Annual Meeting 2020
06/01/2020 07:22:10 PM
I am incredibly pleased and excited to accept the vote of the congregation to be your next President. And I am both awed by the responsibility and thrilled at the opportunity to help lead our community forward for the next two years.
First I want to thank Scott Cohen for helping me get ready. Scott has been a great partner and wonderful guide for the last year plus. I know that he passes the baton with mixed feelings – he even had a...Read more...
High Holiday 2019
09/30/2019 11:55:06 AM
L'Shana Tova! Frank made a New Year Resolution to give up social media, but he wanted to make friends quickly. So he figured he’d use Facebook principles in real life. Every day, he walked down the street and told people passing by what he had for dinner, how he felt, what he did the night before, and what he planned to do tomorrow. Then he gave them pictures of his family, his dog, and the vegetables he picked in his garden. He also...Read more...
Annual Meeting 2019
06/03/2019 08:44:21 PM
What a wonderful time it is to be President here! I couldn't have planned it better! There’s so much energy around here -- great things are happening in so many different areas. While I wish I could mention everything, I’m sure you want to get home this evening, so I’ll only have time to scratch the surface. Our membership is currently at 558 households strong and continues to grow at a steady clip, with a blend of members who have been...Read more...
High Holiday 2018
09/10/2018 08:43:23 PM
Thank you Rabbi Danny. Shana Tova! A little boy walked into his synagogue – It was shortly after the High Holidays, and it was one of those traditional, large synagogues with lots of plaques and names on the walls. He walked up to this one area that had a sign high above listing military wars and conflicts, Vietnam, Korea, Afghanistan and the like – I’m sure he didn’t see the sign, but at his eye level, about 20 names, draped on...Read more...
Annual Meeting 2018
06/04/2018 08:43:23 PM
Thank you very much for the great trust you have placed in me and in all the leaders you just voted in. I am truly looking forward to serving with them in support of all your hopes and aspirations – not only in what we know Temple Shir Tikva is today, but what we also believe it can be. This past winter felt like it would never end. Then all of a sudden, it seems we were thrust into the warmth of late spring and early summer where we find...Read more...
Annual Meeting 2018
06/04/2018 08:35:09 PM
Well, here we are two years later. When I stepped up here two years ago, I said the following: “Leadership is not about the leader, it is about how he or she builds the confidence of everyone else. And by the way the word “confidence” is the Latin word for “having faith.” I said that this was my hope that over the next two years we would grow in confidence, take risks, and try things knowing that some of them would fail. The...Read more...
High Holiday 2017
09/21/2017 07:50:37 PM
L’shanah Tovah! It’s so good to be here with all of you as we welcome in the new year of 5778. A special welcome to Rabbi Danny and Rav Rebecca as they lead us in this very exciting year. Please join me in wishing L’shanah Tovah to all who are streaming the service. Please turn around and wave to them while giving them your best wishes for a sweet new year. And a special L’shanah Tovah to my mother who is here from Florida. If you see...Read more...
Annual Meeting 2017
06/05/2017 08:35:15 PM
Welcome to the Shir Tikva restaurant. Thank you all for coming out this evening to hear about your temple’s work and to participate in the governance process. We have much to celebrate and accomplish tonight. However, I am struck by the Torah portion-Nitzavim. This is the portion that we read on Yom Kippur morning. Let me set the scene for you—the Israelites are just about at the end of their journey about to go into the Promised Land and...Read more...
High Holiday 2016
10/03/2016 08:35:03 PM
L’shanah Tovah! It’s so good to be here with all of you as we welcome in the new year of 5777. A special welcome to Rabbi Kohn as he leads us in this very exciting year. Round up the usual suspects, I’m going to make you an offer you can’t refuse, and you can get anything you want at Alice’s restaurant. Two lines from two iconic movies: Casablanca and The Godfather and one line from one of the great profits of the 20th century, Arlo...Read more...
Annual Meeting 2016
06/06/2016 08:35:20 PM
Thank you for the confidence you have shown in myself and the entire elected slate. I am truly honored and energized as I commence this awesome task. We have a lot to look forward to together including my being eligible for Social Security and Medicare at the end of my term. First I want to publicly acknowledge and thank Julie Kniznik, my predecessor, for the tremendous job she has done over the last two years. We all know that the last 12...Read more...
TST Annual Meeting 2016
06/06/2016 07:50:14 PM
Thank you Judy and thanks to everyone who participated in the congregation-wide self-study. It speaks volumes that we had such a high degree of involvement in both the Community Conversations and the online survey. So, thank you all for coming out this evening to hear about our temple’s work and to participate in temple governance. I have been thinking of this analogy that describes both the work to date and vision for the future here at...Read more...
TST Annual Meeting 2015
06/01/2015 07:50:20 PM
Good evening everyone and thank you for being here tonight to show your support for Temple Shir Tikva. This has certainly been a challenging year filled with exceptional highs and lows. In fact, as I perused last summer’s issue of Hineni, I found a note of thanks from our former Executive Director, David Passer, of blessed memory. He wrote to let us know how much he appreciated the love, friendship and support of our community. David left...Read more...
High Holiday 2014
09/24/2014 07:50:20 PM
Good morning and L'Shanah Tovah. It is a blessing to be here, all together, as we celebrate Rosh Hashana, the beginning of a new year. These past weeks have been a time for reflection and hope - hope for better times in the year ahead. As we take this opportunity to let go of the past and turn toward the future, I would like to share a bit about my hopes for Temple Shir Tikva and why I believe the synagogue plays such an important role in our...Read more...
