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 either side by an American flag and an Israeli flag. He was staring at these names when the rabbi quietly walked up behind him. “Rabbi, what’s so special about these people?” The Rabbi stooped down to his level and quietly whispered in his ear, “David, these are members of our congregation who died in the Service.” David thought about that, and then turned to the Rabbi and quietly whispered in his ear, “They died in the Service? Which one? Rosh Hashanah or Yom Kippur?” On that note (with humor in voice), welcome to Rosh Hashanah Services at Temple Shir Tikva. We are so glad you are here with us! We won’t be losing anybody in our services, today or any day! Shabbat Services start and end on time and we provide guidance for those less familiar with our prayers and traditions. We have new prayer books with transliteration, beautiful poetry, and egalitarian language, giving us all a fresh perspective. Couple that with our wonderful choir, musicians, dedicated professional staff and lay leader volunteers who have all collaborated to make these holidays meaningful for you. In addition, I am surrounded by THE Clergy Dream Team. If you haven’t had a chance to meet Rabbi Jordi yet, boy, you are in for a treat. Bright, thoughtful, compassionate….we are so fortunate she is now a member of our family. Clearly, with Rabbi Danny, Rabbi Jordi, and Cantor Hollis our transitional period is over! We are now rocketing towards the future. In addition, over the last year, Jenna Friedman, our Director of Youth Engagement has been bringing our teen programs to new heights. More recently, Alison Weikel joined as our new Director of Education, and Lisa Botelho as our new Early Learning Center Director. Both Alison and Lisa are highly accomplished in their fields. All three of our recent hires since July, Rabbi Jordi, Alison, and Lisa, have Masters degrees in Education, Jewish Education, Early Childhood Education, not to mention loads of experience. We are 2 taking education very seriously. And, we are changing with the times. In the last two weeks we hired Stefanie Caliri as our first part-time Digital and Social Media Specialist to assist with all our communications and outreach. All of these professionals are working closely with Susan Altman, our Executive Director, and our dedicated administrative staff. So, we’ve got the talent. We are poised for great success. But, will we meet YOUR needs? Why are YOU here? I’ve been asking the question ‘Why am I here?’ a lot lately. I grew up in a conservative shul in Lowell, Massachusetts with a lot of davening…. swaying, mumbling, chanting, mostly in Hebrew. I can honestly say that the most meaningful part of the High Holidays for me wasn’t what happened IN the sanctuary – it was what happened before and after. You see, we were not religious Jews, yet my family walked the mile to and from temple on the High Holidays. With little legs, that mile seemed long. But I relished it. It was family time. Aside from national holidays and Sundays, it was the one time a year that my dad closed his little downtown retail business, and we all spent time as a family. In a time long before computers and smartphones could be a distraction, we weren’t even allowed to turn on the TV during the High Holidays. We sat in the living room and talked to each other….We got caught up on family news and often had great discussion and debate about the Rabbi’s sermon that morning. The more controversial the sermon was, the better - it was an opportunity to have rich, meaningful dialogue at home. No question, our conversations could get heated. But we appreciated the chance to share our views and consider new ones. (pause) I wonder where those days of respectful discussion and disagreement have gone? I really believe that growth comes from open dialogue which challenges our assumptions and viewpoints, and causes us to think. I am so happy to be sharing this time with family today. And I know my mom, dad, and sister Joyce are here in spirit. May their memories be for a blessing. Truth be told, I never imagined myself as a Temple President….it’s not something I ever aspired to be. Yet, I’m at a stage in life where I do believe in ‘paying it forward’ – appreciating what I have and doing my small part in trying to give back to others. As Temple President, it’s just not possible to please everyone all the time. So, during this time of active reflection and repentance, I wish to sincerely offer my apologies to those of you who I have inadvertently offended, and undoubtedly to those of you who I haven’t gotten around to offending just yet. Please know that I have the best of intentions. I have a deep love for this place, my community, my culture. I see the inherent promise that lies within all of us when we band together. THAT’S why I’m here. 3 And I’ve surrounded myself with lay leaders who also care deeply about Temple Shir Tikva and its potential. For those of you who aren’t quite there yet, my wish is that somehow we can light that spark within you, so you too can see what value Temple Shir Tikva can have in your life, not just around the High Holy Days, but on a more regular basis. To that end, we’ve established a mission which will guide us in the weeks and months ahead: 1. We are dedicated to making Judaism relevant in the 21st century. 