A Message from Rabbi Peltz

At services last Shabbat morning, Rabbi Peltz spoke about Israel’s new government and its potential impact on policies and issues for our Conservative Jewish community in particular and Israel and the Jewish people in general. This message is adapted from his remarks.

In the opening verses of the book of Shemot, Exodus, all is well. Jacob and his family have moved to Egypt, and though their generation has passed, their family is growing and thriving. And then, because of this, everything turns when a new king is crowned in Egypt. That Pharaoh notices the growing influence of the Israelites. The Torah says, “Pharaoh said to his nation, “Look, there is another nation, the people of Israel, that are much too numerous for us.” He goes on to lay the groundwork for enslaving and persecuting the Israelites.  Many commentaries have noted that this all begins with Pharaoh identifying the Israelites as an Am B’nai Yisrael, the nation of the people of Israel. It is ironic that the first person to define our people as a people in the Torah is Pharaoh, who does it out of a sense of fear and hatred. This, of course, is not the first time that we have been defined by those who seek to destroy us.

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A Message from Ron Safier, Executive Director

Ron recently delivered operational updates to our Board of Directors. The following are excerpts from his presentation in which he discussed upcoming developments as well as results from recent initiatives.

At our last Board meeting I mentioned that we extended an offer for our Communications Manager role. Lori Clark started with us on 11/28, and she is helping us develop and create print and digital communications and marketing materials, in addition to a comprehensive advertising and social media strategy and will help us with our website management, just to name a few. She is doing an excellent job so far and is fitting in very nicely.

Allison Borenstein is doing a fantastic job as our Events Manager, working with B’nai Mitzvah and wedding families as they prepare for their upcoming celebrations, among other job functions.

We received the audited financial statements for fiscal year 2022 from Marcum several weeks ago, and they will be shared with the finance committee this Monday evening. 

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