Important Announcements and Updates

February 2021   Keeping Connected

Happy February!

I am writing this article after just completing the Grade 3 press conference, where Rich Laider’s Grade 3 students were allowed to ask questions of myself, Rabbi Perry, and Deborah Morrissey. They were an inspiring group and had some great questions like, “What does the President do”?, “Who pays the bills?”, “How long has the temple been around?”, “Who built the temple?”, and one of my favorites, “How do you survive dropping the Torah and not eating for 40 days?”  It’s nice that our young kids are pondering on such thoughtful questions.  For the answer to the last one, you will have to reach out to Rabbi Perry…

So, there are two important announcements in this month’s Keeping Connected. It is that time of year when we start thinking of who our Congregant(s) of the Year may be. The board cannot make this selection alone and we need you also to provide suggestions. So, if you would like to nominate someone, please privately send a write-up to myself or anyone on the board on who and why this person should receive the award. Think about those important traits and behaviors that are important in this recognition: commitment, selflessness, volunteerism, dedication, duration of time committed, magnitude, impact on the congregation, and creativity. Please get your write-ups in by mid-March.

Second, we have just formed a Nominating Committee to begin the process of putting together next year’s slate of officers. We now have an open call to the membership for this process. If you would like to nominate someone to be on the board, please let Gary Green or Rob Berkovitz know in the next few weeks.

Some other things that have been going on:

• Our school is remote until mid-February and the Phased Reopening Committee will be meeting in early February to decide if this will continue or we will go back to our hybrid approach.
• We have been actively working on updating our very outdated Policy & Procedures manual. We have been working on this for almost two years and I can almost start seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. I have been working with Laura Rodman and Eileen Hirsch on this important project.
• The Security Committee has been busy trying to get our temple’s Crisis Plan updated and final before we are all back in the building together. We are also looking into possibly applying for another grant to help cover training and a few more ideas for hardening our building.
• And believe it or not, we are actively trying to decide if we can move forward with replacing the carpeting in the sanctuary and social hall. Of course, this would need a congregation vote but we are discussing it. If this is something we can move forward with, obviously, the best time to make it happen would be before we are back in the building.

So, I hope you are all staying well and hope some of you are able to get the vaccine in the next month.

Please reach out anytime if you would like to discuss anything…

L’Shalom