Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, December 8, 1994 TAG: 9412300062
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CODY LOWE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
It was the dedication of the first Habitat for Humanity house sponsored and built by Jews here, and reportedly only the second Jewish-sponsored house in the country.
"I really felt a sense of family and unity" at the Nov. 27 dedication service, said David Nova, a member of the Habitat board of directors and a driving force in the drive for Jewish sponsorship.
Habitat is an international organization promoting the building of houses for the working poor. Homeowners, who must be able to make modest, interest-free mortgage payments, work with a sponsoring agency to build their new homes.
Though Habitat was founded on distinctively Christian principles and continues to label itself a Christian organization, it has worked in recent years with people of other faiths interested in joining the housing program.
Though Jewish volunteers have worked on other houses, Nova said he could discover only one other dwelling in the entire country that had been sponsored exclusively by a Jewish organization.
Nearly 250 people-the "great majority" Jewish-worked on the house, Nova said, and about 100 of them showed up for the dedication, despite having to stand outside in the rain.
The dedication ceremony "was the first time I had seen so many members of my congregation at a home together," Nova said. He is a member of Temple Emanuel, a congregation of Reform Judaism. The Conservative Jewish congregation, Beth Israel Synagogue, was equally represented in the building effort, though, as were some Jews affiliated with neither religious congregation.
The rabbis of both congregations participated in the dedication service, which ended with the scriptural theme of the project from Psalm 127: "Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders toil in vain."
The obligation to do good works is a central tenet of Judaism and one that fits perfectly with the Habitat mission, Nova said.
For many who labored on the Kellogg Avenue Northwest home, this was an expression of their religion. There was no work during the high holy days or on any Sabbath.
Though building a house doesn't have any specific connection to the Hanukkah story, the dedication of a home was congruent with the celebration of the rededication of the temple after its desecration by a foreign conqueror.
The Hanukkah celebration lasts eight days, commemorating the eight days the temple's oil lamps kept burning, though there had been enough oil for only one day.
"In some respects, we started a new light," Nova said. "Through good works, over four months, we provided a great light and some hope to a family ... a decent home in a decent environment in a decent neighborhood."
That was the first goal of the project, Nova said, "to do what Habitat does every day, which is to build a quality home for the working poor. But the other aspect of the project was just as important-to build greater unity and community among Jews in Roanoke and the surrounding area."
"We weren't just building a house the way a builder builds a house," Nova said.
The Talmud, a series of commentaries on Jewish law, "says to save one life is to save the world. That's a very true and profound thought. But also to benefit one family is to benefit the world; to build one house is to build the world.
"I think we got a sense of that."
by CNB