We’ve made it successfully through the wonderful events of August, culminating in the TE Tag Sale. Whew!!!! We even continued to function well despite the various vacation schedules of our Rabbi, Office Administrator and many of us congregants, who have asked others to “cover” while we are away. I have become increasingly aware of the amazing talent and generosity of all involved in TE when it comes to sharing the load. Yes, it does “take a village….” It reminds me of the song by the Hollies: (If you can remember it, you will now hum it for the next few days!) The road is long With many a winding turn That leads us to who knows where Who knows when But I’m strong Strong enough to carry him He ain’t heavy, he’s my brother So, on we go His welfare is of my concern No burden is he to bear We’ll get there For I know He would not encumber me He ain’t heavy, He’s my brother If I’m laden at all I’m laden with sadness That everyone’s heart Isn’t filled with the gladness Of love for one another It’s a long, long road From which there is no return While we’re on the way to there Why not share And the load Doesn’t weigh me down at all He ain’t heavy, he’s my brother He’s my brother He ain’t heavy, he’s my brother…
So if you are feeling overwhelmed with your responsibilities, remember that the TE Community is here. If you are feeling that you want to jump in and help support TE, speak up, and your support will be welcomed! Our foundations are firm, our structural support system is redundant and robust, and includes you! Thank you all for being there.
Category: President’s column
PRESIDENT’s COLUMN August 2012 (This one’sTuscan!)
Now that the excitement of the past months’ events has settled down a little bit, it’s time to evaluate once more how we can simplify and clarify our lives and their meaning, and how we can best incorporate our relationship with the Temple Emanuel Community into our lives. To paraphrase a much wiser and more experienced President, “Ask not what the Temple Emanuel Community can do for you – ask what you can do for the Temple Emanuel Community.” As you ponder this suggestion, think about three levels of response: 1) The short term 2) The medium term 3) The long term.
For example:
A short term response might be to volunteer to assist with an individual TE project or event. This can serve as an opportunity to interact with other congregants that you may not have known before on a social level, while you cooperate to achieve a successful outcome. It involves a small contribution of time and effort, and is finite in scope. As a side benefit, you can learn more about others and share more about yourself.
A medium term response might be to volunteer to serve on, or co-chair a committee. Think about your special interests and talents and what might be a good match for you. Our committees include (but are not limited to):
Finance: Budgetary and financial affairs of the Congregation
Education: Religious School, Adult Education, Library (Yes, we have books!)
Fund Raising: Annual and special fund raising events, special memorials and funds
Membership: Recruitment and Orientation of New Members, retention of existing (not necessarily “old”) members
Liaison: “Troubleshoots” issues that members may not want to bring to the officers or Board of Directors
Ritual Advisory: Works with the Rabbi in reviewing, renewing and revising as needed our congregation’s rituals, practices and observances
Youth Advisory: Youth activities and program participation for “junior” and “senior” youth members as well as college youth
Buildings and Grounds: Maintenance of buildings and property, and use of the physical plant by members and non-members of the Congregation.
Cemetery: Advises members on purchase of cemetery plots, works with funeral directors, oversees perpetual core of the TE Cemetery
Social Action and Community Service: Engages TE Congregants in activities and programs for local, national and world communities.
Sisterhood: Builds a community that provides the atmosphere and opportunity for women to meet and socialize with other women in the community. Sponsors diverse programs to learn, share ideas, benefit the Temple and HAVE FUN!
Contact any Board Member or the Office if you have a thought about what is a good match for you, or if you have an idea for a committee that is not listed or doesn’t yet exist.
A long term response could be a commitment to the longevity of our Congregation and community by:
- Helping to form a long range planning effort to examine the past, present and future of Temple Emanuel
- Maintaining your membership and participation long after your children have grown and “flown”
- Committing to becoming a Board Member and aspiring to the role of an Executive Committee member
- Including Temple Emanuel in your estate planning
Contact me at president@templeemanuel-gnh.org with your ideas. Be constructive. Remember, “If you kvetch, you fetch!” (Anonymous)
My First Column (Is it Doric, Ionic or Corinthian?) By Bruce Spiewak, Temple Emanuel President
For the micro and the macro families of the Temple Emanuel Community, this certainly has been a season filled with festive events and new beginnings. We have collectively celebrated our first 50 years as a congregation, and at the same time, we welcome the beginning of the next half century, with all of the excitement, enthusiasm and spirit that was characteristic of the special events we have recently shared. Many of us have celebrated B’nai Mitzvot, the demarcation of the transformation of our children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews and friends into young Jewish adults, who inherit the mitzvah of continuing our Jewish faith and traditions. Who among us has not attended or related to a 2012 Graduation, be it from nursery school, lower school, middle school, high school, college, graduate school, or something else special? Graduation…… otherwise known as “Commencement.”
