And so the time has come to say goodbye to the old house. For many of us this is a moment tinged with sadness. For over 40 years this house has been the center of Temple Emanuel’s universe – religious school classes, the office, committee meetings, book clubs, meals, parties, learning, and praying – it has been a witness to over 40 years of TE history…
But it was also an old house that had all the challenges of an aging structure that has been added to throughout the years – the wet basement, summer humidity, the ice damming, the furnace that would suddenly not work in the middle of the winter – the list of challenges was long, and every TE president has had a surprise or two prepared for his/her budget by the old house 🙂
Back in December we had a wonderful ceremony in front of the empty house. It was an opportunity for us to celebrate the amazing history that we have enjoyed together. It was an opportunity to thank the house for the wonderful service it offered our community over the years. It was an opportunity to look at for how far we have come in the last 45 years.
This house gave our community a chance to grow, a chance to develop its identity, its spirit, and its character. We made do with what we had. We made it ours, and we made it work. It is incredible to know that in a series of meetings inside this house we were able to conceive what our community would look like, what our Sanctuary would look like, what our school and library and offices would look like in the 21st century. The future is full of excitement. But as we celebrate the future, let us acknowledge and honor the past that has enabled us to get here. The house was an integral part of that past, and we shall forever be thankful for its many years of faithful service.
In the end, the house was once again a place for important learning and practice. Both the FBI and the local fire department found the house offered them an opportunity for invaluable training of their staff. We were honored to share the house with them. It was the most fitting way to end a career of the house of learning and the house of gathering. The physical structure of the house may be gone now, but the spirit of the house that has been the spirit of Temple Emanuel community lives on in all of us, in all those who have come through its doors over the decades, and it lives in the hallways of the One Campus of Temple Emanuel – and what a joy it is to know that. 
Goodbye old house. And thank you!