Back in the '70s, I was the only gentile in a Jewish women's bridge club. That's where I found out that temples had dues. In order to be a member, you had to pay that temple's dues amount. At least in Pittsburgh in the '70s. Some temples were more expensive than others. It was a status symbol what temple you belonged to.
Christians could belong to any church and pay what they could afford. (Of course, there were the "pillars" of the church who obviously gave more and brought more weight to bear--politics is everywhere.) My Jewish friends couldn't understand the concept, or why I didn't understand theirs.
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It's harder to hate close up.
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