What a great turn-out we had for our special service and oneg this past Friday! We had both sweet and healthy items to share during the oneg – many of which were homemade! Thanks to everyone for coming out to thank Mr. Isom for his generous donation to our Temple! I had the privilege of sitting with him during the service and I know he was very touched by the blessing he received and all the words of thanks you all shared with him. And, he seemed to enjoy the goodies at the oneg too!! If you were not able to join us for the occasion, Phil Abroms has some great pictures and a U-Tube video he would probably be happy to share with you…
First Board Meeting of 2017
The first Board meeting of 2017 was held this past Sunday, the 12th. We discussed quite a number of issues and obviously have a busy year ahead of us! Most of the items we discussed were on the list I shared with you at the Annual Meeting – or were added to my list based on suggestions from meeting attendees. We had some general discussions around each item and identified individuals that will/have been asked to tackle them. I will keep you posted as we make progress on each one. In addition, I want to share with you who our committee chairs will be this year:
Finance – Nancy Opler
Membership – Not yet determined (Please let me know if you would volunteer for this role!)
Social – Howard Zeff
Building – Jeff Schneider
Ritual – Rabbi Nancy
Please join me in thanking each of these individuals for their willingness to serve in these critical rolls and, if they tap you on the sholder and ask that you serve as a committee member, please say yes!
Thank You, Nancy Opler
You may have noticed that the Torah crowns (that traditionally sit atop the arch in our Synagogue) are nice and shiny again! For as long as I have been part of the Temple, the crowns sat up there looking beautiful but very tarnished – so much so it was actually difficult to see how beautiful they are. However, thanks to Nancy Opler, their beauty is now far more evident! Getting these polished up was quite a task as there are so many little parts – have you ever looked at all the small bells on them? So, while I want to thank Nancy here, I hope each of you will also take a minute to thank her for lovingly volunteering to take on this task. In addition, she cleaned up the plaques on the front of each of the two (small) podiums on the bimah. Thank you so much, Nancy!
Soup Kitchen
This weekend is our turn for providing the desserts for the Soup Kitchen. If you have never participated in this, now is the time to start! It’s really easy! All you have to do is one of the following:
- Bake up a batch of your favorite dessert (cake, cookies, brownies, etc) and bring them to the Temple when you come to services Friday night or no later than 9:30 on Saturday morning;
- Go to the grocery store and buy a dessert (or two) to share and bring it (them) to the Temple when you come to services Friday night or no later than 9:30 on Saturday morning;
- Make a check out to Temple B’nai Israel and clearly mark it as “Soup Kitchen donation.” You can send the check to Marty Abroms’ office, give it to Fran or Bryan Jacobs or give it to Ken or Shelley Wolf. Your donations will be used to purchase additional desserts needed if enough are not provided by the congregation (which is often the case).
As I mentioned in my note last week, my hope is that more of our members will participate in this each month as, so often, it seems we depend on the same people over and over to supply the desserts. Please think about those that benefit from these donations and make an effort to bring desserts to share! (See the calendar on our Website for future Soup Kitchen dessert dates and watch my communications for monthly reminders!)
Have You Completed Your Annual Pledge Form?
As you have heard me say several times, your annual dues are the funds that allow the Temple to pay our annual operating expenses. As we prepare our budget for 2017, it is imperative that we have an idea of the funds that will be available to us so that we can plan accordingly. Therefore, if you have not yet completed your pledge form and returned it to our Treasurer, Marty Abroms, please do so as soon as possible. In addition to allowing us to budget more effectively, the form also allows us to ensure that we have the correct information for you and your family, ensuring that we can contact you and keep you informed of all things Temple. There are a number of things we would like to get done this year but, without your donations and contact information, we simply will not be able to do them. Many thanks to all who have already made your pledge and/or paid your dues for the year!
Save the Date!
The Social Committee is hard at work planning our first event of the year. While there will be more details to come, reserve Sunday evening, March 19 on your calendar to come join the fun! Rumor has it that we will again do our soup and chili dinner but there will also be a fun activity involved! Stay tuned!
Services and Torah Study
Our service schedule for the remainder of February and for March is as follows:
- February 17 – Rabbi Nancy
- February 24 – Buddy Bernstein
- March 3 – Congregant led service
- March 10 – Rabbi Nancy
- March 17 – Congregant led service
- March 24 – Rabbi Nancy
- March 31 – Buddy Bernstein
As always, congregants and members of the Shoals community, at large, are invited to attend the weekly Torah Study session which is held each Saturday morning at 9:30, at the Temple.
Reminder items:
- Soup Kitchen donations – please plan to bring dessert items to donate to the Soup Kitchen on Saturday, February 18 – please have them at the Temple no later than 9:30 that morning (bringing them Friday night is fine too).
If you are aware of something in the community that you would like me to draw some attention to in my message, please let me know! And, as always, if you have any announcements you would like for me to share with our membership, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me.
I hope you all have a wonderful week and I look forward to seeing you this Friday night!
Shalom!
Traci Welch
