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 a part of the TST family for years, and thanks to the Complementary Membership Program for the first year, many new members who have joined us over the last year. While our membership has spiked to this level in years past at least on paper, yet our record keeping today gives us more confidence on who are members are in good standing vs. those who may have quietly resigned but we just don't know it yet. I’d say in the past, our membership typically ranged around 475-500, and dipped below this level when Rabbi Gold left. Again, we are at 558 today. It’s great to see so many get involved at so many different levels, and there is always room for more. Last year at the Annual Meeting and during my High Holiday remarks, I spoke about three key areas of focus: Education, Inclusion, and Engagement. I’d like to touch on each of these, and explain what I’ll be adding to it over the coming year. For Education, I’d like to start by acknowledging three outstanding professionals and leaders who joined us over the last year and have already made a great impact. These three include Rabbi Jordi, Alison Weikel, and Lisa Botelho. Each has become an integral part of our TST family – it's hard to believe it's been less than a year since they each joined! Rabbi Jordi has inspired us with wonderful teachings from both the Bimah and the classroom. You will have an opportunity to hear more from her directly in just a little bit. Alison Weikel is not with us tonight because she is at a conference exploring how the principles and practices of mindfulness and meditation can be brought into a religious school curricula. This is just one small example of how she hopes to 2 make learning not just current, but joyful for our children and youth. As many of you know, she has spearheaded an effort this year to engage the congregation in conversations about Education Redesign. She has also enhanced professional development for faculty and developed and improved engaging parent and youth programming. There will be more to come in the months and years ahead. I know she wants to partner with all of you to create an exceptional religious school that can make us kvell, give us great pride. One early surprise I had as President (as within my first two weeks) was the need to immediately launch a search for a new Early Learning Center Director. Sandy Gold told us she wanted to pursue new professional challenges, and I was concerned she was leaving big shoes to fill. With the dedication of our Early Learning Center Trustee, Rachel Heckler and her Co-Chair on the Search Committee, Jeff Lappin, Rabbi Danny and I were very lucky and fortunate to find Lisa Botelho. Lisa alongside a dedicated teaching staff, committed clergy, and wonderful supportive parents did not miss a beat, and all have collaborated beautifully to continue the high standards and warm environment we provide for our youngest congregants in our Early Learning Center. Once a month our clergy also lead a well attended Kabbalat Shabbat Yeladim service at 5:00 PM on Fridays, attended by little ones, brothers, sisters, parents, and grandparents, with dinner following services. It’s a joyful, if not somewhat chaotic time to be here on the first floor at TST. If a more reflective and quiet end of the spectrum is more your speed, our Spirituality Fellow, Nathan Fisher, has been leading adults in the practice of quiet meditation getting ready for Shabbat at 5:30 PM on Fridays, on the 2nd floor of the building. He and many other scholars are also teaching adults throughout the week on a wide variety of topics. There seems to be renewed excitement in our youth programming, and I was so pleased to see our Simchat Shabbat Service with heavy STIFTY participation on May 10. Hats off to Jenna Friedman, our Youth Education Director, for all she has done this year, as well as to Marissa Kaye and Elizabeth Suga for all the 3 coordination and administrative support they provide to our ELC and Religious School to ensure that all goes off without a hitch. For Inclusion, our Babayit Committee led by Brooke Stein and Rabbi Jordi has made significant inroads. They will be speaking to you in just a little bit, so I want to be sure that I don’t steal their thunder. Let me simply say that my goal is for everyone to be able to bring their whole self to TST without thinking twice, no matter who they are, no matter what physical, mental, or emotional challenges they may have or have or have in their family. What an incredible evening we had earlier this year when Brooke Stein showed the courage and vulnerability – showed her leadership – to deliver a personal sermon on a Friday evening telling her story. I was so proud of not just what she said and what she did, but how it also sparked others in an impromptu way to share a bit more about themselves over a casual dinner afterwards. Regarding engagement, we culminated the year three weekends ago with Hollispalooza, a wonderful celebration of Cantor Hollis’ 18th year with us. Actually, it became a celebration of all of us and who we are. I can’t think of a better capstone to the weekend than Josh Nelson’s heartfelt words at the piano, telling us that you just feel a bit different when you come here; we aren’t your typical Metrowest synagogue. I thank Beth Greenberg and Holly Glick and so many others who worked tirelessly and funded so many elements of that weekend to give us all reason to celebrate. And if you didn’t notice the beautiful mosaics in our entryway created by Josh Winer on your way in, please do be sure to take a look when you leave this evening. THEY ARE INCREDIBLE! While Hollispalooza was a huge event this year, there have been so many other programs and activities where people could connect and engage with one another. Be it the family trip to Israel, with an Adult trip coming this November, opportunities to socialize with each other at our Annual Progressive Dinner or through smaller and more intimate Chaverim groups, chances to do Tikkun Olam work through Rise Against Hunger or Family Promise, you name it….there’s been a lot going on socially and spiritually for all interests. 