This past Shavuot a number of us attended a Tikkun Liel Shavuot sponsored by Shomrei and four other synagogues in the area. The guest speaker was Rabbi Norman J. Cohen. His topic… Midrashim on Hineni. I found his lecture particularly illuminating as I have always thought about Hineni (Here I am) in a biblical context. However, he talked about it in modern terms, illustrating his point with several stories about his father and the need for him as a son to be present in his father’s life as his father entered his senior years and cried out in different ways for the attention of his son. What Rabbi Cohen described was the need and the power of declaring one’s presence in other people’s lives.
So, as I looked out over ninety people who attended our annual meeting to vote on the Sustaining Share Membership Model, I couldn’t help but think that in their own way everyone in that room was saying “Hineni!” And with that… Shomrei has engaged in creating a new possibility, a new future for our synagogue.
None of this happened in a vacuum. Rabbi Greenstein, Fern Heinig and Andy Silver, our immediate past president Rich Epstein, the 2020 Committee, the Sustaining Share Subcommittee, the Board and all of you helped to bring this moment about. It has been a long journey, but a rewarding one.
Yasher Koach to all!
- Toby in Her Own Words - Thu, Feb 8, 2024
- It Takes a Minyan - Tue, Nov 22, 2022
- A Guy Who Likes Everything: A Defense - Wed, Feb 9, 2022