From Our Presidents

Keeping Connected В May 2023

Hi friends,

I am hoping the weather will be getting warmer soon…still too cold for me…  But, I guess this is the price we pay for living in New England.  As you know, Annual Meeting is coming up and in a couple of weeks, the agenda will be sent out to the membership.  As always, this is where we discuss important business of our temple and I encourage you to attend, especially if you have not participated in the past.  It is important that each and every member has a chance to listen in and partake in the important decisions we make at this meeting.  One of the discussions this year will be around a new shed we are hoping to purchase; you have likely seen some e-mails about the fundraiser we have around this shed.

First, let me tell you the rules of our congregation.В  Although we are having a fundraiser to raise the money to purchase this shed, we still need congregational approval to spend these funds on the shed, as it is part of capital expenditures/capital improvement and it exceeds the amount that the Board of Trustees has authorization to spend.

So, why would we start a fundraiser BEFORE we had congregational approval?  It is important to note first that we have done this before, like with our fundraiser for some of the kitchen upgrades a few years back.  But, the idea to purchase a shed was not generated from one person, it did not come out of one meeting, it did not even come out of one committee.  It started with our ICE CREAM Committee which had representatives from several different constituency groups in our temple and where we generated a list of our wants and needs.  When that committee realized that it was not financially possibly to make significant structural changes to our building or to move to a new space, the information generated during the process was passed on to the Board of Trustees.  It was suggested that the Board look into possibly compartmentalizing some of the wants/needs and pursuing some changes over a period of time.  The Board agreed that another committee could be formed to start talking about some “easier” design changes we could make in our building to make some more space, be more functional, and improve some of the décor.More

Keeping Connected В April 2023

Hi Friends,

Hope you are as ready for spring as I am.В  I wanted to highlight two items this month.

First, the shed fundraiser.В  I cannot express how important this shed is as the first step in rejuvenating our temple building.В  We are going to gain a good amount of space and will be able to reduce the current clutter.В  We have already raised 40% of the total price and I truly hope each membership family can contribute in some way.В  If you think it would be beneficial to hear more about the specifics of the shed and other plans we have, please let me know and I will schedule an informational meeting.В  But, if we do not have this informational meeting, please know I will speak about this at Annual Meeting (mark your calendar by the way for June 13, 6:30 PM).

Second, if you have put off nominating someone for Congregant of the Year, you have 2 weeks left to send in a write-up to me or any board member.В  This is always a nice honor when we can recognize someone who goes above and beyond for our community.В  We will be selecting this person toward the end of this month.

You will see some e-mails coming out soon from me on some fun upcoming events.В  We are also going to have some ALICE security training refreshers in May.В  I feel like there is sense of normalcy returning to our temple life.В  I hope you feel it also.

Stay well and I hope to see you all at the Yard Sale (April 16).

Keeping Connected В December 2022

Hi friends,

Hope you had a nice Thanksgiving and some quality family time. So, what are some new things going on at the temple? Well, 2 days ago, we received our signed contract back from the state for our security grant which will go toward the hardening of the exterior of our building. We have a few more steps to get through before we can officially start the project, including a Special Congregational Meeting, which will be required since this is a reimbursable grant, meaning we need approval from the congregation to first spend the money from the Building Fund with the knowledge that we will be reimbursed from this grant. We are still a couple of steps away from this meeting, but you will likely hear about it in the next 1-2 months. The Security, House, and Beautification committees are meeting now to agree on the final items we will be installing on our grounds as part of this grant.

We are also looking into rearranging some of our space within the building to make room for some more storage and better functionality. We have a committee working on this now. As part of this, we are also looking into purchasing a nice storage shed for outside. We will begin a fundraiser campaign for this shed in the very near future and I hope you will consider contributing to this much needed item. More to come very soon…

I hope you saw that we are offering FREE First Aid Training on December 11 from 1:30-4:30 PM at the temple. This is a wonderful opportunity to learn some first aid basics and how to use our AED equipment. Please sign up soon if you have not already, as we have limited attendance capacity.В  https://www.signupgenius.com/go/508054CA4AC2BA20-first

That’s it for now…  Hope you all have a nice month, stay warm, and stay safe.

L’Shalom,

November 2022 В  Keeping Connected

Hi Friends,

Hope you are enjoying the fall season.В  This month, I want to bring to your attention two important items.

First, we are continuing to highlight security training.В  We are very lucky to have a member certified as an ALICE trainer and willing to devote the time to train our members (Thanks Tim!).В  If you have not taken the 2-hour ALICE training, I highly recommend you sign up for the training on November 6.

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/508054ca4ac2ba20-alice3More

October 2022 В  Keeping Connected

Happy New Year friends!

