Dear Temple Beth El Family,
Earlier this month, the Board of Directors participated in our annual retreat. I am so impressed by and grateful for the dedication of this Board, the clergy, and the staff, who all took precious weekend time away from their families on both Saturday and Sunday to prepare for the year ahead. Their commitment to our Temple, its future, and the well-being of our congregation, clergy, and staff is an inspiration to me, and working with them over the weekend, I know how fortunate we are to have them as our professional and volunteer leaders.
During the weekend, we focused on implementing our new Strategic Plan. Our program consisted of Jewish learning, inspirational Shabbat morning services, and in-depth discussions about the direction of the congregation (and of course plenty of food). We framed the weekend around our vision statement: A bold Jewish community of deep roots, sacred responsibility, and daring hope.
Deep Roots
The deep roots of our Judaism and our congregation were at the forefront throughout the retreat. First, Rabbi Knight led us through a thoughtful Torah study, connecting the insights from the week’s parsha and the wisdom of generations of Rabbinic commentaries to our work for the coming year. On Sunday morning, we spent nearly two hours in small group conversations with five past presidents of the Temple (Bill Grifenhagen, Doug Gentile, Mickey Gold, Mitch Rifkin, and Ginny Rosenberg), learning from their experiences when they led our Temple through the challenges and opportunities of their day. We saw how decisions they made years ago set the stage for the congregation we are today. We also explored how their experiences could inform how we move our congregation forward this year. I appreciate their participation in the weekend and sharing their wisdom to this year’s board, clergy, and staff.
Sacred Responsibilities
We attended Saturday morning Shabbat services together as a board. We were inspired by Cantor Rodnizki’s beautiful music and Torah chanting. If you haven’t met Cantor Rodnizki, I strongly encourage you to join us for Friday night Shabbat services. She brings a fresh perspective to the music of our services and remarkable energy to the bimah. Rabbi Nichols’ interpretation of the week’s parsha was a wonderful complement to the Torah study led by Rabbi Knight. It provided us with an understanding of our responsibility to our Temple family and to the larger Jewish community. We wholeheartedly accept this sacred charge.
Daring Hope
As we progressed through the weekend’s discussions, we reaffirmed our embrace of the Temple’s mission to cultivate connected, proud, meaningful Jewish living that inspires change in our world. We explored ways the Board and other lay leaders can partner with the clergy and professional teams to create connections and engagement through enhancing our existing programming and experimentation at the Temple and beyond. This is the daring hope we are inspired to work on for the future of Temple Beth El. As Rabbi Knight is fond of saying, we have the opportunity to be the ancestors for future generations of Temple Beth El members.
The enthusiasm of the board this weekend was exciting to witness. Our year is off to an excellent start and we commit to sharing more about the implementation of our Strategic Plan.
Enjoy the rest of the summer and I look forward to seeing you at Temple soon.
Warmest regards,
Alan Kronovet, Temple Beth El President
