Facilitating this religious exploration is our raison d'etre, which is why we are a learning community. "V'talmud Torah K'neged Kulam" - "and Torah study is equal to all other commandments combined" (Talmud, Shabbat 127a) is a banner we hold high. Enhanced Jewish literacy, we believe, inevitably leads to greater Jewish commitment and to a deeper, more mature appreciation of Judaism. In the context of classes, private sessions, or home study, engaging sacred texts is not only an intellectual exercise, but, no less than prayer, a dialogue with the Divine. Moreover, whether the topic is halacha or history, Mishna or Bible, contemporary issues or Hebrew language, philosophy or prayer, serious Jewish study not only fortifies individuals with knowledge, but ultimately invigorates the entire Hong Kong Jewish community.

The scope of our Jewish interests, though, extends far beyond Robinson Road. Achdut, the essential unity of the Jewish people even as it is dispersed across the globe, is a central value of the Synagogue. A Jewish calamity or triumph in Iran, Israel or England is ours to mourn or celebrate. Any Jew in need is our responsibility, and the welfare of the Jewish people as a whole is our concern.

Not surprisingly, then, Ohel Leah is a Zionist synagogue. The State of Israel is the realization of many of our nation's loftiest dreams. Jewish sovereignty in the Holy Land has enabled Israel to become a guardian of the Jewish people, even today absorbing Jews in distress from near and far. Israel also shines as a beacon of Jewish learning and culture for world Jewry. We pray each shabbat that the Jewish State, our state, thrives and enjoys peace and security. We celebrate annually her independence and the reunification of her eternal capital, the city of Jerusalem. "We have never abandoned our hope, the hope of two thousand years, to be a free people in our land, the land of Zion and Jerusalem." (From the Israeli national anthem).