It’s hard for me to believe that is my 4^th time standing in front of you on Rosh Hashanah as President of Congregation Shalom, and for the record, my last time.  Every year, I struggle with what my message to the congregation should be.  This may sound crazy but I do think this is one of the hardest jobs of being President.  And with every year, it gets much harder for me to decide what I am going to say.  But, then, all of a sudden, you get an idea and it starts to come together.  So, this year, I want to talk about two things, community and gratitude.More

September 2022 В  Keeping Connecte

Hi friends,

It’s hard to believe it’s September already, although I think we say this every year…  The summer just goes by way too fast.  I hope you all had a chance to enjoy some vacation time this summer with your families and are feeling energized to begin the new year.

September at Congregation Shalom is a very busy time and if you just look at the on-line calendar on our web site, you will see the amazing amount of activity.В  School is beginning, Bar/Bat Mitzvahs are happening, Sisterhood & Brotherhood events are scheduled, and of course, high holiday season begins.В  I have been amazed each year that I have been President on how high holidays come together, the amount of planning needed, and the generous number of volunteers we have to make it happen behind the scenes.More

June 2022 В  Keeping Connected

Hi friends,

It’s the last month of our fiscal year and we are busy getting ready for Annual Meeting. I do hope you will attend and help us get through some important business. But it’s also time to start providing more opportunities for FUN in our community. We are always working hard to keep our temple running, develop creative programming, attend school, teach our students, and much more. How about some pure fun?

June 18, 2022, Our 2^nd Annual Parking Lot Party  This will be a fun gathering of our community with food, music, activities for the kids, an ice cream truck, and a celebration of our Congregants of the Year, Tim Miranda and Noah Ablove. We will end the evening with a Havdalah service. If you have not RSVP’d, please consider doing so. Click here for the evite!

July 3 and 4, 2022, Chelmsford July 4^th Fair  Congregation Shalom will have a booth in the town center. We will be selling popcorn, giving out dreidels, and just having a bigger presence in our community. There will be a sign-up genius coming out soon as we will want volunteers to work the booth. Please consider hanging out with us on July 3 and 4. It will be fun…

We have a FUN COMMITTEE!!В  This is a committee devoted to just fun. They will be planning fun activities throughout the year and will strive for at least one a month. There was a night out at Kimball Farm on May 25, and they have planned an upcoming outing for a Woo Sox baseball game in Worcester in July. Stay tuned for more announcements in our weekly update. If you have some ideas or want to be part of this committee, e-mail fun@congregationshalom.org.

I hope to see you at Annual Meeting on June 7 at 6:30 PM.В  The meeting will be held at the temple with a Zoom option (details coming out prior to the meeting).В  If I do not see you, please have a restful, safe, and FUN summer!!

L’Shalom,

April 2022 В Keeping Connected

Hi friends,

I will get right to it. We need volunteers… I know you probably hear this a lot but for us to be a successful organization, we rely on our members to step up and help. We have limited staff and volunteers are needed so we can maintain our programming, our building, and our connectivity; we all need to participate and help out. My article this month will focus on some of our current needs for volunteers, with most of them being short-term commitments. If you see something that resonates with you, PLEASE let me know.

• Capital Projects Committees: We are in the process of establishing two separate committees for two very specific and very important capital projects. Each of these committees will have a few meetings to discuss and research the needs, develop a Request for Proposal (RFP), possibly meet with contractors (although the entire committee would not have to be part of this), evaluate bids, and bring a recommendation to the Board of Trustees. If you are interested in assisting with either or both of the following short-term committees, please let me know.
  -Exterior Siding
  -Painting & CarpetingMore

March 2022 В  Keeping Connected

Hi friends,

Well, it is March and the temple is opening up, reducing COVID restrictions, and dare I say “getting back to normal.”  I surely hope so and I am also hopeful I will start to see more temple members and more activity happening in our congregational home.

Recently, I sent out an e-mail about the idea of Congregation Shalom selling our current land/building and moving to a new space, somewhere that would still be accessible to the current Congregation Shalom demographics.В  As I stated, before we start making more large capital investments in our current building, we want to do our due diligence and see if a move is even feasible or practical.В  I promised to keep you informed as the process has begun.

Well, the process has begun, we have a diverse committee led by Stephen Rodman.В  We had our first meeting and I want to pass along a few pieces of information.More

February 2022 В  Keeping Connected

Hi Friends,

We are through January, and COVID numbers are dropping. I’m looking forward to possibly resuming some sort of normalcy. This month I want to talk about security.

Although we have invested quite a bit in security over the last two years, recent events in Colleyville, Texas made us once again re-think about our security system and processes we have in place.

In the week following the event, many of us on the security committee attended various webinars offered by URJ, ADL, SCN, and other organizations, pretty much summarizing what happened, who was involved, and who assisted, and providing some basics that we need to have in place. Our security committee also held a meeting two days following the event. Although we have done quite a bit in upgrading our security system over the past year or so, there is more that we need to do.

One of the biggest lessons learned we heard about from the Texas event was that the rabbi and some of the congregants had hands-on, in-person practice in these types of scenarios, role-playing, and they practiced different types of drills. My impression is that Rabbi Charlie believes this really and truly helped and was one of the #1 reasons they survived. He knew to immediately try and distract and talk to this person, to subtly move toward the exit, he knew to move chairs in front of them, and many other tactics.

More