President’s Column (This One’s Reinforced!) by Bruce Spiewak

This month I will share with you a report on some important events, concepts, goals, and directions for TE. As you know, our synagogue is generally managed by our Board of Directors and Officers. There are various standing committees as well as some special committees, which are all supervised and directed by the Board. Based on a variety of circumstances, issues and ideas generated by the Board and our Membership, there has been a general consensus among the Board that we need to pause, take a breath and evaluate and plan for our congregational future based on both our history and our vision for that future. In response to this consensus, I contacted the URJ (Union of Reform Judaism), which is a national organization to which we belong as a member synagogue. The URJ has a plethora of resources available to members, which you can peruse on their website at www.urj.org. The URJ responded to my contact by first sending a Congregational Representative to meet with the TE Executive Committee and then by organizing an all-day training session for our Board of Directors and Rabbi, which came to fruition on Sunday, November 11. Some people would refer to this session as a “retreat.” I prefer to use the term “advance.” The focus of this “advance” was determined by the attendees with the guidance of URJ facilitator Rabbi Sue Levi Elwell, Rabbinic Director, East Geographic Network, URJ. The process was both invigorating and exhausting, and by the end of the day we had formulated three major areas of focus for TE, taking into account changing demographics and economic conditions: MEMBERSHIP, GOVERNANCE and FINANCE. This “advance” is just the beginning of a continuing effort, spearheaded via the Board, to formulate specific goals, and the tasks, milestones and processes necessary in order to achieve those goals. The Board, Rabbi and Committees will be reaching out to each of you in many ways to encourage your participation, including: membershiP: ☞ Attend services and events. ☞ Reach out to your network of family, friends, colleagues, neighbors, etc., and invite them to join you at a TE service or other event. ☞ Use your “Board Buddy” as a conduit to communicate your ideas and comments to the Board. ☞ Encourage our TE youth to continue their participation post Bar/Bat Mitzvah.
GoVernAnce: ☞ Communicate with your “Board Buddy” (A Board member who will contact you to open direct communications). ☞ Become active or more active on a TE Committee. ☞ A ttend an occasional Board meeting. (They’re always open to members.) ☞ Prepare for future nomination to become a member of the Board. ☞ Prepare for future nomination to become an officer of the Board. FinAnce: ☞ Reach out to your network of family, friends, colleagues, neighbors, etc., and invite them to join you at a TE service or other event. ☞ Become active on the Fundraising Committee. ☞ Become active on the Program Committee. ☞ Volunteer to help out for a specific fundraising event/program. ☞ Become active on the Finance Committee. ☞ Offer any special financial skills or expertise to the Finance Committee, Office Administrator or Treasurer. ☞ P re-pay your dues/financial commitments to TE by mid-December if possible to take advantage of any appropriate tax deductions, which may be changing in 2013. ☞ Re-evaluate your family’s relationship with our TE Community, and if feasible, increase your financial commitment this membership year.
In a recent article in Reform Judaism Magazine, entitled “Why Do We Need Religion? Ask Darwin,” (http://reformjudaismmag.org/winter_2012/issue/) Jonathan Sacks discusses the concept of creating within the minds of each individual synagogue member a strong identification with and concern for the group as a whole. “As Darwin showed us, without altruism there can be no community, and without community we cannot survive.” Please, ask yourself “what unique skill, talent, and knowledge do I have that I can share with the TE Community?” Remember, when you receive a call or request to help, shout “Hineini!”