Or Chadash has a special aura for me. I get a special feeling as I turn off Foothill Road and come up the driveway. Whether I am attending a service, dropping my boys off for religious school or coming in for a meeting, I instantly feel a sense of belonging, a sense of pride and a sense of magic. As the new President I have now had the opportunity to come up our driveway during a long hot summer day, and I have to admit the feeling is still there. While the halls and classrooms may be temporarily empty, they echo with my thoughts of children learning and adults connecting.

One of the many things I am learning as I rapidly come up to speed in my new role is the amount of work and activity that goes on in our community during the summer. Plans are being made for the High Holy Days, Religious School teachers are being recruited, and the hard-working Board continues to have committee meetings and helps us steer our course for the upcoming year. Or Chadash is a magical place, but the magic comes from us. We each bring something special and something unique to our little temple in the woods. The magic I feel when I walk through the doors isn't about the building, or even the setting, as bucolic as it is, but is about us coming together. Our connectivity is what makes Or Chadash such a special place.

I would like to use this, my first message in the Newsletter, to ask you to think about your connectivity to our temple. What is magical to you about Or Chadash? What can you do to help make Or Chadash even more magical? How can I help you to feel the magic that is Or Chadash? I am using this summer to learn what makes us great and what we need to do to be even greater. I look forward to hearing what magic you see in Or Chadash and how you can connect to Or Chadash to keep that magic alive.  Send me your thoughts; I'd love to hear from you.

KimTurner

Long before "selfie" was an accepted word in the scrabble dictionary, publishers and companies have always known that people love to feature themselves and familiar characters in unfamiliar environments. Even The White House now permits selfies! Who doesn't like to take tons of photos when on vacation? The publishers of the series Where's Waldo, Carmen Sandiego and Flat Stanley morphed characters into altered states to create a fun and amusing game for all ages---literally taking the characters out of their books to participate in our "real" lives.

With Religious School concluded for the year, and our summer service schedule very quiet, how do we consider our Jewish selves in other environments? How can we experience our summer selves through a Jewish lens? What connects you to your Jewish self when you are not physically at 149 Foothill Road?

Years ago, my cousin would enter a hotel room and immediately look through the telephone book (I said years ago!) to see if there were other people in the community with her same last name. I suspect that was her way of reaching out to connect in a foreign environment. Another friend always seeks out a synagogue- just to drive by-when she travels. I think it grounds her. For me, seeing a house with a mezuzah on its front door when I stroll in an unfamiliar community gives me a Jewish hug.

So, how might you incorporate your Jewish self into a summer activity or vacation? It might be that the book you read has a Jewish theme or value, or it is sharing a challah at the beach, doing an act of tikkun o'lam (repairing the world), thinking about a someone who is ill and saying the mishebeirach, or thinking about the many blessings you have, being surrounded by family and friends.

May your summer give you the opportunity to have some new experiences along with some well deserved silent meditation - maybe even on a hammock.

Betsy Zalaznick