sam's need for Jewish community in Amarillo on Facebook.
We got lots of replies. Some of them were for connections in Texas but many hours away, (Texas is a REALLY big state). One of my Texas buddies (of course) had ties that were a little bit closer. But then the answer to our query came not from my Jewish connections but from one of my sewing buddies.
My friend Carol has been part of the small group of us who have been managing an online sewing discussion group for the past more than twenty years. Carol, before retirement was a math professor. One of her jobs was in the Texas Panhandle.
Within a couple of hours of putting my post out on Facebook, I got a text from an unfamiliar name. It was Stacy, a buddy of Carol's from Amarillo. Stacy put me in touch with a young woman, around my son's age, who is one of the lay leaders of the synagogue. Our son leaves for Amarillo in a couple of weeks.
I know that there are some people who think that big Jewish community--like we have in New York, is the only possible model for vibrant Jewish life. There is, however, much to be said for the model of small Jewish communities where each person who shows up is precious. In a big community one has the luxury to ignore a new face at services. In a small community you just can't do that.
I am so grateful to our that social media has worked well to help create social connection for our son as he goes out to the Texas Panhandle.
Wow! It's a small world for us. We'll miss Sam, but this sounds like an interesting opportunity.
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