"For the past four and a half years, Rosemary and I have been visiting many synagogues in the Great Lakes Region. We kept a journal of our visits. The article is only an outline of such journal. We thought of sharing our wonderful experience with Beth Emet congregants."

Four years ago, my wife Rosemary and I embarked on an extraordinary undertaking, one of the most exciting adventures of our lives: to visit large numbers of synagogues in the Great Lakes Region.

At that time, we did not know that we were getting involved in the uncovering of treasure troves and the discovery of incredible jewels.

Wherever we went, we were received with a warm welcome by congregants, which included smiles, handshakes and friendly greetings. Each time we felt that immediate kinship of "Am Israel" that universal brotherhood and sisterhood of the mosaic faith. We felt immediately at ease, comfortable and secure with the surroundings of the numerous houses of worship we visited in our region.

And, most important of all, we felt that friendly aura and glow of "Hiney Mah Tov Umah Nayim, Shevet Achim Gam Yachad" - (How good and how pleasant it is for brothers and sisters to sit together).

We felt the warm embrace and the sheltering security, under the "Shechinah" (the divine presence) during Shabbat services. "Mah Tovu Ohalecha Yaakov, Mishk'notecha Israel" (How good are your tents, Oh, Jacob and your dwelling places, Oh Israel). We observed, admired, assessed and appraised the common thread that binds us, the common past that unites us, and the common destiny that awaits us.

We realized that it did not really matter whether we were sharing Shabbat services with Reform, Reconstructionist, Conservative or Orthodox fellow coreligionists. We were all an "Am Echad" (One People), with one past, one present and one future.

The similarities we encountered far outweighed the differences that one would expect to find. A common language during worship, familiar prayers, even familiar melodies passed from generation to generation throughout the ages…

Added to that we were blessed with the special privilege of feasting our eyes on so many magnificent works of art, displayed in foyers and hallways, extraordinary architectural works, outstanding cantorial performances and stimulating "divrei torah" (sermons) delivered by important and influential rabbinical leaders.

We also realized that each synagogue we visited was very special; that its congregants felt very proud to be part of that community. We experienced the joy of participating in life-cycle celebrations and other joyous occasions. No matter how large or small, how luxurious or simple, each one of the fifty plus synagogues we visited was truly a "jewel" in itself.

We developed a sense of the eternal "deja vu" that one feels when standing or sitting before the "bima," (pulpit); the eternal light and the "aron kodesh" - the repository of our sacred ancestral journal; we felt that sense of being pulled back through the millennia and witnessing the receiving of the Torah at Sinai each time that it was removed from the ark. We were keenly aware of that invisible thread that has inextricably intertwined us throughout our rich history.

If you want to enrich your spiritual life and gain a sense of diversity of "nussachim" - (approaches and styles) in melodies, prayers, that exist among the distinct congregations belonging to the different streams; if you want to have an unforgettable and exhilarating experience of kinship, brotherhood, sisterhood and camaraderie, then become a "treasure hunter" and "jewel gatherer" the way we did.

Your life will indeed become far richer, your spirit will soar and certainly increase in bountiful blessings, your Jewish pride will grow stronger, invigorated and fortified by having "tasted" from the incredibly delightful and multi-faceted spiritual "smorgasbord" that abounds in our region.

We felt that, while harvesting those "jewels", those "shining pearls", while adding them to that invisible "string", we ended up fashioning a most resplendent "String of Pearls".