Laugh. But this is a story of pomegranates and the power of social media. Another way to build community.

Last week a colleague of mine in Winnipeg was lamenting on Facebook he couldn’t find any pomegranates north of the border. Pomegranates are traditional during Rosh Hashanah in some communities. There are 613 seeds in a pomegranate, the same number of mitzvot. Trust me on this one. I sat in Jerusalem counting pomegranate seeds one Rosh Hashanah afternoon. Multiple pomegranates. They each had 613 seeds.

So like looking at tzitzit on the tallit, eating a pomegranate during Rosh Hashanah reminds us to do the mitzvot. If you haven’t eaten one in a while, it provides the opportunity to say shehechianu on a new fruit the second day.

I had been looking for a pomegranate as well and said that we in Elgin would race Winnipeg. People in Elgin and Winnipeg started saying where they had seen them. I had offers from friends to drive one from the North Shore. I found some at Jewel—even with perfect crowns. Two pomegranates showed up on my desk. Then another four.

In the middle of this race, something remarkable happened. A friend from Massachusetts, Sharon Finberg, saw the post on Facebook. She has a friend in California who grows pomegranates. My new Facebook friend, Anne Pilgrim, shipped me four exquisite pomegranates from her own tree. They are now sitting on my desk, with the others that appeared, making me smile each time I see them.

People often talk about the Internet as community. It can be. And the pomegranates are an example. I think, however, it is a tool to strengthen community. Dick Johnson wrote about the running community. I belong to several Facebook groups for running. Because of this I have met people I would not ordinarily meet living in Elgin. I have been encouraged by them to run further, faster, to keep up with my training. I even had the opportunity to run in Guatemala with someone I had met through Facebook. Friends of mine, scattered all over the country, actually the world, have a chance to remain friends by checking in on Facebook. People have described me as the original Rabbi without Borders.

My congregation has a Facebook presence. The Torah School has a group on Facebook as well. A closed group, here they share ideas and discuss things amongst themselves.

Facebook is not the only social media. Pinterest gives people the opportunity to share ideas. I am trying to pin more things to boards for each of the holidays. Some congregations stream services. What a great idea for shut-ins. We used a web conferencing program last winter when we had a minyan scheduled for a yahrzeit and I didn’t think it was safe to drive.

When I was first in rabbinical school, I interned with the Jewish Appleseed Foundation as the Answer Rabbi. A Jewish apple is a pomegranate. The foundation’s mission was “to work with Jews and non-Jews who live away from the Jewish mainstream and were in need of mentoring and strategic planning.” The questions we were asked were interesting and varied. One question was a constant. “How can I become Jewish?” Many of those were people who were living in remote areas with no Jewish community near them. At the time, the director, would advise them that being Jewish is not something to be done alone. You need a community. It is a group process.

The world has changed some since 2007, There are now groups that will do online conversions. I still think people need a community and the support that they bring. Traditionally, a community needs a mikveh and a cemetery, even before building a synagogue or a school or buying a Torah. Or even hiring a rabbi.

I had an interesting conversation with Rabbi Ari Moffic, the Chicago director of Interfaith Family. She said that millenials are not looking for community. They think they have it on Facebook. There is a mom’s group of some 6000 people on the North Shore and you will see posts like, “Thank you to my community. I couldn’t have done x without you.” What they are looking for is a sense of belonging. I thought that was community.

I see that too in my running groups and with WeightWatchers. It is a place where you can be anonymous. Where you can share your hopes and dreams, frustrations and setbacks. But I am not sure it is community.

The tale of a pomegranate. The power of social media. One more tool to strengthen community. To build community. But not be community. Not yet.