“Where there is no vision, the people will perish.” Proverbs 29:18.

One of the more challenging aspects of being a temple president is shaping and articulating a vision for our congregation. The first year of my presidency, my work was clear. We eliminated our $50,000 deficit. Through hard work, we have managed our resources and have not used our line of credit yet this fiscal year. 

At last year’s Annual Meeting, Rabbi Address, from the URJ Department of Family Concerns, introduced the idea that we are a Kehillat Chessed, a caring and sacred community, noting that the strength and longevity of our congregation comes from our relationships with each other. Empirically, participation in all aspects of temple life has increased. We are a congregation built on a strong foundation and the time is right to ask ourselves what kind of community do we want our congregation to be now and in the next five years?

In March, I announced the initiation of the future-planning steering committee and long range planning effort. The enthusiasm and creative ideas generated by our first meeting will soon flow down into subgroups assigned to help identify the temple’s strengths and weaknesses and improve our connection and communication with our members. Ritual, education, membership, finances, social action will all be considered. The groups will be encouraged to meet in people’s homes and will hopefully complete the plan by the High Holidays. I promised that I would keep members informed throughout the process, and if there was a great idea that could be implemented within a shorter time frame we would not wait. To that end, I want to thank Ruth Friedman for suggesting that we host a Tot Shabbat. Within a few weeks of her suggestion, Rabbi Dreyfus planned and conducted a delightful Shabbat morning experience for four adorable children. 

A key suggestion at our first steering committee meeting came from two members with school age kids. Both felt that a unique strength of our congregation comes from our intergenerational community. Our young people could learn from the life experiences, education and stories or our older members.

We have a store of talent, but we need to find ways to connect to each other. Another insight from the meeting was though we often think about welcoming new members, we may forget that long-standing members might feel uncomfortable if they are not regular participants in temple life. These are just a few ideas that show possibilities for our future. The steering committee members are: chairperson Jeff Virene, Gayle Weil, Sherman Friedman, Sharon Lorsch, David Epstein, Phyllis Glassman, Libby Morse, Amy Maniatis, and Chuck Stone. Everyone is encouraged to share his or her vision of a spiritually fulfilling Jewish community. If you would like to serve on a subcommittee for the future planning process, contact the Temple office.

I will paraphrase Rabbi Yoffee from a talk he gave at the URJ Presidents Scheidt seminar last month: “We need to talk to each other with enthusiasm about temple and Jewish life. We need to talk about what can be and make it happen.” I hope you will attend our Annual Meeting on Monday, June 2. Let’s start talking.

                                                      Gayla