This month’s President’s message is not a philosophical or whimsical one, with humorous anecdotes or historical perspectives. Instead, I need to address a very important issue with each and every member of our congregation.
Every time I attend our Friday night Shabbat services at our Synagogue, I walk out the doors after services feeling different than when I entered. My gait is slower, more relaxed, my head is held higher, and not to sound too pithy, but I feel stronger, both physically and emotionally. In fact, at least half the times, I walk out the doors either humming or singing one of the songs that we had sung during Service. And I am sure that I am not alone. After all, isn’t that why we come to services? Yes, I realize that sometimes we feel it is our obligation as Jews to attend services on Friday night, but we cannot ignore the “meet and greet” component, the companionship, the compassion, the sharing of a common bond as Jews that we feel.
We have all seen those Visa commercials on television; you know, the ones that say “the cost of tickets to the ball game $50.00; the cost of two hot dogs and sodas $15.00; the cost of seeing the smile on your child’s face when they catch a foul ball? Priceless.
Well that is how I feel about what our Temple gives us. That joy, that spiritual uplifting. It is priceless.
Unfortunately, our Temple is now in need of some dire repairs, and those are not priceless. They are costly. Very costly. We are about to begin some repairs that desperately need to be done to preserve the integrity of the physical structure, both inside and out, and it is going to cost us at least $45,000.00. These are not cosmetic changes, and while they will greatly improve the appearance of our Temple, these repairs are being done to “save” our Temple so that it will still be here for us when we need it, and to be here for our children and grandchildren as well.
So I am asking each and every one of us to please give what you can to ensure that our Synagogue will continue to be able to provide for us what we seek, be it weekly Shabbat services, High Holy Days services, Weddings, Conversion ceremonies, Bar and Bat Mitzvahs and everything else that our Synagogue offers us and represents to us.
A Reform Jewish Congregation
