The State of the Synagogue 5785

By President Lisa Eizen, Yom Kippur 5785

It is an honor for me to stand here and speak to you all on Yom Kippur.

I want to wish you all L’Shanah Tovah. May you and your families have a year of good health, much happiness, and lasting peace.

It has been a hard year for the Jewish people, particularly for those who reside in Israel. But I feel that even here in the United States, where up until last year, I felt safe, there is an unease that permeates everything. So we gravitate toward places that offer comfort, that offer community. And one of those places is Society Hill Synagogue. We have more guests with us this year than ever before, and right now, elsewhere in the building, there are 160 parents and children in the younger children’s service and about 150 in the older children’s service.

If you haven’t been to a Friday night or a Saturday morning service, you should go. We pray together, we socialize with each other, and, of course, we enjoy a meal together. Rabbi Kamesar‘s meaningful sermons and Hazzan Jessi’s beautiful chantings with her talented musical accompanists truly transport you to a happier place. This is proven by our Open House last month. Since our Open House in early September, 18 new member households joined our congregation. One of our new members stopped me to tell me that she was very moved by the service. 

But it’s not just the Shabbat services that define Society Hill Synagogue. It’s also the people who work here, and the lay leaders that support them, and the synagogue as a whole. If you’ve come to Saturday morning services, you’ve seen the children in the Hebrew School participate in the d’var Torah portion of the service, offering their interpretations and insights. Mike Roe and his teaching staff make sure that our children are well educated as Jewish Americans. Chair Jackie Goldfinger and the entire Hebrew School Committee provide guidance and assistance. 

Our Bar and Bat Mitzvah students are supported by Hazzan Jessi and our B’nei Mitzvah Tutors.

And speaking about educating children, recently there have been compliments that have come our way from parents whose young children have just graduated from our Playschool and have gone on to kindergarten in various schools. They tell us how well-prepared their children are and how well they are adjusting. Kudos to Playschool Director Megan Nachod and her teaching staff. Megan is in the process of forming a new Playschool Committee.

Anyone who calls or visits the synagogue immediately can tell what a welcoming place we are by interacting with Leanne Bendetti and Rhonda Bello, our Office Administrator and Staff Accountant, respectively. In addition to being extremely capable and responsible, they always give the warmest reception to all. As do Custodial Supervisor Kenyatte Burton and his custodial staff. Along with keeping the physical building clean and running smoothly, they greet us at services and make sure that we are comfortable at Oneg dinners and Kiddush lunches. 

Have you met our newest staff member, Communications Manager LilyFish Gomberg? What a master communicator she is. She is responsible for telling our story to our immediate world. She edits and writes copy for the Kesher, posts on Facebook and Instagram, and does a great job of getting the word out about Society Hill Synagogue. LilyFish will be working with our reorganized Communications Committee.

So who keeps all of these moving parts in sync with each other? Our Executive Director, Sahar Oz. Not only does he oversee our staff, but he supports our lay leaders as well. He is invaluable to the Board of Directors. We benefit from his management skills, his technical competence, and his engaging persona, which allows his talent for recruiting. Actually, both Sahar and Rabbi Kamesar, who also has skills outside of his rabbinical expertise, are incredibly supportive of the lay leadership, and we are so grateful. 

When all of the foundational pieces of an organization are capable and caring, it creates the groundwork for a compassionate, supportive, respectful community to take hold. From what I have witnessed, and from what I have experienced personally, this is what Society Hill Synagogue embodies. From that fertile soil, a strong, dynamic tree emerges.

Beginning with the officers on our Board of Directors, Vice Presidents Neil Cohen, Micah Hart, and Elana Hunter; Treasurer Rafi Licht; Secretary Judy Lalli; Immediate Past President Carmen Hayman; and Solicitor Nella Bloom, there is a network of volunteer leadership that allows straightforward and effortless communication among them and committee chairs and committee members. Robin Feinberg, Len Friedland, Laurie Krivo, David Ladov, David Levine, Dawn Mechanic-Hamilton, Harry Oxman, Lesli Reich, Becky Rohtbart, Jared Susco, Harvey Weiner, and Anna Wiener are the Board members who either chair or serve on these committees. This recent restructuring of officers and committee chairs is reflected on our Volunteer Leadership chart that has been published in the Kesher and circulated at the Annual Meeting. Each officer has a portfolio of committees for which they are responsible.

