A Message from Our President

Posted on October 20, 2024 by Andrea Bradley

I am sorry to have missed being in person with you at Temple Beth-El for Kol Nidrei and Yom Kippur. As you may have heard, I was on “mom duty” with our daughter Nora, who needed (unexpected) orthopedic surgery. Thank you for all your good wishes – Nora is doing much better. Thank you for the opportunity to share my Yom Kippur thoughts with you via email.

We have so many opportunities to be together in the next few weeks – I hope to see you at TBE. I hope you joined us for a lovely welcome to Sukkah with services and a potluck supper under the sukkah last week. Please mark your calendars to join us for Erev Simchat Torah services next Wednesday, October 23 beginning at 7:00 p.m. and Sh’mini Atzeret and Yizkor services on Thursday, October 24 at 10:00 a.m.

Each year, I look forward to the High Holy Days to focus on the year ahead with fresh resolve. Last year, I challenged you to deploy this renewed commitment and energy to support our community. And you have, as we said a fond goodbye to Rabbi Gluck in June and warmly welcomed Rabbi Katz as our interim rabbi in July. So many of you have joined together to strengthen our community.

A silver lining of this rabbinic transition has been making time to listen to each other as we explore our aspirations for TBE’s future. What we learned has already shaped our work in countless ways and fed directly into the application we posted last month with the CCAR to hire a new settled rabbi to begin July 1, 2025.

The work of describing our thriving multi-faceted community to a prospective rabbi candidate seems daunting – how to reflect all of our nuances, how to share our warmth and strong sense of camaraderie, how to make sure nothing gets forgotten, how to describe who we are, without limiting who we want to be??? Under the leadership of Steve Weitz, our Settled Search Committee has done a beautiful and thoughtful job of capturing the essence of TBE. We are gratified by the early responses and look forward to what lies ahead. And please don’t worry – we will keep you updated, as our confidential process permits.

Over this past year, I have been reminded repeatedly of the strength and depth of our TBE community. Our shared Jewish values form a mighty foundation and springboard for Temple Beth-El’s future. Worship and love of Torah are at our core, but as important is our dedication to Israel, Tikkun Olam and to one another.

As we look ahead, we want you to continue being engaged in our TBE community. We know that working side by side with others builds relationships in an authentic way. And that strong connections are the best way to deliver on our promise of being welcoming, and making sure people feel like they belong here.

Let me share a few TBE opportunities with you – with the hope that one, or all, of them will entice you to get involved.

• Under the leadership of Mark Reynolds, our HOME participation has renewed energy. We are hosting the week beginning October 20th and you are needed to make sure that our HOME guests are well cared for.
• Under the leadership of Rich Wolff and Dana Shapiro, we are reviving Ladles of Love, a unique TBE initiative that involves both community cooking sessions in our kitchen to prepare soups and sweet breads, and delivering them to members of our TBE community who need a little extra TLC.
• Under the leadership of Beth Lavrunchuk, we are gearing up for the World Zionist Congress elections, which begin in March 2025. The World Zionist Congress is the elected legislative body that serves as the platform for Diaspora jews to have a vote in the policy and budget of Israel. As you likely know, there is disciplined opposition to the Reform Movement in Israel so our participation is critical.
• We need people to lead and champion our annual spring celebration, which is our largest fundraiser. As TBE looks forward to our bright future, we want to gather to celebrate together.

The success of each of these depends on the participation of many, many, many of you. You can learn more about them in our weekly emails and on our website, together with all of the other exciting things happening at TBE.

As Frank Derby mentioned during Rosh Hashanah, our financial sustainability relies on our continued generosity – each of us must give what we can to sustain the whole. I urge you to make your annual commitment and High Holiday pledge right away. The calculus is the same for our TBE community in general – by making your commitment to TBE a priority, by engaging with each other and deepening our relationships, by giving of yourself, we all benefit.

One of the most impactful books I read this past year is Rabbi Sharon Brous’ The Amen Effect: Ancient Wisdom to Heal our Broken Hearts and Mend Our Broken World. I know that Rabbi Katz will be talking more about Rabbi Brous’ work on Sunday, November 24 during a learning breakfast, beginning at 9:15 a.m. I encourage you to attend. I could go on at length about the important lessons of The Amen Effect. For today, I’ll share just a few tidbits of Rabbi Brous’ wisdom: asking how you can be of service to others, taking a joy break each day, trying to make a dent in someone else’s darkness, being present for joy and sadness and trusting the power of your presence to make a difference. For me, these are great principles to harness the fresh resolve of the New Year for good. I hope you’ll join me in the work, and the joy. (The Amen Effect is available on Amazon.)

I look forward to seeing you at TBE for Erev Simchat Torah, and, as always, for Shabbat worship. May the new year be a sweet year for all of us.

Andrea Bradley

President@templebethelnj.org