Annual Meeting Speech

I remember when I came to Temple Sinai with Paula in 1985. We were soon to be married and were deciding what congregation to join.  Being raised in the Methodist Church, the Jewish traditions were quite different than mine.  It wasn't long before Temple Sinai began to feel like home to us.  For many years, I asked myself why I chose to join a minority that was hated by so many.  Ultimately it became important for me to stand up for the rights of Jews.  It took years before I began to understand our role as Reform Jews in Vermont.  I will speak more about this in a moment. 

We have celebrated Bnai Mitzvahs, my conversion, family losses, and made many friends that supported us through these times.   We have instilled the importance of being part of a religious community in our children and to have compassion for all people regardless of their religious beliefs.  For all this, I am thankful for that time in 1985 when Paula brought me to Temple Sinai and for the warm welcome I received. 

We have a responsibility as Jews to preserve Reform Judaism for future generations.  This responsibility reminds us that being part of our Temple Sinai community is much larger than just meeting our individual needs.  It reminds us that we need to make every effort to make our community as strong as possible.  We must step outside of our daily life at times, to be part of the group that strengthens Temple Sinai.

Judaism is sustained by three things:   God, through worship; Torah, by way of study; and Israel, by maintaining community and tikkun olam (repair of the world).  Each of us chooses how we connect to Temple Sinai.  Some of us feel very connected to all three, some with two, and some with just one.  We all are equally part of Temple Sinai regardless of which of these areas is important to us.  It doesn't matter if you were raised Jewish, read Torah daily, or only help others in need.  What is important, is that as each of us continues through our Jewish Journey, all three connections are available to us at Temple Sinai. 

It is the board's responsibility to facilitate, provide opportunity, and encourage involvement.  When faced with decisions, both easy and hard, we will ask one overriding question, "Is this in the best interest of the congregation at large?"  There will be times when our decisions will not meet everyone's expectations, but we will always try to explain how we came to the decision and why we think it benefits our congregation.

I would like to take a moment to thank each of you that have shown your confidence in me to become your Temple President. Many of you have approached me with ideas, questions, and just support. It has been very uplifting for me seeing how much you care and are willing to step up and be part of making things better.  I ask each of you to continue to share your thoughts and ideas with me.

Please take time to thank the people who have agreed to serve on our Board and committees. We will include an organizational chart in future newsletters and on our New Temple website - Thank you Rachel Ring and Kate Wolinsky for the new website.  It's wonderful.

Over the years, you have asked us to address our financial deficit and take the pressure off dues increases and other financial requests.  We now have the ability to do this with two programs - Scrip and Amazon.  To make them work, I need your help and cooperation.

Please take the time to sign up for Scrip.  It will require you step outside of your regular  routine and change the way you shop.  It takes a little planning ahead.  If every family spent $100 per month in Scrip, Temple will receive approximately $10,000 every year.  Paula & I just picked up our scrip for the month of  December. We spent no more on our Scrip than we would have spent in our monthly budget and $38.25 went to Temple.  If all 180 families spent what we did for 12 months, Temple would gain $82,000!

The beauty of this is that it is the gift that keeps giving. With your involvement in Scrip, our Amazon program, and growing our endowment - we will reduce the dues and fundraising pressure that we are all feel. 

I am honored to serve as President of Temple Sinai for the next two years.  Please speak to me with thoughts or suggestions that you feel will make our Temple a better community.