4 And you have supported your synagogue financially as well, taking us well into the $700,000s in Annual Fund donations. This is more than double and almost three times the amount we used to collect on an annual basis for many years, just a few years ago. This culture of philanthropy we are growing helps ensure we can do so much, as well as never turn anyone away who may not be as blessed and fortunate today. You will be hearing more about our budget from Michael Abrahams, our Treasurer, later in the agenda. Our lay leaders, most notably Susan Benjamin and Matt Langwebber, have done an exceptional job guiding you with their fundraising efforts, and you have responded. Thank you! We also realize that to get to the next level, we need to add part time professional Development expertise to our team, so we can thoughtfully engage in fundraising focused on our longer term strategy. We want to think beyond our annual operating requirements, and work towards sustaining our future, perhaps through endowing professional positions or planning for our physical needs in the not too distant future. This year we have built into our budget funding for that kind of professional Development expertise. We’re also been in the process of streamlining our operations and modernizing the technology you use to communicate with TST. Our new ShulCloud portal provides self-service updating of membership directory information and an integrated and easy to use billing and accounting system. Get ready this year for the next generation of our website, supporting an integrated and contemporary view of our calendar and online event tracking. In addition to technology, as we grow we will be focused this next year on continuing to organize, streamline, and strengthen our administrative operations to ensure that we collaborate well, put systems in place so we aren't wasting time ‘reinventing the wheel’, and provide exceptional service to all of you. All that we have done cannot happen without the behind the scenes support of our professional and administrative staff. Thank you to Susan Altman, Toni 5 Spitzer, Karen Edwards, Lucy Dube, Peggi Cohen, and this year, Stefanie Caliri who has served as our part-time Digital/Social Media Specialist. I am indebted to our lay leaders who care so deeply about this place and about all of you. Tonight you will be voting in a new slate of exceptional Board members -- some will be continuing on and some will be joining our Board. To those who are stepping aside, Matt Langweber, Susan Benjamin, Stefanie Janoff, Marilyn Newman, Amanda Glynn, Jill Abend, and Rachel Heckler…..this is not goodbye by any means. This is simply thank you…..thank you for all you have done, thank you for caring, thank you for being you. A special thank you to Matt, who has taken such care to make sure that he handed off a baton to me and made sure I didn’t drop it in the handoff. I’m sure I did bobble it a few times, but that’s my own doing. Thank you Matt! And I’m very excited that topping the nominating slate as your President Elect is Harry Merkin, who has been doing a stellar job of putting TST in the spotlight -- giving us voice in the popular press and working diligently with Stefanie Caliri updating our communications and marketing. In addition to the staff I’ve mentioned and all the lay leaders, there is one person I've yet to mention. None of this could be possible without his vision and guidance. There are Presidents who have a heck of a time because they don’t have a strong working and personal relationship with their Senior Rabbi. That has never been an issue for me. Rabbi Danny and I listen to each other with respect, and I greatly value his opinion and wise counsel. I can tell you we are completely aligned in the direction we are taking together. What a true pleasure it has been to be by your side, Danny! By the way, I’m not asking for the countdown clock yet – I’m very happy to say that I do have another year to experience the joys and the occasional challenges of being your temple president. Yes, while it is a wonderful time to be President at Temple Shir Tikva, there have been challenges. In recent years, most of the turbulence and change we have experienced within our congregation has been our own – it has existed within our own walls. Important and at times gut wrenching decisions were made about management and ownership of our Early 6 Learning Center, the direction and leadership of our Religious School, and whether we felt we had the right visionary senior rabbi to lead us to our promised land -- our desired future. These weren’t easy decisions, but they were our decisions to make, and I for one am happy our leaders at the time had the strength to put a stake in the ground. We clearly are reaping the benefits. Today, our present leadership has also had to make some gut wrenching decisions, but these were based on conditions and situations that have occurred outside the walls of our building. Tree of Life, ChristChurch, and Chabad Center in Poway California say it all. I was told by past presidents that every president has at least one event that they couldn’t have planned for that becomes one of the most challenging puzzles they will have to solve. By my count, I’ve had at least three. Today, in addition to Education, Inclusion, and Engagement, I’m most concerned about attaining a balance between helping you feel Safe, and helping you feel Welcome as a part of our community. If you feel safe but you don’t feel welcome, you aren’t going to stay for long. If you feel welcome but you don’t feel safe, you also won’t stay for long….you may not even come at all. In our agenda tonight, you will get a taste of some of the things we are doing and plan to do to help find that balance so you and others can feel both safe and welcome. While these challenges occur in the world around us, I’m happy that we have the team in place within these walls to address them. I have no doubt that we will, and we will continue to thrive. Thank you very much.