As we begin the new fiscal year, the second half century, life as a Jewish adult, experiencing the world of a higher level of education, a new job, the birth of a child or grandchild, marriage, retirement, or whatever respective new beginning each of us is facing, we each have an opportunity to ask ourselves, “what will I do now that I have not done before to help myself, my family, my community, the world, in a meaningful positive way?” A major part of response to that question is a process which involves an evaluation of where we have been, and how we have arrived at this time and place in the present, as well as whether or not we like this condition. This process then helps provide the perspective to guide the decision making process of creatively moving forward. We must balance the time and effort expended on evaluation with the need to encourage progress. This is not always an easy task, and sometimes blurs the difference between planning and procrastination. As Davy Crockett said, “Be always sure you are right, then go ahead.” However, that must be tempered by the statement, as sometimes attributed to Voltaire, “The perfect is the enemy of the good.”
I encourage each and every one of us to begin the process on multiple levels. With respect to the Temple Emanuel Community, there is an opportunity to share your skills, knowledge, capability and experience with the rest of us, by increasing your participation on some plane. One example is the opportunity to volunteer to participate as a member (or leader) of one of our various committees. Whether you are a “new” TE member or a “long term” member, think about your own resources and view them in the perspective of our TE Family. You need not become a full-time volunteer – your time is valuable, and whatever amount of it is available to share is welcomed! Take a look at the inside cover of the Temple Emanuel Directory – many of the standing committees are listed there. If you identify a need for which there is not yet a committee, perhaps we can form a new one! It has recently occurred to me that we should formalize a resource that has been around informally for years, and which I have witnessed as it provides historical wisdom and direction to our Temple. Let’s form a Past Presidents’ Council, (with Lew Shaffer as the Chair?) to meet occasionally and discuss issues that become important to Temple Emanuel as time goes by. What’s your idea? Everyone’s ideas are welcome, so feel free to share them with me at president@TempleEmanuel-gnh.org, and don’t be surprised if I ask you to help with the follow through!
IT'S HERE!
It’s here. Finally. 5772. For once the event, or should I say events, will live up to the hype. No disappointment here like Geraldo Rivera
had when he opened Al Capone’s vault; no trace of John Lackey, A.J. Burnett or Jason Bay here; likewise no needless worry about a YT2k Bug. Temple Emanuel’s 50th Anniversary
(or if your prefer our Second Half Century) will not only meet expectations, but will exceed them. We have had the kickoff pre-50th celebration—the TE barbeque in September.
Over 160 people came to pray and also to play, eat and socialize, all things we do well. And now 5772 is here…and excitement is in the air.
The reason why our events will meet the hype while the others didn’t is that we have a solid foundation. We are not inventing the wheel here, but rather we are building upon
the hard work that others did for 50 years now. While your current Temple leadership is working hard, we are merely following the lead of our predecessors who had a vision for
Temple Emanuel. From Temple Emanuel’s initial creation, our spiritual leaders and membership have through the years worked hard to make Temple Emanuel what it is today.
Our spiritual leaders, Rabbi Winer to Rabbi Brieger to Rabbi Farbman, while they may have gone about things differently, have all shared a common goal and have worked
hard to make the TE experience a meaningful one.
During 5772 we will have many events to commemorate what has been accomplished—we will have visits from Rabbi Winer,
as well as from Jeff Klepper and Rabbi Dan Freelander; a gala party will be held on May 12. We are lucky to have our
Rabbi Emeritus, Jerry Brieger, remain an active participant at TE. TE is indeed a special place to us, as it was to its founders.
I wish all of you a happy and healthy new year.
L’shanah tovah.
Getting better…
I’ve got to admit it’s getting better…
If you were around Temple Emanuel this August, you couldn’t have missed all the renovations. Floors in the Social Hall and swing space were being removed and then replaced with very attractive tiles. The ceilings of those rooms were being painted and a new roof was put on the Sanctuary building. In addition, the building’s duct work was cleaned, and arrangements were made to fix the gutters.
Outdoor lights were also installed so that we can have evening events on the TE grounds (Hopefully you will be at our September 9th barbeque to kick off the celebration of our second half century.) The improvements are not only visual. As membership grows, members are sitting further back in the Sanctuary. On the High Holy Days we expect that people will be sitting deeper into the Social Hall. And those members will now be able to hear. We have purchased a new speaker system that will be utilized in the Social Hall. Arrangements are also being made to improve the acoustics of the room now as well.
The improvements are not limited to the Sanctuary building. The TE House is also being renovated. Though the TE Board had planned on making changes to the House, we were forced to make the changes sooner than intended as a leak from below had caused a flood in the step-down room. As a result the carpet had to be removed and the walls opened up to both remove soggy materials and locate the leak.
