Dear Lab/Shul,
When Lab/Shul first began experimenting with ritual gatherings in 2013, friends would often ask me what made it so special and why I chose to become a Partner and Board member. My answer was always simple: “Lab/Shul makes me want to be a better person and help make the world a better place.”
Thirteen years later, the world has changed profoundly, and the spiritual and communal innovations that felt groundbreaking in 2013 are no longer sufficient to meet the realities of this moment. Yesterday, on Tisha B’Av, the most solemn say on the Jewish Calendar, a Jewish man was stabbed as he left a synagogue in my neighborhood, one I have attended for many smachot (happy occasions) over the years and where, for the past ten months, I have gone to say Kaddish for my mother. The attack—and another that took place by the same assailant a few blocks away—are now being investigated as potential hate crimes. According to the NYPD, confirmed hate crimes across New York City increased nearly 8% through early July compared with the same period last year. Nearly half of those incidents targeted Jewish people, making antisemitism the city’s most prevalent category of reported hate crimes, according to Patch. Within the Jewish community—and within Lab/Shul itself—there are sharply differing views about what lies behind these statistics and who or what is responsible, deepening the polarization among us.
There are moments like these when I find it tremendously difficult to hold onto hope that my actions can make a meaningful difference and that I can still help make the world a better place. In those moments, though, I remind myself that Jewish wisdom offers us a toolbox for exactly these times, and I find my way back to Lab/Shul’s mission.
Some of these tools include: teshuvah, the belief that we can change; Shabbat, the practice of stopping; prayer and ritual, which help us hold what is too big for words; Torah study and sacred argument, which teach us to wrestle with complexity; and chesed and tzedakah, which call us to turn compassion into action. And then there is community, the reminder that we are not meant to face any of it alone.
Lab/Shul makes these tools accessible through bold, creative ritual; intimate spaces for connection and care; imaginative art, music, and Storahtelling that help us make meaning; courageous conversations across difference; and a radically welcoming community that invites each of us to show up as our full selves.
As we approach the new Jewish year, I invite you to step more fully into this work by becoming a Lab/Shul Partner or renewing your Partnerhood. Yes, bring your full self—your questions, doubts, differences, and dreams. To meet the needs of this moment, we need all of it. And we need you. As a Lab/Shul Partner you’ll receive 40% off on your High Holy Days seats and full range of year-long benefits.
JOIN OR RENEW YOUR PARTNERHOOD
Our 2026 Partnerhood options are now clearer, the benefits are easier to understand, and there are more opportunities to experience Lab/Shul in smaller, more intimate settings, whether close to home or organized around a shared identity, affinity, interest, or stage of life. More information about our 5787 High Holy days and programmatic year is coming soon.
Got questions about Partnerhood? Email our Community Manager, Stephen Silva, at [email protected].
JOIN OR RENEW YOUR PARTNERHOOD
Looking forward to seeing you soon.
Shabbat shalom,
Sarah Sokolic
Co-Founder & Executive Director
