Annual Report From Our President…
It is with great pleasure that I present to you the Annual Report of B’nai Sholom Reform Congregation for the 2007-2008/5767-5768 year. This year, we celebrated our 36th anniversary. I took some time to learn about the history of our congregation from some of our founding members. It was very interesting to hear about the early days of B’nai Sholom. Since the beginning, we have been a congregation that has relied on the efforts of our members to lead, teach, and work on committees. This culture continues today and it is a true strength of this congregation.
Taking a page from my annual report from last year, I would like to review the year using these lines from our mission statement as a guide:
B’nai Sholom Reform Congregation, a Reform Jewish synagogue, is a community that fosters individual, family and congregational spirituality by engaging in worship and prayer, promoting learning on all levels, supporting each others’ needs, bettering our community and our world, and forging connections with worldwide Jewry.
Worship and Prayer:
Starting with worship and prayer, a few highlights come to mind quickly. Just a few weeks ago, we celebrated the b’not mitzvah of seven adults. This was a beautiful service filled with music, prayer and wonderful thoughts and sentiments.
Another highlight from this past year was the arrival of the long awaited Mishkan Tefillah, the new reform prayerbook. After several long delays, the prayerbooks were finally released and we got our first look. Since then, we ordered copies to use at Shabbat services and they should arrive sometime over the summer. It will be exciting to use the prayerbook – the new format and text will introduce changes to our liturgy and open up new ways in which to worship.
Mishkan Tefillah was the subject of our Purim service and we had some good laughs there. Written by one Darnold Cashperson, we got a look at some of the features of Mishkan Tefillah and tried them out in a fun way.
We began and ended the Days of Awe together as a community. We had our oneg Yom Tov which was, once again, a nice way to come together at the start of the High Holidays. We concluded the Days of Awe with a wonderful break-fast provided by Judy Lee and Bill Herbert. Thank you to Judy and Bill for providing us with the opportunity to break the fast together as a community. Thanks also go to Rabbi Cashman and the Ritual Committee for all that they do to ensure that the services run smoothly and to the Board of Trustees for providing refreshments for the oneg Yom Tov.
The Youth Services offer an age appropriate High Holiday service and related activities to kids from grades 1 through 5. Youth services run concurrently with the morning High Holiday services here at B’nai Sholom and require the efforts of many people. Thanks to Deb Lipson and Barb Weiler for coordinating these efforts and to the many people who helped run the activities and the service.
Learning:
We had an impressive lineup of courses and programs offered by the Adult Education committee. The Archaeology course, run by Steven Stark Reimer, was offered for the first time and sparked a lot of interest. As mentioned before, we had the second year of the two-year course of study for the adult b’not mitzvah class. Topics for these courses included Jewish history, spirituality, holidays, Hebrew and trope. The Adult Education committee also put together a series of synagogue scholar talks that featured some of our members giving talks in their areas of expertise. Torah study continues to be a staple and a strength of our adult education programming. It is held regularly each Saturday morning.
Our religious school continues to be active and engaging for our students. Sandra Goldmeer filled the religious school year with family education programs, field trips, and learning opportunities that were both fun and educational. Through the madrichim program, she has also found a way to keep our older, post-b’nai mitzvah-aged kids involved in our religious school. They are a help to the religious school teachers and also serve as a role model for the younger kids.
We are happy to be offering a new opportunity for learning to our post-b’nai mitzvah kids. We are participating in the new Jewish community high school, called Mifgash. There are several other area synagogues which are participating, including Congregation Beth Abraham-Jacob, Congregation Beth Emeth, Temple Israel, Congregation Ohav Shalom and Congregation Berith Sholom. The program will be held here on Sunday nights and will offer a variety of courses for kids in 9th-12th grade. In addition to the learning opportunities, the kids will have a chance to meet other Jewish teens from the Albany and Troy area.
Community:
B’nai Sholom continues to work to build community and to better our community. We came together as a community to celebrate the 36th anniversary of the congregation over a wonderful dinner prepared by the Fundraising committee. We also enjoyed each other’s company over the Shabbat potluck dinners hosted throughout the year. And, we had our 3rd coffeehouse and look forward to more in the future.
Over this past year, the Social Action committee took on the issues of hunger, health care for the uninsured, and crime victim awareness. They informed us about each issue in a bulletin article. They went into the religious school and conducted a program with our 8th graders educating them on the issue of hunger and finishing off the unit with a trip to the Regional Food Bank. In February, the Social Action committee hosted a Shabbat Study Day on the topic of healthcare for the uninsured. This daylong program started with Torah study led by Rabbi Cashman and included viewing the movie “Sicko” and a discussion of our current healthcare system.
Helping us to interact with the greater community is our newly revamped B’nai Sholom website. Thanks to the efforts of Cole Libby, we have a website with a completely new look. We have links to upcoming programs, events and announcements. It is a great resource for us to use to keep in touch with what is happening at B’nai Sholom. Try going to www.bnaisholom.albany.ny.us and take a look!
I think we have measured up well to our goals as listed in our mission statement. We have much to offer in terms of opportunities to worship, to learn and to engage in community building and betterment. This is especially impressive given the size of this congregation. We have much of which to be proud. One item that stands out in this category is the milestone our rabbi celebrated this year: earning his Doctorate of Divinity. This is a major achievement and I would like to extend a warm and sincere mazel tov to Rabbi Cashman on receiving this degree.
I would also like to extend sincere thanks to the former members of our Fundraising committee. This group worked for many years on the committee and they were successful in raising much-needed funds for the synagogue. This year they organized and ran the 3rd biennial goods and services auction. This is one of our most successful fund-raisers and we are thankful for all of the hard work the committee put into organizing this event. Looking ahead, we have a new group that will be working on fundraising. To all of them, I say thank you for agreeing to take on this task that is so important to the synagogue.
As you can see from our budget, there is not much room to maneuver. Most of our expenses are fixed and that leaves little in the way of discretionary funding. The rich array of services, programs and social functions are due to your generosity. It is due to the support you give in the form of time and money - in keeping current with your annual dues commitment and in your willingness to work on a committee or in the religious school.
So, in closing, I would like to thank all of you who have worked on a service, program or function here at B’nai Sholom. I have enjoyed this vast array of offerings and I appreciate what you do. Thank you also for giving me the opportunity to serve as president for the last two years. It’s been a great ride and I am glad for the experience.
Looking ahead, I think that Hal Rosenthal will do a great job as our next president. I hereby present to you, as our president, the red and green paddle for our board meetings.
I expressed my thanks in my last bulletin article, so I won’t repeat them here, with one exception. I would like, once again, to express my love and gratitude to my family for their support and understanding; especially in allowing me to totally take over the dining room with all of my papers and my laptop. This summer I promise to give the room back!
Finally, I would like to close with a quote from Pirke Avot. This is how I end each board meeting – with a quote from the Ethics of the Sages. I’ll read now from Chapter 5, Mishna 24 and then read an interpretation.
“Yehudah ben Tema used to teach, Arrogance leads to Gehinnom, humility to the Garden of Eden. May it be Your will, HaShem, our God and God of our forefathers,that the Holy Temple be rebuilt speedily in our days, and grant us our share in Your Torah.”
Here is the interpretation:
“The Temple is the living link between the Whole and the parts. In ancient times the people needed a physical place to remember this link. May it come to pass that we realize that we ourselves are the Temple in which the part and the Whole are made one. In this way we are granted our share of Torah, becoming living examples of the Divine Teaching.”
Thank you,
Carol
