Presidents Message

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

(Speech Delivered at Installation, June 3, 2011)

The Annual Dinner, Meeting, and Installation on Friday, June 3rd, was not just a lovely social, but a night of honors and inspiration. Clergy, staff, volunteers, and congregant friends and family, experienced a meaningful evening, including the heart warming and well-deserved awarding of the Presidents Cup to Janet Kass. Now officially installed, I thought I'd share my “Presidential Address” with you…
It seems like only yesterday, but it was 1989 when Sherry Stein asked me, “Would you like to help us build a Sukkah this weekend?” “I'd love to,” I answered. A week or so later following services, Karen Bentley approached me and asked, “Have you joined Sisterhood yet?” These two women sparked my curiosity and the rest is history…my participation in synagogue life…began. That was 22 years ago. Since then, there is little I haven't been involved in at the Temple and I've loved every minute.
I liken my experience to an awesome roller coaster ride, the old fashion kind…where chain links grip and grind the track determined to overcome the challenges of the climb…once up, the ride converts to a free fall, smooth and fast flowing momentum, laughing and enjoying an array of entertaining twists and turns…leveling out, the ride completes itself with the simplicity of slow, steady forward movement, effortless, except for the efficiency of the energy that brought it into the final stretch…all to begin the magical ride again. That's Temple work, to me. Clearly, I enjoy the ride.
Still I wonder, what traits, needs, curiosities, do I have that bring me to this moment in time? Perhaps I simply enjoy staying busy. In college I convinced two employers to work around my class schedule. I typed insurance reports during the day and waited on tables at night including what's known in the restaurant business as the “graveyard shift”. I can certainly equate portions of Temple work with my real estate background, which laid a great foundation for deal making and finding common ground. These days I work in investments and financial planning and so, my outlook includes ever changing economic and market perspectives, making me totally comfortable with the notion of change as a constant. Certainly, at the Temple, change is a constant. Finally, my thoughts reflect back to my oldest and longest foundation. Did the years of ballet training establish the “right attitude and work ethic? Dancers, like other disciplines, are trained to consider the significance of every detail; simultaneously, visualizing the end result…the best we can be…the big picture…the complete whole…the final product.
Here, at SZ, we want the Temple to be ALL IT CAN BE to best serve Judaism, its congregants, now, and for generations to come. This is sacred work and it is my privilege and pleasure to contribute. I believe our synagogue breathes life into all of us through the beauty and power of Judaism. I am delighted to breathe a little life back, in any way I can. The funny thing is, the giving, the helping, the doing, are all completely gratifying. I love taking care of our Temple home, like taking care of our family home, contributing toward its health and happiness, and toward the longevity of its spirit and Jewish values.
As volunteers, we are here for our clergy, our staff, our congregants…as they are here for us. Nearly 1,000 family units strong, we serve over 3,200 congregants! All with two Rabbis, one Cantor, a Director of Life Long Learning, a Youth Director, Preschool Director, an Executive Director; teachers, assistants, and support staff. How would we do it all, if not for our volunteers. Thank God! We are blessed to have Torah Circle Donors, Officers, a Board of Trustees, Committee Chairs and Members, who give of themselves by bringing their talents, expertise, and leadership to the table. Thank God for these great resources of generous leaders, contributing time, money, work, or all of the above, ALL toward the continuation of SZ's greatness. Perhaps indirectly, when our synagogue contributes toward the health and happiness of our congregants, generation after generation, we'll all ponder if or how we played a role. What a lovely thing to be part of.
Everything that takes place requires thoughtful planning and facility accommodations, which means meetings, meetings and more meetings. And everything we do, no matter what we do, of course, includes food! The beauty is, we seem to turn work into the camaraderie of friendship and schmoozing. We are for many, an extension of family. We offer the comfort of worship, the principles of Judaism, the fellowship of one another, the laughing, the helping, the healing, the schmoozing. As President, my wish is for every congregant to feel at home and welcomed, always.
It will be my pleasure to follow Ann Rosenbach as President. Ann's leadership is one of principle, generosity, and dedication. Every aspect of her work considers the Temple's best interest, first and foremost. I am honored to follow her and to be one of a lineage of many Presidents that precede and follow me. I appreciate the significance that my children, my grandchildren, their children, and so on, will experience upon seeing the picture of one of their own on the SZ Presidents' wall. The Presidency, indeed every participant in Temple leadership, sets an example for all of us.
So what are the plans going forward? Other than handling the day to day operations through the well-oiled machine already in-place, other than making some physical improvements, like repaving the parking lot in the hopes of adding 50 to 60 more spaces, other than addressing the wear and tear of our building, the limitations of meeting rooms and storage space, other than confronting the ever decreasing number of cemetery plots available to our congregant families, other than addressing a multitude of decision-making OPPORTUNITIES. My dream, Rabbi Birnholz' dream, our synagogue dream, is to establish a long term Endowment as a source of support, stability, and investment for the future, anticipating the cycles of economic swings, longevity, health and vitality. It would be my pleasure to face this challenge and establish a legacy for the future and security of SZ. A legacy committed to the continuation of breathing life into our people for generations to come.
I am grateful to my husband, Mark, my daughter, Jennifer, and my son, Jason, for their continued support, understanding and affection for our Temple family. It is my honor to serve as President of CSZ.