Rabbi's Message

Rabbi Elyse Wechterman
Read about the Rabbi
Feb. 2005

Leaders in our community

This month, I want to tell you how great our board and our leaders are. We as a community are very fortunate to have dedicated and hardworking people who put time, effort, money and energy into creating and maintaining our Jewish community. And they do this without expectation of reward!

Let me tell you a few of things our leaders do:

The members of our executive committee spend two Monday evenings per month at meetings: one executive committee meeting, one board meeting, to work through, wrestle with and make decisions about the range of issues we confront as a community: finances, programming, personnel, building issues,
etc. The rest of the board similarly attends the board meeting and often one other committee meeting on a monthly basis.

Our meetings are characterized by thoughtful, informed debate. Elsewhere in this newsletter you can read about a recent decision to allocate money to different needs of the synagogue. That decision alone took the work of several committees to craft proposals, two executive committee meetings to discuss the process of decision making and two board meetings to hear all points of view, discuss options and come to a fairly widespread agreement.

OK - so that's the kind of stuff that you would expect board members to do. But their jobs include much more. Every Friday night and Saturday morning one of our board members arrives early to open the building, turn on the lights, set up kiddush and act as host for Shabbat services. Yes - you see them reading announcements. But did you also know that they often arrived 1/2 hour early and stayed about an hour or so later to help clean up?

As you have heard discussed elsewhere, we have serious financial concerns in the congregation. We have been operating at a deficit and we have not been
making enough in fundraising to cover our expenses. Every single one of our board members is acutely aware of the challenge and has taken on some responsibility to work toward increasing our fundraising. One board member took on planning the yard sale. Another organized the wrapping paper fundraiser and the Passover candy sale. Yet another worked tirelessly to solicit ads and create our directory. Another is planning a golf tournament to benefit the synagogue. All of these programs are beyond the simple job descriptions of our board members.

It's a lot of work and a lot of time. But here's the funny thing. Most of our board members report being proud and honored to serve and find it meaningful to them. Why? Because through their service, they have learned about Jewish community, Jewish practice and Jewish life in new and exciting ways. They have found our programs to be not just obligations but opportunities for personal growth as well. Amazingly enough, as our leaders take on more responsibility, they have found themselves becoming more involved and more engaged as a result of their leadership.

And through their work and commitment, they have brought others along with them. We have a host of individuals who are leading programs and taking part in projects who are not board members - they are also the backbone and strength of our community - and in many cases, they have come to their work through connections to those already in leadership.

As some of you know, I am currently participating in a fellowship program designed to teach rabbis about the organizational aspects of Jewish congregational life. In much of this course work, distinctions are made between community leaders and congregants; board members and participants. In many larger congregations affiliated with different movement, that model holds true. But at Agudas Achim, I have learned, we are different. Our leaders are us, our leaders are doers, our leaders come here to pray, learn, sing, socialize, parent in addition to attend meetings. And the people who do all those things, the members often become our leaders. That is the way it should work in a kehila kedosha (holy community).

So next time you see someone who has made something possible, please offer them a thank you - and ask how you can help.

My gratitude and heart goes out to those who make this such a thriving place and are examples of menschen in our life: Michael Rudnick, Deb Mandell, Susan Lougee, Bruce Levine, Debbie Oster, Susan Sussman, Lisa Walking, Marc Kaplan, Shelley Goverman, Susan Bradie, Abbe Morrongiello, Eileen Struminski, Suzie Brothman, Randy Oster, Kim Bodemer, Gerry Bradie, Anne Baxter, Sharon Parnes, Cathie Cruz, Janice Dexter-Ganek, David Lubiner, Tammy Feeney, Roberta Fox, Marcia Szymanski, Shari Gaudet, Lauren Goldman, Ilene Gordon, Barbara Gordon-O'Connor, Mitchell Halpern, Caron Heller, Debbie Ide, Steve Ide, Judy Jacobs, Sheila Jacobs, Randy-Lynn Kroll, Jill Levine, Stephanie Levine, Bob Libon, Toby London, Laura Muller, Dot Park, Myra Paull, Gary Price, Sheryl Reedy, Carole Rosen, Barbara Shays, Anna Shuman, Karen Solomon, David Solomon, Rosanna Williams, and all those who I may have inadvertently forgotten.

Rabbi Elyse

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