Jewish Population: Me

By Stephanie King

The Torah journeyed across the vast prairie in a covered wagon. The sanctuary, adjacent to the one-room schoolhouse, provides shelter for people, some of whom have traveled from their homes several hours away, to attend Shabbat services. This special Beit Tefillah is the only center of Jewish life for several hundred miles in the Midwestern prairie. The nearest kosher store is several hundred miles away. Wow, Laura Ingalls Wilder was Jewish?? Well, I don’t know about that, but Jewish life in Rapid City, South Dakota, today draws some close parallels!

When one begins to describe Jewish life in South Dakota in the 20th and 21st centuries, one can begin with its foundation—the religious school. When I was a student, approximately 35 students met in a one-room schoolhouse in the basement of the synagogue. The school provided an outstanding Jewish education to children grades preschool through their junior year of high school and the combined high school class consisted of five students. The beauty of the small Midwestern Jewish school was that it protected itself from political correctness and what some would label as “mainstream Jewish thought.” For example, in high school, the religious school devoted an entire class to our thoughts and debates about God: What God is, who God is, what role God plays in our lives, the basis of halakhic authority (the authority of Jewish law), and why we believe what we do as Jews. It’s a topic that many people are fearful to discuss now, which we hotly debated in our small shul in S.D.

Finally, the religious school in Rapid City fostered a mission I have never experienced in any other Jewish institution. The primary goal of the school and the teachers was create a love and passion for being Jewish, along with a lifelong desire to learn and contribute to the Jewish community. This prairie school embodied the simple, unadulterated values of South Dakotan life: Love of God and our small Jewish community.

In addition to the religious school, the Shabbat services at the small Rapid City synagogue incorporated a special Midwestern flavor absent in most other synagogues throughout the world. At a typical Shabbat service at the synagogue, we would walk through the door and wish a “Shabbat Shalom” to Rocky, the Harley biker who donned a beautifully beaded leather jacket and motorcycle boots, as well as the other Shabbat service regulars, some in their jeans and nice sweaters. Next, everyone headed toward their “assigned seats,” their special, predictable seats, where they could calculate what passage they would read in the service based on their seat placement in the sanctuary. Since we did not have a rabbi, the lay leader took charge, announcing the page number and the congregants took turns reading out of the siddur (hence the “assigned seating!”). Interspersed throughout the “assigned readings,” we sang Shabbat songs using tunes I have still never heard anywhere else, perhaps musical remnants from the pioneering days! Finally, some congregants wrote personal prayers to supplement the prayers in the siddur: prayers of healing, prayers for peace, prayers of safety. One could not help but immediately fall in love with the informal yet complete spiritual relationship with the community and with God during the service. This synagogue was a place where God did not care what kind of shoes you have, how big your steer is, or the size of the bar mitzvah party last month. It is a place of pure love, spirituality, and holiness. This informal style of Judaism in the Black Hills contributes to a special yet simple relationship with God and with each other.

Jews in South Dakota encapsulate a rich history and spirit of a pioneering people settling in uncharted territory. In addition to the school and the services, the community is unlike any other in the world. First, many congregants shlepped several hours from ranch country to send their children to the school or to attend services, since this synagogue is the only one in the western S.D., eastern Wyoming, and northwestern Nebraska region. Second, volunteers drove to Denver, the closest city seven hours away, to buy kosher food for the community. Next, only recently a super-mensch donated a house to convert into a synagogue; prior to the purchase, services were held at an Air Force base. Also, the founder and long-time lay leader of the synagogue invites the entire congregation to his home every year for a Hanukkah party… and we all fit inside at the same time! Although the community may be perceived as having very little and being at a tremendous disadvantage, the Jewish community, and hence family, at this S.D. synagogue preserves its rich pioneering heritage, its “primitive” ways of life, and informal relationship with God. And wouldn’t have it any other way!

Steph is a 2005 graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado and is currently working on her Masters Degree in physics in Washington D.C. Her ultimate goal in life is to become a rabbi!

[Posted 12/25/05]