Message From Our President
The What, the How and the Why
In another few weeks, we will come together to celebrate the beginning of a new year 5775, to plan for the future and to reflect on the past.
And it was quite a year. We have much to be proud of!
We partied and we studied. We balanced our budget and we refinanced our mortgage for 5 years at a lower interest rate. We wished Cantor Yomtov all the best and welcomed Cantor Lawrence. Soon, our congregants will be able to watch our streamed Shabbat services each Friday from their home computers. And, with MM on the web, each of us will have temple information more readily available to us from our computers. (Watch for more detailed information.) We welcomed many new members and said goodbye to others. We will certainly miss some of our long standing members and friends who are no longer with us. Their names and their legacy of devotion to our congregation will be long remembered.
Then, too, we came together as a congregation to stand for Israel and against the terror and destruction that has taken place over the past month. As a congregation, we donated to The Jewish Federation of Cleveland to provide badly needed resources for our Israeli brethren. Our clergy stepped forward to represent us in the community and to give us some solace and spiritual uplifting.
It has been a year of participation for our community. At the annual meeting in May, we listed more volunteers than ever before. To everyone who has helped in any way, thank you so much!
But let’s look ahead!
The Board of Trustees and I have several goals. The first goal is to further stabilize our finances. Please be generous when you donate to the High Holy Day campaign. Your donations make all the difference and enable us to provide opportunities for us all. It is the how we get things done and we cannot do it without you. And perhaps most important is our second goal which is to make this the year of the member, the year where you feel more connected, more engaged, more important than ever to Temple Emanu El. We will reach out to each of you over the year to hear how we are doing. It is the year where all of us are partners in finding and encouraging membership in TEE.
Why? Why do all of this? We do this because Temple Emanu El is a family and must be our Jewish home. We do this because we care and because we Jews value each other and value justice and family. Perhaps today more than ever, you and I need to have a home such as Temple Emanu El where we can just be – not because we are rich and famous and not because we need to be seen – but just because, to have a moment after a hectic week , a moment, a time and place that doesn’t change week to week- a moment just to be among family.
L’Shana tovah!
Judy Uram
President