Happy Hanukkah and Welcome 2012

Shalom. Last weekend was a wonderful time to be at Temple Sinai. We had a huge crowd for the Great Brisket Bake Off and Hanukkah party on Friday night and perhaps a record turnout for the pancake breakfast and annual meeting on Sunday. I wanted to take a few moments to recap the annual meeting, but first I want to inform everyone that there will be no monthly board meeting next week. This is due to our just having met last week.

The annual meeting began with a prayer and report from Rabbi Glazier. He spoke about the many happenings at Temple over the last year as well has his involvement in the greater community. In the background throughout the entire meeting were about six or seven poster boards listing all of the activities that took place at Temple or off-site involving our congregation. Among the many activities were numerous social action endeavors as well as many fun social activities. Evidence that our board, committees and congregants have all been very busy in 2011.

We also heard from Marjie Sheppard and Paula Cope about the "Fun in the Sun" event to take place on February 11, 2012. This promises to be a fun event as well as a very successful fundraiser. This was followed by reports from a number of our committees.

Three votes were held at the meeting. First, a bylaws amendment which added the Immediate Past President to the Executive Committee passed unanimously. Next, our new slate of officers was elected. Welcome Amy Collins and Jennifer Wright to the board! Lastly, the 2012 budget passed unanimously after a wonderful discussion.

I want to thank those who attended the meeting. I'm hoping that even more will come to next year's annual meeting. Of course, I continue to encourage everyone to attend our monthly board meetings as well. Our next will be on January 17th.

Meanwhile, I hope that everyone enjoys your Hanukkah. I look forward to seeing you at Temple soon.

-Howard

Board Meeting and Annual Meeting

Shalom! Well, it's that time of year. This is when we, your board of trustees, wrap up the current fiscal year and look toward next year. This year's annual meeting will take place at Temple on Sunday, December 11th. Please look for a mailing with details about the meeting.


Next Tuesday, November 15th, will be our last regular monthly board meeting for the year. As required by our bylaws, our nominating and recruitment committee, chaired by Immediate Past President Steve Greenfield, will present a slate of officer and trustee nominees. That slate will be included among your annual meeting materials.

The board will also try to hammer out a final draft budget for approval at the annual meeting. Both the Finance and Legal Committee, under the leadership of Bob Issenberg, and the board have been hard at work in drafting a balanced budget. Please feel free to join us at the board meeting so that you may provide input. Of course, you will also have an opportunity to provide input at the annual meeting prior to our voting on the budget.


Following is the agenda for the November 15th board meeting. I hope to see you there!


-Howard



Temple Sinai Board Meeting


November 15, 2011

1. Rabbi D’var Torah (I/D) – 7:00-7:05

2. Approval of Consent Agenda (I/D/A) – 7:05-7:10

3. Report of the Nominating Committee (I/D) – 7:10-7:15

4. 2012 Budget Discussion (I/D) – 7:15-8:20

5. Other Business – 8:20-8:25

6. Executive Session – 8:25-8:40

A=Action

D=Discussion

I=Information

**Reminder to please sign up to host an oneg (or two…)

L'Shanah Tova

Shalom. I hope that you enjoyed the High Holidays as much as I did. Listening to the choir, thinking about Rabbi's sermons and taking the time to reflect added to the absolutely magnificent weather to make the beginning of 5772 wonderfully memorable. I hope that you'll also be able to enjoy some of the Sukkot festivities including this Friday's potluck preceding our regular 7:30 worship.

Following is the agenda for next week's board meeting. As always, the meeting will be held at Temple at 7:00 on Tuesday, October 18th. As you'll note on the agenda, two big discussion items will be communications issues and next year's budget. Please feel free to call or email with any questions or comments and, as always, please feel free to attend the meeting.

Sincerely,

Howard


Temple Sinai Board Meeting
October 18, 2011

1. Rabbi D'var Torah (I/D) - 7:00-7:10
2. Approval of Consent Agenda (I/D/A) - 7:10-7:15
3. Communications Among and Between Staff, Leadership and Congregation (D) - 7:15-7:35
4. February Fundraising Event (I) - 7:35-7:45
5. 2012 Budget Discussion (I/D) - 7:45-8:20
6. Other Business - 8:20-8:25
7. Executive Session - 8:25-8:30

A=Action
D=Discussion
I=Information

September Board Meeting

Temple Sinai Board Meeting

September 20, 2011

1. Rabbi D’var Torah (I/D) – 7:00-7:10
2. Approval of Consent Agenda (I/D/A) – 7:10-7:15
3. Membership Status Update (I) – 7:15-7:25
4. Communications Among and Between Staff, Leadership and Congregation (D) – 7:25-8:10
5. Other Business – 8:10-8:20
6. Executive Session – 8:20-8:30

           

                  

                                                      A=Action

                                                      D=Discussion

                                                       I=Information

**Reminder to please sign up to host an oneg (or two…)

Reflections and Anticipation

Shalom,

As did most Americans, I'm sure, I spent a bit of time reflecting today (Sept. 11th). I was thinking not only of the tragic events that unfolded ten years ago today, but also the tragedy and devastation that we and our neighbors have experienced right here over the past few months. Before some Vermonters were able to fully recover from the floods that plagued our region this past spring, Tropical Storm Irene brought more destruction than most of us imagined possible.

