The Tribute to Rabbis Shoni & Phillip  

May 5^th, 2012

If you attended last Saturday night's gala celebrating our very own Rabbis Shoni and Phillip, you will never think of Ikea and Paula Dean the same again!  The fun evening was a celebration of life, love and laughter that we will remember for years to come.

Laughing Matterz served up great food and belly laughs with their outrageous show.  Our own Rabbi Marc and his brother Arik sang a beautiful Shlomo Carlebach tribute to their parents that had the room filled with that special kind of love between parents and children.  It was a tender moment we were blessed to share.

I had the privilege of being in charge of the video for the event.  On the day of the filming, both R Shoni and R Phillip were in rare moods and they laughed and kibbutzed through much of the interview, interjecting comments followed by "Don't use that!" or "Cut that part out!"  Yet peppered throughout were moments of cherished memories, sweet stories and wisdom that offered a glimpse into the hearts and souls of our founding rabbis.  My job was easy...  all I had to do was to string together those moments.  What a fun thing to do!  By all accounts, it was a huge success and, I trust, will serve as a lasting tribute of the love our community has for these two wonderful rabbis.

Once again, there was a huge effort on the part of many people to make this event a success.  Right at the top I want to point out the tireless work of our "part time" administrator, Renee Greene.  Her knowledge, intelligence, good nature, perseverance and incredible memory are the backbone of every TAO event.  She consistently provides unerring advice and her instincts are flawless.  Thank you Renee for bringing your gifts to us.  We deeply appreciate you.

And right alongside is Dee Sacks.  Officially our Office Manager, unofficially our holy, hardworking volunteer extraordinaire - Dee is the heart of TAO administration.  She knows our members.  She knows our rabbis.  She just knows things. She is like a computer that has no back-up!  Thank you Dee for all you do.  We deeply appreciate you.

Pam Kelner chaired the event and was key in organizing phone trees and auction items.  This was Pam's first TAO fund-raiser and I think she now knows all the joy associated with putting on an event like this.  Thank you Pam for being there for us and for your dedication and hard work.  We all appreciated your contribution to the success of the evening. 

Other volunteers like Angela Gershenwald, Sue Reisman, Marcia Peschitz, Trudi DeGrazia, Richard Grove, Eileen Grove, Sandy King, Kate Gemeiner, Shirley Shelpman, Maria Daszkal, Ellen Kushner, Elyn Zerfas, Jenae Rubin, Rochelle & Charles Tischler, Ethelind Wiener ( to whom we apologize for omitting from our telephone committee listing in the journal), Keith Kander, Michael Fish (thank you for the picture-taking!), Rebecca Negrin, Karen Rosenfeld, Sylvia Greene, Cousin Sharon...if I have forgotten you, I apologize in advance.  I'm writing from memory!  Thank you to all of you.  Really, really - we could not have done this without each of you.

When I told my friend I was writing this article for the newsletter, she said, "That's easy.  It was fun.  Oh, and it was so much fun!  And you could always say, 'It was fun!' "  That said, I will also say this...

"Thank you Rabbi Shoni and Rabbi Phillip for allowing us in, for being who you are, for all that you have given to this community and to the world.  And thank you for allowing us to have fun with you.  Happy 65^th Birthday.  Happy 75^th Birthday.  Happy Anniversary.  You rock!"