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 months, in particular, have been a time of transition, and let’s face it, stress. Julie has been that confident leader that we needed, and she has also been a great teacher and partner to me in my year as President-elect. Thank you so much Julie. In his commentary on the Torah portion Shelach Lecha (the story of the spies) Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, former Chief Rabbi of the UK, says: One of the fundamental tasks of any leader from president 2 to parent is to give people a sense of confidence: in themselves, in the group of which they are a part, and in the mission itself. A leader must have faith in the people he or she leads, and inspire that faith in them. As Rosabeth Moss Kanter of the Harvard Business School writes in her book Confidence, “Leadership is not about the leader, it is about how he or she builds the confidence of everyone else.” Confidence, by the way, is Latin for “having faith together.” It is my sincere hope that over the next two years we all continue to grow in our confidence. I hope that we will take risks; that we will try things knowing that we will sometimes fail. By working together, by trusting each other and ourselves we will take some calculated risks and have some amazing successes! I’m proud that in recent months we have begun to think differently about how we will govern and how we lead and we have acted upon new ways of building community. I’m so very honored to pursue this work with an amazing group of committed leaders. Not only do we “have faith together,” but we also have faith in 3 each other! So as I look at the year to come, I have identified three aspirational goals that I believe will provide the foundation for making Temple Shir Tikva the strong, relational and innovative synagogue we all want for us and our future generations. First is what I call organizational optimization. We need to build on our strengths, which include a highly skilled and intellectual membership coupled with great financial capacity. There are three task forces being formed, focused on governance, organizational structure, and a third focusing on the melding of the two, which will move us toward being a nimble institution, able to embrace the challenges of the future. The Governance Task force headed by Roy Lurie, will design a governance structure for lay leaders that is modern, nimble, functional, and efficient, while embracing the core value of leadership. The Operations Task force headed by Jeff Maimion will build a new modern business model for management, 4 operations, and staffing. The third task force, headed by Max Klau, will create an effective model for collaboration of volunteers and professionals. The strategic planning committee, under the leadership of Marilyn Newman and Dick Rossman is already looking at 10 synagogue models across the country that will inform these committees. Our annual fund, which is aggressive, pragmatic, and approximately 70% greater than last year, and is the cornerstone of our overall fundraising efforts, clearly identifies and quantifies the financial needs for initiatives approved by lay leadership in collaboration with the development committee. It will allow us to move forward with the specific initiatives of finding the best Rabbi, build on and optimize the incredible success of the early learning center, and provide the resources for great programming including, among other things, our Center for Spirituality. You will hear much about these initiatives over the next year. I encourage you to participate and donate. Second, is to build on the relational model that we heard loud and clear in the self-studies. So what is this relational 5 model that we all talk about? Quite simply it is giving thought as to how our mutual experiences will deepen our connections to each other, with the community, and with Judaism itself. As Ron Wolfson said in his book: “Let me put my cards on the table. It’s not about programs, it’s not about marketing, It’s not about branding, labels, logos, clever titles, websites, or smart phone aps. It’s not even about institutions. It’s about relationships.” I see three major components toward achieving this goal. They are securing the best Senior Rabbi, becoming the most welcoming and inspiring congregation for interfaith members, and building community through making sure that we have engaging opportunities that appeal to all of our constituencies across all demographics and interests. To this end, the Rabbi Search committee, led by Judy Kaye, is working at a high level as you have seen tonight. Last year the Ritual Committee did an exhaustive study of the interfaith experience at TST, which resulted, in a “White Paper” report with findings and recommendations. These findings and recommendations will be the subject of many discussions at the EC and Board level. The White 6 Paper is available for you to read on the member section of our web site, and I would be happy to send it to you upon request. The Congregational Engagement committee, headed by Jill and Peter Abend, showed us last year that engagement takes many forms from brisket and Scotch to congregational brunches to Chinese food on the Shabbat of Christmas eve (notice the ever-present food theme). Needless to say we will build on these events and create new ones to make sure that everyone has a reason to be engaged. We will also build on our successful initiatives such as adult Torah Study, The Center for Spirituality, and the ELC, while also taking a critical look at programs and initiatives that serve no relational purpose. Third, we will focus on professionalizing and growing our membership efforts. Membership under the leadership of Ali Corton, Bev Klau, and Jeff Lappin will be empowered to think out of the box in creating the environment to attract new, vibrant membership. Some tools to accomplish this are already in place including the Early Learning Center, which last year generated 12 new members. Their budget 7 will be significantly increased, some of which will be supported by the annual fund. We will also launch a reengagement effort to identify recently resigned members and provide an incentive for them to return. These are, both individually and collectively, aggressive but necessary goals for us to continue the sacred work of moving TST forward. So to accomplish these three goals I need all of us to have faith, and when confronted with the tasks associated with the goals, to think of why we can accomplish them as opposed to why not. We all have a stake in this and I encourage everyone to ask, “how can I help.” I am deeply indebted to and want thank all the members of the executive council and board (both new and old), to the committee members, our professional and office staff, and Rabbi Blumberg. To Robin Kostin, Larry Whitman, Karen Miller, Richard Kaye, Michael Schreiber, Roz Rosenthal, and Laurene Sperling who are stepping down—thank you for your service. I am grateful to the hundreds of people 8 who have said yes when asked and whose willing commitment and countless hours make us the strong congregation we are today! On a very personal level, as I said at the beginning, I am indebted to Julie who got us to this awesome place in time. During the last year, I have worked with her in preparation for this assignment. She is a great friend, mentor, and teacher. I cannot express enough thanks to her on behalf of the congregation and myself. Thank you, We are Shir Tikva Strong. 9