With such misfortune, however, comes hope. We've seen the embodiment of hope in the form of support and our sense of community. Everywhere we turn, it seems, there is a fundraiser to help Irene's victims or a drop box of some sort to do the same. With such support and attention from those around us, we are able to endure. This is a great sentiment as we look forward to the new year. We hope, of course, for only good things: health, happiness, love, successes. But we know that life can sometimes throw us curve balls. Our experience, particularly recently, shows us that we can handle those curve balls with the help and support of those around us.

I am looking forward to seeing everyone when we come together to celebrate a new year. You will very soon be receiving your High Holiday packets in the mail. This will have some instructions and your tickets (if you are a member in good standing). This year, there will also be some brief notes about etiquette. Specifically, these notes are reminders of when it is appropriate to enter the sanctuary while services are being conducted. This is included in the packet in order to assist our volunteer ushers. Please take note so that you understand if you are asked to wait a few moments before entering (or re-entering) the sanctuary.

Meanwhile, I look forward to seeing you even prior to the High Holidays at a Shabbat service, a meeting, a social event or during religious school hours. Fall is when many of us reclaim Temple Sinai as our home away from home. There are so many wonderful activities to draw us through its doors. I hope to see you there soon.

Sincerely,

Howard Kalfus

An important message from our Treasurer

From the Treasurer

Dear Congregants,                                                                                                                                          August 2011

                I suspect that you can gather that hearing from the Temple Treasurer partway through the year is not a good sign. And your suspicions would be spot on. To be clear, while Temple Sinai is not facing financial collapse, it is clear from our mid-year financial statements that we face some challenges if we are to finish this year without going significantly in the red.

                There are three reasons we are facing so much red ink, some of which we, as members of Temple Sinai, have some control over and some of which we simply have to make the best of this year and plan for in next year’s budget.

First, our budget included Religious School tuition income assumptions that do not appear to have been realized – many of the expenses for our Religious School are fixed, so when enrollments do not meet projections, the resulting decreased tuition income directly affects our bottom line. Current enrollment projections for Religious School indicate we will bring in about $5-10,000 less in tuition revenue than we had budgeted.

Second, we set a very ambitious goal for fundraising for this year and, with an unexpected vacancy in the VP for Fundraising position on the Board, it is likely that we will end up about $10,000 under our budgeted fundraising goal for the year.

And, lastly, while we are keeping very close to our budgeted expenses (which were trimmed significantly for this year’s budget), unplanned expenses ($10,000 of which include payments to URJ for dues that accrued while we renegotiated our Congregation’s membership) will bring our expenses about $15,000 beyond what was budgeted. The bottom line is that, without taking any action, our budgeted deficit of about $4,000 would most likely end up closer to $35-40,000 (out of an annual budget totaling about $400,000).

                Here is where you can help! First, if you have not paid your membership dues yet (or even made a dues commitment pledge), please do so immediately. Membership dues commitments for the year were due by January 31^st and, while many members have either paid or made a commitment to a payment schedule, we still have members who have not yet done so. Why is this important? We have payroll to meet for our staff and a building to support. These expenses are incurred every month of the year, so we count on regular receipt of your dues payments. If membership dues were only paid just before the High Holidays, we would have to run a deficit until then, requiring us to borrow money to pay our bills (which, ultimately, results in higher expenses since we then need to pay interest on the money we borrow!). All members of Temple Sinai received a statement in the mail recently showing their account payments and remaining balance. If you have a remaining balance, and have not setup an auto payment plan on your credit card to cover it, please write a check to Temple Sinai today for the remaining balance.

Are your dues already completely paid in full? Consider an additional donation to the Temple as a general contribution. Some of our congregants are unable to make dues contributions at the level established for this year (and we never turn away anyone who wishes to be a member but is unable to pay at our established dues level), so contributions from those who can afford to pay more help make up the difference between our budgeted dues income and dues payments that have been reduced based on a Tzedakah request. ALL additional general contributions to Temple Sinai go directly to plugging the gap in our budget, so if you are able to contribute more, please consider writing a check to Temple Sinai so we can minimize our projected deficit.

