President’s Message (November – December 2014)

Dear Temple Sinai Members,

On behalf of the board of trustees, I would like to thank you for all the donations made over the past holiday season. The total for FoodShare was an all-time high for us, and the amount given to the High Holiday pledges and roof account were also very significant. I am not surprised by the generosity of our membership and it is greatly appreciated!

The NFTY Northeast conclavette that has been talked about for months is almost upon us. This is a tremendous undertaking for Temple Sinai and especially our youth leaders. I would like to ask once again for our community to do all it can to make this event a rousing success. I am sure no matter what our age, we want to see committed young people who feel the same love of Judaism that we do; so we need to help them in their journey. There is an expression “many hands make fast work’ (or something like that). Our version for the conclavette is “many hands make a wonderful weekend.” If you haven’t volunteered as yet, please call the Temple office to offer whatever resources you have to help.

I hope by the time this bulletin is published, the new roof will be completed over the social hall and Religious School, and we can move on to the next project: the replacement of our boiler. Just like your home, our building requires maintenance and items have a lifespan. I hope this is the last significant item to be replaced, but one never knows. Stay tuned for a progress report.

In last month’s bulletin, I wrote about the focus of our board for this year: lifelong learning. The Adult Education committee, along with a few board members, will be sending out a survey in the next few weeks. I hope you will all take the time to complete it and give us your ideas and wishes for programs that we may offer for all of the many age groups that comprise our family.

November and December bring us two wonderful holidays: Thanksgiving and Chanukah. Last year the two fell together, which was a coincidence for the ages and gave us much to talk about. I am happy that they are separate once again, so that we can enjoy both without sacrificing one over the other. We will celebrate Thanksgiving as always with the Newington Interfaith Service on Sunday, November 23, and hope many of you can attend to represent Temple Sinai at this meaningful event. And, of course, we all look forward to the Chanukah Shabbat — this year on December 19 — when we get to sing, pray, and eat lots of latkes!

 B’Shalom,
Carol Benjamin, President new-message24