February 06, 2012   13 Sh'vat 5772
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FROM THE RABBI  

"Amazing"

by Rabbi Josh Breindel  Rabbi Josh

I am not ordinarily at a loss for words, but could think of nothing else to say when asked for my impressions of the 71st URJ Biennial. As 2011 drew to a close, Howard Shapiro and I traveled to Washington, DC to participate in a record-breaking gathering of representatives from Reform congregations spanning the globe (6,000 people attended – the largest one ever held).

 

Although this was my first visit to a Biennial, I had thought that I was well prepared for the experience. Members of the TAA community who had attended in the past had regaled me with stories of their experiences and the opportunities for learning and praying (not to mention shopping) that I would find. Despite their priming, I found myself amazed by almost every aspect of the convention.

 

My feelings are most clearly shared in these words that I posted my Rabbi Josh Facebook account (it can be seen in full online at www.facebook.com/RabbiJoshB):

 

It’s been an amazing day...intense and packed with people and information. I’m blown away by the sheer size of the event – the venue itself, the people that I know, the people that I don’t know, the prices in the restaurants(!)...

 

It truly is astounding how many coincidences abounded at this conference – I continued to find people whom I know, both from the Berkshires and from Boston (I found three fellow Hebrew College Rabbinical School graduates)! Although I had known, intellectually, that the Reform movement is currently the largest of the American Jewish denominations, the event really brought that home to me in a very visceral way.

 

As I had mentioned, the sheer scale of the biennial was exhilarating. At our plenary sessions, literally thousands of people gathered to hear the keynote speakers, including Dr. Wendy Mogel (author of Blessing of a Skinned Knee), Representative Eric Cantor (the House Majority Leader), Ehud Barak (Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense of the State of Israel), and President Barack Obama. Even the smallest of the seminars that I attended were filled with people.

 

Howard and I carefully coordinated our schedules so that we could visit the greatest number of workshops that would give us resources and ideas to bring back to TAA. Indeed, we returned home with bags filled with notes, pamphlets and sample curricula. We look forward to sharing highlights from our experience at a brunch on Sunday, February 5th at 10:30 AM. In retrospect, however, the most important item for me was far less tangible.

 

Throughout our trip, I met people who delighted in their Jewish identity in a seemingly endless number of ways. Some were drawn the arts while others gravitated towards social action. Lively debates sprang up in the halls on topics ranging from theology to politics (with passersby adding their own comments). All of these variations are encompassed by Reform Judaism. It was a stunning display of the strength and vibrancy that characterizes our movement.

 

And so now I have something else to say about the biennial. Yes, it was certainly amazing. But it was something else, as well:

 

Inspiring.
Leadership Committee  

Submitted by Deb Cole-Duffy, Leadership Committee Chair

 

So, what is up our sleeves? The Leadership Committee has been grappling a bit with how best to mobilize our efforts, in this time of “positiveness” at TAA. You may recall that this was and is Mel Blieberg’s apt characterization of life at temple. So how does our Leadership committee best continue its efforts? For example: 1. We need to support the momentum of solid lay leadership by helping two prospective leaders cycle in to the Management Team. 2. Given the interest of our members – new and seasoned – who wish to delve into our rich temple experiences, we want to support the needs of our congregants. 3. We want to assemble a clear set of protocols to help people in our temple community know who should talk to whom about sponsoring a program, oneg, event etc.  And, 4. We want to help make temple community events even more welcoming,

interactive, fun and social – in short: more Hamish. Do we need bigger sleeves?

 

Then it occurred to us – actually first to our president, Howard Shapiro – that we need to step back and reflect on the opportunities and goals that emerged from our board retreat. As you may remember, in May, our Rabbi, Management Team, and entire Board of Directors to include then prospective board members, members of our Leadership Team, and Rhoda Kaminstein, came together for a day-long retreat. It was a poignant and beautiful day. We identified our strengths, challenges, opportunities and our goals, which I restate here:

 

• Our Strengths: Our Rabbi, our history and legacy; our enthusiasm to enhance leadership and congregational interests; our worship, programming, music, and our Reform community.

 

• Our Challenges: The need for consistent fundraising efforts; a fledgling demographic; waning continuity of board involvement; and the need to fill MT vacancies.

 

• Our Opportunities Lie In Our: Members – new and old; OUR YOUTH WHO ARE OUR FUTURE; legacy gifts and sustaining contributions and endowments; volunteer and personal service efforts.

 

• Our Goals: Increased Membership; Fiscal Solvency; Maintaining our rich temple legacy!

 

Our committee realized in order to support congregational needs and our flourishing youth groups we need to support our committees. They are the backbone of this temple’s rich life, and they are charged as partners with our Rabbi and our temple leaders to make present these goals. We agreed: The best efforts of our leadership committee will be to support the best efforts of all committees!

 

So again, in this edition and future ones – you will notice each committee and the names and contact information of chairs and co-chairs. Please reach out. Please be a part of our committees and leadership groups to achieve and sustain the vital goals that we identified and announced at our Annual Meeting. Let the legacy of our Retreat not go unfulfilled, but be realized in each and every one of us!
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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