What is a community?

Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement and one of the High Holidays, took place last weekend. During the holiday, Jews offer prayers of forgiveness to friends, family, and any kind of spiritual deity they believe in, all the while refraining from eating. There are a variety of prayers spoken and readings from the Torah, including the Book of Jonah, the story of a man who flees God instead of following his commands. 

During the break-fast I attended Saturday night, I had a chance to dialog with a friend of mine who is also a rabbi of a local synagogue. Amongst other things we discussed the merits of community and what we each see as our definition therein and what the role of community organizations are in order to foster it. I brought up the fact that my students often see themselves as individuals in a sea of individuals who do not need a relationship with each other in order to succeed. I also mentioned my dream of one day living on a city block with friends and family on the same block, with one building reserved as a community center of sorts. I see this as a pinnacle of achievement for those who want to create their own space. 

Rightly so, he pointed out that even though I was attempting to create a community space, it was reserved exclusively for people I know. His argument that community is something larger - a place where 20-something college graduates can coexist with 85 year-old great-grandparents in a way that each person is offering something to the other. While I do not fully agree with his premise, I concede that especially in the Internet generation we need to make sure to include those we might not normally view as "in our community" in order to proper in the future. He took aim at what I was saying in parallel to what my students say - community is defined by them and them alone; whosoever is outside of that is disregarded or swept aside.

One of the concerns I had last year and now in this new year is how I see the relationships between certain students in the community and how they might be drawn closer or ostracized based on actions that I take or do not take. Additionally, I realize that sometimes I offer "solutions" that involve removing a certain person from the community in order to make it "better" instead of attempting to integrate that person or try to figure out what the real issue is underlying whatever complaint he or she might have. 

It is truly a wondrous idea to make community with anyone. I am still on the fence of whether or not I believe it is possible with anyone, but I hope I am more open to it in the future.