I tell you all of this because if you look at the pyramid chart that shows the flow of authority of this organization, it is the membership which is the primary source of that authority. It is the membership that populates the officers, the board, the committees. It is us, all of us. It is our community. Our greatest asset. Rabbi Nathan spoke about community on Rosh Hashanah and said that our job as part of this community is to show up. I say, it is to be included. Attend events. Join one of our committees. If there is something that you are interested in that you don’t see on the chart or in our event lineup, then make a proposal.

Rachel Howe wanted a Rosh Hodesh group. Last month, we celebrated the new month with 30-some intergenerational women in our garden. It was wonderful. And we will do it again in November and every month thereafter.

Marsha Cohen wanted a mah jongg game. We have a mah jongg club that meets every Thursday in the Beit Midrash. 

David Levine, one of our Board members, wanted a vibrant, functioning Israel Committee, as our former committee was interrupted by COVID. So David made a proposal to the Board. We now have a Board-approved standing Israel Committee with two subcommittees! David chairs the Israel Engagement Subcommittee, which helps nurture Society Hill Synagogue’s connection to Israel by fostering education and promoting meaningful engagement to the Jewish homeland. They are working on a speaker series featuring Birthright Israel, programs to support students, and other topics; establishing a sibling relationship with a congregation in Israel; pen pal programs for our students; food and vendor fairs; and perhaps a congregational trip to Israel. And more.

Jeremey Newberg chairs the other subcommittee, the Israel Dialogue and Engagement Subcommittee. This subcommittee is committed to “creating a supportive environment where Society Hill Synagogue members can affirm their Jewish identity, engage in meaningful dialogue, and explore their relationship with Israel.” Among the objectives is: providing safe spaces for engagement; providing historical context by offering education; promoting understanding of these complex issues; providing resources and skills to help congregants navigate challenges; and, ultimately, building a community that has a deeper understanding of different views of a relationship with Israel.

One of the immediate activities that the subcommittee has undertaken is the creation of a survey to gather insights from congregants about their experiences, thoughts, and needs since the conflict in Gaza began in October of last year. Each synagogue member age eighteen and older will be receiving a nine-question survey by email after the High Holidays. Responses can be anonymous and do not obligate you to anything further. The survey responses will guide the Israel Dialogue and Engagement Subcommittee’s programming, so please choose to be included in this project. Judaism values the inclusion of different points of view and even emphasizes that views which seem to be in direct conflict with each other can both be right.

As president of Society Hill Synagogue, I must report to you on the state of the shul. I am very fortunate that my immediate predecessors, Carmen Hayman, Jeremey Newberg, and Harry Oxman, with whom I served on the Board of Directors, navigated the synagogue through a capital campaign, a building project, and a pandemic, leaving it in excellent shape. We are fiscally and physically sound. Today, our membership stands at 372 member units. At this time last year, we were at 335 member units. This is an increase of over 10%.

And oddly enough, this, our greatest asset, is, at present, our greatest challenge. 372 Member units. As you can imagine, these numbers will impact our spaces. Our worship space, our education spaces, and our work spaces. Over the next weeks and months, we will be monitoring our growth, our activities, and our resources because this also affects us financially. 372 Member units, many of whom come to our events and our worship services.

I hope that I am not being blasphemous when I say that I think that the eleventh commandment is: There must be food. Really, it is not just the meals that we serve after services. We all love to gather together and talk together and just be together. And it is wonderful, and expensive.

Our treasurer, Rafi Licht, and the Finance Committee are able to find the funds that we need. We have formed a new Board committee, the Resource Development Committee, which will look into ways to fund needs such as these. And many of you have been very generous and have sponsored meals to acknowledge yahrzeits or simhas, birthdays, anniversaries, and more. And last year, we had a very positive response to our end-of-year appeal, for which we thank you. It really makes a difference, and we hope that you will continue to support us in this way.

So to recap: we are fiscally secure, physically sound, our staff operates at a superior level, as do our Board and committees, and our membership is growing. Todah rabah.

And so, on this positive note, on behalf of the Board of Directors and my own family, may 5785 be a year of peace and serenity in Israel and in the world, and for us and our families a very happy, healthy, and sweet new year, and may we all be inscribed in the Book of Life. Shanah Tovah.