Dear all,
It’s been a few months since my last letter and much is happening in and around the shul!
The November board meeting was cancelled due to some nasty weather, so this month we had a very long board meeting. We started with a Blessing for Community Work Rabbi Jonathan taught about at the High Holy Day Volunteer Brunch. The blessing is based on a concept in Talmud that being involved in community work is akin to studying Torah.
• We’re starting the search process for a Senior Administrator. You can read the job description here. The Leadership Development Committee, Board and Staff have all worked hard to determine exactly what we need in a new hire. This job title and description are the result of months of hard work.
• There’s exciting news from the House Committee! We’re getting all our light bulbs throughout the building and grounds replaced with LED’s through a small business initiative sponsored by Central Hudson. This helps us to be “greener” and is expected to cut our electrical bill significantly.
• Rabbi Jonathan wrote about how wonderful the previous Shabbat was when Student Rabbi Lily spoke on Friday night about Judaism and Human Rights and on Saturday the Men’s Group sponsored a discussion about “gender-queer” and using appropriate pronouns such as "they", "them" and "theirs".
• Family School is flourishing with 31 students from pre-K to the b’nai mitzvah class.
• The Fundraising Committee is stepping up to our budgeting challenge and considering options.
•The Sustainability Committee is starting the Hazon Seal of Sustainability process.
•The Art Committee will be taking down the small works show and hanging works by committee members on January 15th.
•The Membership Committee welcomed new members on Friday night, the 6th night of Chanukah.
Ron Carleton, the chair of our Finance Committee, gave a presentation to the Board on our finances in general and the challenges our community will face both this year and in the years ahead.
The budget process for the synagogue starts in January. The budget gets approved by the Congregation at the Annual Meeting, normally May, and our Fiscal Year starts July 1.
In addition to the annual budget, we have a variety of dedicated funds. These are smaller funds that are each ‘restricted’ for a particular purpose, such as scholarships to the Family School, new prayer books, Yiddish programming etc... We also have the Kligler Fund to use for capital expenses of the building and the Legacy Fund that will help support us long into the future.
As you know, the big challenge of any budget is getting income and expense to balance. Three years ago, the Board set aside part of a bequest the synagogue received to fund a Student Rabbi. That fund is now very low. We’ve all come to love the energy and input to our community that comes from having a student rabbi. The board is faced with a challenge…we want to continue to have student rabbis. To do so, we must find a way to fund them.
In addition, the Shul has recently come to the end of a generous yearly donation. We are looking at many ways to make up this lost income.
Donations to the general fund, or any of the dedicated funds always help keep us going strong.
Since the tragic events in Pittsburgh, our Security Committee has been meeting to discuss how best to improve our security while not losing our identity. So our staff can leave in daylight we have changed office hours; the office now closes at 4pm. Members of the Security Committee have met with state and local police and several security companies. Based on these meetings, the committee has recommended a list of projects to do. The first one will be a new video doorbell. This will be installed early in January.
The Security Committee is also planning trainings within our community. These should be expected over the next several months. Trainings currently being planned are:
- The State Police will conduct a training for everyone on “Being Aware”
- A training on first aid and using our AED
- A training for our Shabbat Hosts, as the duties have changed since we decided we need to keep our door locked.
It has also become clear that two hosts at each service would be ideal. I encourage everyone to host occasionally; it’s a real service to our community. The sign-up sheet is here. If you’ve never hosted, sign up to work with someone else – there’s a column for 2nd hosts. You can join the Shabbat Hosting google group here. There are often requests for fill-ins.
As you see, there is a great deal going on here at the WJC. Please keep the shul in mind as you finish your year-end giving. Every little bit is going to a great service we offer.
As always, the Board meets on the 3rd Thursday of each month at 7pm; all members are very welcome to attend. Should you wish to address the Board, please speak to me in advance, as we work to keep the agenda manageable and give time to all the issues and concerns before the Board.
Please call or email me with any questions or concerns.
Shalom,
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Gwendolyn Tapper
President, Board of Directors
president@wjcshul.org
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