2. We are committed to meeting the spiritual needs of all members of our community, embracing a diverse membership which includes many interfaith and nontraditional families. 3. We aspire to be the heart of Jewish living and practice in MetroWest, offering a place for deep engagement with Torah and our traditions, for meaningful acts of social justice, and for building strong connections with one another. There are many examples where we’ve started to put all this into practice – please allow me to share a few: • our Jewish Center of Spirituality, helping us become present and mindful while seeking meaningful connections • Our Marriage Guidelines where for the first time we openly invite those in loving interfaith relationships to partner with our clergy so they can officiate at your wedding • A Complementary Gift Membership program providing one year of free membership to all new members who join this year • An Inclusion task force to explore ways in which all congregants, no matter their physical, mental, or emotional challenges, no matter their sexual identity or preference, all congregants will not only feel welcome but are indeed included in our community • Formation of a Tikkun Olam Advisory Council where we can find common ground on the issues where we can agree to advocate and take action as a community • Two trips to Israel next year – a February trip for families and an adult trip which will occur in November • A new alliance we are forming with Jewish Family Services to help immigrants in the Metrowest community – more to come on that soon • And we look forward to a memorable last week of December 2018, the official end of our 40th anniversary year, when many of us will pack dinners on Xmas Day to help our Christian neighbors who are less fortunate, and where I hope many of us will gather right here for a festive New Year’s Eve party on December 31 to count down the minutes to midnight – You’re going to celebrate it anyway….why not do it with your friends at Shir Tikva. I believe we are on the right path. We are now beating the trend of most synagogues worldwide. We are growing at the clip of 15% in just over a year! That’s 550 families today, with about 20 more who have expressed interest in joining in the last two weeks. 4 In order to have sustainable growth, we need vision and direction. Some of you know I established three goals at our annual meeting in June. Three areas where I’d like us to make significant progress over the next two years: First, revitalizing education, and we sure have the talent to do it – making sure we are exploring flexible approaches to make education relevant to our lives, especially our children’s’ lives, and helping instill in them strong Jewish values so they grow up to be mensches, adults with integrity and honor. And the thirst to learn should continue well after B’nai Mitzvah, in fact, for the rest of our lives. Second, building greater awareness to enable us to become an inclusive community. Look for upcoming events to hear our members share when they have felt both welcome and included, and when they have felt all alone. I want to hear your stories, learn how we can make this a safe space for all – a refuge from the crazy world around us, where you can bring your whole self to Shir Tikva and be acknowledged for who you are, and not ignored for who you aren’t. And third, shared engagement in our future success. This includes rolling up our sleeves to volunteer and making financial contributions. As I mentioned at the Annual Meeting, your membership dues and fees cover just under 3/4 of our operating budget. That’s $2M of $2.7M. Your Annual Fund donations make up the difference. Many of you have given generously of your time and money – and I sincerely thank you. We all benefit from it. However, I hope to understand from those of you who may be sitting on the sidelines, what can we do to help meet your needs and your values? If you haven’t given before, please consider taking what you would spend for dinner on one Saturday evening and making that your annual donation to our Annual Fund. Today, 60% of you donate something. I’d like to raise that to at least 90% over two years. Every little bit counts. This is OUR community, and we need to do it together. We have a lot to offer. But how can we help YOU become more engaged here? I want my presidency to be an open one, where input, feedback and ideas are welcomed and valued. Please don’t be a passenger – there is room and a need for everyone to contribute in order for us to reach our aspirations. Send me an email. Let me know what we can do to not only make Shir Tikva an anchor in the Metrowest Jewish Community, but an anchor in your life. In closing, a confession, and maybe a strange one to offer Rosh Hashanah from the Bimah no less – After 55 years, I’m still not sure if I believe in G-d. But, if G-d created us, then I guess I believe in God’s creation – because I believe in you -- I believe in us. We are capable ourselves to reach out a hand to one other and make our community a better place, and if the words in the prayer book or the Torah inspire you to do that, all the better. I also believe we are already doing great things right here in our little corner of the universe in Wayland, and I hope you agree. 5 I look forward to doing many, many more great things with all of you. Shana Tova!