Friday, October 2

 

14 Tishrei 5770

 

Shabbat Shalom -

It has been a busy week during a very busy time of the year.  The week began with Yom Kippur and over the holiday our family was able to spend time at Sinai Temple, Temple Beth El and Congregation B'nai Torah.  Synagogue hopping may seem out of the norm, but we thoroughly enjoyed our experience with all of these congregations.  We were inspired by each in different ways.

Kol Nidre is my favorite service of the year.  We spent the evening at Sinai and I was enchanted by the music and Rabbi Shapiro delivered a forever memorable sermon.  At Beth El's service the day of Yom Kippur, we were moved by the commitment of the congregation, including Charlie Nirenberg's beautiful chanting of the Haftorah.  Rabbi Katz's yizkor talk really brought me to tears on so many different levels.  Our experience was topped off with prayer at B'nai Torah where Etai (our 19 month old) was graciously welcomed on the bimah by Rabbi Hyman.  The warmth of the service at B'nai Torah enveloped all of us.  I had the best high holiday experience I can remember.  We are so fortunate to have such a quality religious infrastructure in our community.

Wednesday was the combined Jewish Federation/Jewish Foundation Annual Meeting.  Our program began with a dinner to honor our 18 new Create a Jewish Legacy donors.  Mordi Kamel and Betsey Freedman shared their most inspirational stories about why they choose to give and why they have taken the next step to insure their gift lives on in perpetuity.  I was honored to listen to them. 

Our annual meeting had over 200 people in attendance.  We honored our Philip E. Saks Young Leadership Award winners, Harlene Ginsberg and Bruce Wintman, who spoke so eloquently about their connection with Federation.  We celebrated our success of the Create a Jewish Legacy Program, we congratulated Sue Kline on her phenomenal job as President and welcomed Ed Greenbaum, our newly elected Federation President.  Yes, the evening ran a little bit too long, but everyone deserved the accolades and praise they received and then some.

For the first time, Federation and Foundation produced a timely combined Annual Report that was distributed at the Annual Meeting that showcased the philanthropic work that we do in tandem.  We have received positive feedback on this publication and I am very proud of our staff and leadership for putting the meeting and the report together.

Following the annual meeting we had very successful meeting with Gail Littman who joined us consulting on our Create A Jewish Legacy efforts.  Gail brings insight and experience to our legacy program and continues to inspire us to plan for our future.  She has given us such helpful tools to continue growing this vibrant and vital project.  As I said, it was a busy week.

Looking forward, we are about to begin the holiday of Sukkot.  My family has been happily inundated with invitations to join families and friends in their sukkahs.  We can't wait to continue our spiritual journey through the community. 

Chag sameach and shabbat shalom =