                Most importantly, recognize that this is your Temple. Your contributions not only keep the lights on and sanctuary cool (in the summer, at least!), but they ensure that we have an active Reform Jewish community that you can count on for worship, study, social action, B’nai Mitzvot, weddings, comforting the sick and bereaved, providing a Jewish eductation for your children, holiday celebrations, and simply providing a Jewish sense of place in our community. Your contributions make it possible for all of this and for your continued participation in and access to a vibrant and engaged Temple community. Thank you for your support!

Shalom,

Joel Goldberg, Treasurer
Temple Sinai

Summer's Not Over Yet!

Shalom. I'm starting to get the emails that probably come to all of our emailboxes this time of year: Summer's almost over... Respectfully, I'll disagree. By my calendar, we still have almost half of it left. There's plenty of time to think about the fall in the coming weeks (thankfully, the High Holidays aren't quite as early this year as last so we really don't have to jump right in). For now, let's keep focusing on the summer. Our Friday night services will continue to begin at 6:00 through August. While Temple may seem quiet during the summer, be sure there are things happening. Committees and the board continue to meet, plan, socialize and get work done to assure that we as a synagogue and community remain vibrant. Despite scheduling challenges, our volunteers are as dedicated and driven as ever.

With the breathing room that summer tends to afford our busy lives, please consider a request. We, as a state, are not seeing a huge influx of new residents. At the same time, we are seeing our children grow and move on. This typically means moving out (not only of the home, but also of the state). My request is this: we all know Jews in our neighborhoods, places of employment, social organizations, etc. who are unaffiliated. Invite them to see what Temple Sinai has to offer. Bring them to a Shabbat service (folk services are always a big hit) or to a social event. For many, a temple affiliation can be out of mind if it is out of sight. Please help to remedy that. As I indicated above, we are a vibrant synagogue and community. Let's help it to grow.

Thanks. Enjoy the rest of your summer and have fun!

-Howard

Brotherhood, Israeli Scouts and Summer Worship

Shalom! Since my last (and first) blog post, Temple has seen some wonderful events. We celebrated two b'nai mitzvot, confirmed three of our young members and saw the Brotherhood's revitalization in it's first workday. This week, we will again host the Isreali Scouts as they return to entertain and educate us. This is always a fun event for children and adults alike.

I'm hoping that we are all taking advantage of a slower schedule and longer days. Please consider making our 6:00 pm Shabbat worship a part of your Summer. You'll have plenty of daylight afterward with good, warm feelings to boot!

Please also take this less hectic time to consider joining one of our many committees. Those who have served will tell you that the work is manageable, rewarding and generally fun. Temple's website has a list of our committees and the names and contact information for their chairs.

Lastly, I wanted to remind everyone that we now have a four-month calendar in the lobby. This calendar should list most if not all Temple events including Shabbat worship times, board and committee meetings and other educational, administrative and life-cycle events.

As always, please do not hesitate to call or email me with any questions, comments or concerns about Temple life. In the next few weeks, every congregant will receive a call from our First Vice President, Tim Cope, or me. This is just a check-in to see how you're doing, but will serve as an additional opportunity to share your thoughts about Temple.

I hope to see you all at Temple soon. Meanwhile, have fun!

-Howard

June 2011

Shalom and welcome to summer!  As I write this article, I am anticipating the upcoming Teacher Appreciation Shabbat service.  We have wonderful Religious School staff members who engage our children despite teaching them only one day per week.  I’m also mindful of the rest of the Temple Sinai staff members.  Many of these people we see regularly; others we see more sporadically.  Either way, these are the people who keep our synagogue and our congregation running day in and day out.  Rabbi, Judy and Craig are typically the face of Temple Sinai.  Together, they meet the spiritual, educational and administrative needs of our members, prospective members and others in our community.  They provide information and direction as well as support for those in need.  We also have a great ”music” staff in Mark, Meg, Wendy and Bruce.  Among the highlights of worship for me is the great music woven throughout whether listening to a prayer sung a capella by Mark or listening to the choir accompanied by one of our very talented keyboardists.  Last, but certainly not least, is Ibrahim.  Were it not for his tireless, behind-the-scenes work, we would not be able to enjoy as much the welcoming atmosphere that our shul provides.  As we have expressed our appreciation for our teachers, please take the time and opportunity do so for the rest of our staff.  They are the day-to-day glue that holds our congregation together.  I thank them for their dedication and service.  I thank you, the congregation, for continuing to make Temple Sinai a place and family that I am proud to serve.