My two years as president are up at the end of May. I am incredibly grateful to have had the opportunity to serve this community in this capacity. With the introduction of the new membership model and the congregation’s embrace of it, there is a significant change at Shomrei. All of the reasons for recommending it – membership accessibility, engagement, and a renewed sense of purpose – have come about. Of course, there is still much, much more to do, but at least we have begun the journey.

I wanted to take this opportunity to thank a number of people whose tireless work on behalf of Shomrei has made it possible to get to this point. Continue reading →

There have been some wonderful things to celebrate at Shomrei of late. In addition to a beautiful Musical Taste of Shabbat at the home of Judy Wildman and Ken Bannerman last week. Shomrei had a wildly successful Purim Carnival and Purim celebrations with Meghilla readings, a Purim Spiel and a Purim Band, that were widely attended. Earlier in the week we had a board meeting that addressed a major issue in a very meaningful way.

I attempted to put into my own words what took place, but upon reviewing the material prepared by Geoff Sadow for the Board’s consideration, I have chosen to simply present excerpts from his report which explains the issues far more clearly than I could. The following then, is from a Ritual Committee report prepared by Committee Chair, Geoff Sadow for the Board of Trustees. Continue reading →

At this time last year we sent out pledge request forms to determine if there was sufficient support for the Sustaining Share Membership Model we were exploring at that time. You responded with an emphatic yes! Here we are today, one year later with a new membership model in place –– one that is working –– and a new spirit of possibility in our community that was so clearly on display at the Shomrei Celebrates event held on February 20th.

Within the next month you will receive an email with information on how to proceed with renewing your commitment for the year ahead. The email will contain a link to an online page where you can indicate this coming year’s pledge and the payment plan you wish to adopt. With this streamlined approach to renewing your membership and the extremely successful invoicing system that was introduced last year, we will continue to revitalize our community and to make it accessible to all. Continue reading →

We have reached the mid-point of our fiscal year (June 1 – May 31).  A question I have often heard since we introduced our new dues model is “how are we doing?”  I am pleased to report that we are doing quite well. Here are just a few highlights:

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Chanukah––the festival of lights! It always strikes me as fascinating that we light the menorah at the darkest time of the year and that each night we light another candle bringing in even more light into the darkness.

Chanukah is not the only event that brings light into our lives at Shomrei during this time of year, Hinei Mah Tov (HMT) –– our intergenerational Shabbat service –– is also a bright source of light. Recently invigorated by the collaboration of JLC Education Director Sara Birnbaum, HMT chair Allison Fishman Task, our new song leader Mitch Radler and the families who regularly attend HMT and now lead it on a rotating basis, Hinei Mah Tov is becoming a powerful community-building event. When HMT families and their children come upstairs at the end of their service to join the regular service at its conclusion and everyone then walks into the social hall to partake of the Kiddush, all of us get an immediate sense of what Shomrei is all about and what it can be. Continue reading →

This article is adapted from a speech given on Erev Yom Kippur:

About three years ago with the encouragement of Rabbi Greenstein and our president at the time, Rich Epstein – a group began to meet, initially on an informal basis, to explore critical questions related to our future. The group represented a cross section of our community. The purpose was to look at what we needed to do in order to have a viable and meaningful future in a very changing world. A world in which the assumed synagogue affiliation of younger people could no longer be counted on and synagogues across the country were grappling with declining membership.

This group eventually became known as the 2020 committee and it was chaired by Fern Heinig – our current Executive Vice President – and Andy Silver a former board member and longtime member of our community. The group looked at every aspect of synagogue life and last year made recommendations to the board on two critical issues. One was for our congregation to explore the adoption of a new membership model. The other was to adopt core values to guide us as a community – and in our work on the board. All this ultimately resulted in the congregation’s adoption of the new model and what we at Shomrei now call Open Door Judaism. Continue reading →

The following speech was given on Rosh Hashanah:

Shanah Tovah! A very warm welcome to all of you. Whether you have been a member for decades, or just a few days, or somewhere in between, whether you are here as a guest, or a prospective member, today we are all part of the Shomrei family and Shomrei welcomes you with open arms.

We have accomplished a lot this year by creating what we call Open Door Judaism. With the adoption of the sustaining share membership model we have taken a bold stand on who we are and what we aspire to be. This model recognizes that each of us has a different capacity to give. Therefore, we do not “require” a specified membership fee, but instead rely on each of our members to determine the amount to which he or she can commit to ensure the continuing vitality of our community. Some pay more, some pay less, but in the end the goal of sustaining our community, a community which sustains us in so many ways, is shared by all. And, the response has been very promising indeed with many members contributing more than they have in years past. Continue reading →