Last year when I sat down to write this column,
the leadership of our synagogue was
wondering how our congregation would
respond to the most challenging economic climate
that most of us have ever seen. We knew
that it was going to be a difficult year for our
members, a year where jobs would be lost,
where businesses would suffer, and where people
would turn to their shul to find solace, to find
comfort, and to ask for help. We knew that the
help we would be able to give our members was
largely going to be based on the success of our
Annual Appeal.
A year later I can report with great pride that
our members responded to the challenge with
deep generosity and with a powerful feeling of
connection and caring for the Beth El community.
We had the most successful annual appeal
campaign in our history and met the high goal
that we set from the very beginning. I am personally
grateful that we were able to achieve
this milestone, because the calls for help did
indeed come, in unprecedented numbers.
People asking for help to send their children to
the Berman Lipavsky Religious School, people
asking for help to pay their membership dues,
and people asking for help so that a child could
participate in a United Synagogue Youth program.
In each case we were able to say “Your synagogue
is here for you. You will be able to get a
Jewish education for your children. You will be
able to belong to Beth El, and to come here to
celebrate the holidays, and to know that you are
an integral part of a caring community.”
Each year the High Holidays come to remind
us of how important it is to be connected to that
kind of community. The warmth and fellowship
we experience when we gather together to celebrate
our most sacred days is genuine. It comes
from a shared history, and also from the sense
that Beth El is a special place. We understand
the idea of “kol Yisrael areivim zeh b’zeh” – that
all Jews are responsible for one another.
Although we have a beautiful campus, a
wonderful staff and meaningful services, as well
as fabulous learning opportunities and top notch
schools, at the end of the day, there is one thing
and one thing alone that makes Beth El truly
special – and that is the members of the congregation.
Without you we wouldn’t have the
strength, the support, the energy, and the feeling
that we need to make Beth El the kind of
place we all want it to be.
Once again this year we turn to you for your
help and your generosity. Please participate in
this year’s Annual Appeal. Together we can
ensure that the Beth El we know and love will
continue to be a place of which we can all be
proud.
|