The educational system at TE has also been revamped. New teachers have been hired to replace those who have retired, and a new curriculum has been put in place. Exciting programming for all members is also on the way.
Some of this work is being paid for by insurance proceeds (I’ve discussed this in a previous column), some by our operating budget, and much of it is funded by the Second Half-Century Fund. By now you have undoubtedly figured out what comes next—a very gentle reminder that if you haven’t already made a commitment to the Second Half-Century Fund, please do so now. While I would prefer that the commitments be large, you are hereby reminded that commitments of any amount are appreciated.
Getting so much better all the time.
President’s End-of-year update
By now, hopefully everybody has heard that the year 2012 has special meaning to the Temple Emanuel community — we turn 50. We will be ending our first half century on a positive note — membership is increasing — since the beginning of our fiscal year (July 1, 2010) we have gained 17 new families. Participation in Friday night services are up,
we have scheduled many events and membership has responded by attending. It is clear that we have chosen the right rabbi in Rabbi Farman to continue the work started by Rabbi Brieger. As was discussed at a congregational meeting on November 21st, plans are under way to commemorate the significant anniversary. A committee has been formed to work on an Event to be held in the spring of 2012. This event will feature a dinner as well as various remembrances of our history.
Anyone having pictures of TE building or events from the early years is requested to contact me or the TE Office. While things are still being planned, speakers and a movie are also being considered. We are also working on a fund to help us continue to move forward. The fund is aptly named the “Second Half Century Fund.” The goal is to have members make a commitment of a three-year contribution, and it is hoped that over the three years the Fund will raise $375,000. At the time of this writing we have three year commitments totaling $140,000. As explained by Fund Chair Jon Zonderman, the Fund is for medium-term “revival” funds for Temple Emanuel as it moves into its second half century. The $375,000 to be raised over three years would be used over a period of six years to add programing ($120,000 total), the restoration/upgrade of our facilities ($120,000 total), to close the annual budget shortfall (three year period — $20,000 a year) and as a “Launch Pad” for growth (any funds over $300,000 — there will be a $25,000 annual holdback). Be on the lookout for additional information.
We should all be pleased that TE has been awarded a grant of $1,800 by the Jewish Federation’s Women of Vision Society. Our proposal was written by a committee headed by Lori Welch-Rubin and is entitled Celebrating Ourselves: Exploring the Sacred Feminine in Judaism. Congratulations to all who worked on this project.
I am informed by the Jewish Federation of Greater New Haven that a Shiva list has been established for our area. While all synagogues send notices to congregants concerning deaths in their specific congregation, up until now a single list for our geographic area did not exist. If you wish to subscribe to the list, please go to www.ShivaList.net.
While the year is almost over, there is still time to do some tax planning for the 2010 tax year. Simply pay your membership commitments by December 31st, so you can use the charitable deduction this tax year.
Finally my wishes to all for a very happy new year.
— Lew
Changes to Temple Emanuel
Hopefully you’ve noticed some changes taking place at Temple Emanuel this summer. Last month
I wrote about the projects involving the base-
ment of the TE House and the fire landings. As stated in last month’s Shofar, those projects were paid for out of our budget.
In August, both the House and Sanctuary underwent a thorough cleaning. Vinyl floors, carpets, walls, and even ceilings have been thoroughly cleaned. The Sanctuary kitchen has likewise been cleaned, a process that even involved the moving of appliances so that all dirt could be reached. This extensive cleaning was done without the use of Temple Emanuel funds—our Treasurer Howard Schachter, along with Jon Zonderman and Bruce Spiewak, discovered that puff backs that occurred in the past were responsible for the damage and that we were still entitled to file a claim with our insurer. The insurer is still evaluating our claim, but has approved and paid for the cleaning.
Another room has been freed upstairs in the house. As many of you are aware, the Youth Group did fine work in creating and painting a Youth Lounge. Now we have another open room upstairs opposite the Rabbi’s Office. This room was formally used as the caretaker’s apartment and now can
be used as a library. Risé Siegel and Melissa Perkal have spent many hours cleaning, removing wallpaper, scraping paint, and then repainting. Jean Silk sorted through the many randomly stored boxes there and properly filed some and discarded those that were not necessary. Many of the saved documents contain a fascinating history of Temple Emanuel, but more on that another time.
Not all change is manifested in the physical. We are also in the process of improving our methods of communicating with the congregation. Jean started this process at the beginning of the year. It involves the sending of electronic newsletters through Constant Contact. These will supple- ment the Shofar which will still come out in print. Arlene Cohen, Marc Webber and Jen Poulsen have been doing a great job on this and we should be seeing the results of their labor shortly.