Greetings all!

This past Sunday we had the 2^nd of our quarterly Board meetings for the year.  We covered a lot of material, in particular, we received an update on what each of our committees have been doing and/or are planning for 2016.  I cannot thank the committee chairs enough for their dedication to the Temple.  If you would like to learn more about how you can get involved, and don’t know who chairs a particular committee, drop me a note and I will get you the right name and contact information.  All of our committees have set some exciting goals for the year and there should be something for everyone to help with!

One committee that is hard at work is the Security Committee (Don Welch – Chair; Dick Peshkin and Howard Zeff) – addressing concerns that many of you have voiced over the last several months.  The next time you visit the Synagogue, you will notice that we now have security cameras positioned on the outside of the building in three locations.  This will allow us to keep a closer watch on who comes and goes on the property – allowing for monitoring/ recording while we are holding services or events as well as recording when we are not.  In addition, this committee is in the process of pulling together a complete Security Plan. One piece of this plan calls for posting Greeters at the front door any time there is a service or event at the building.  If this is something you would like to do, please contact Don, Dick or Howard.

Speaking of services…Rabbi Nancy will be here to lead our services each of the next two weeks.  The dates that she will be with us, through June, are:

• May 6 and 13
• June 10 and 17

Please note > It has been decided that, due to the Memorial Day weekend, we will NOT have services Friday night, May 27! Please mark your calendar accordingly!

On those nights when Rabbi Nancy is not able to join us, the Ritual Committee will ensure services are provided. If you would like to participate in any part of our services, please reach out to our Ritual Committee Co-Chairs, Ken Wolf and Robert Adler, to let them know.

Everyone is also invited to attend the weekly Torah Study group that meets each Saturday morning at 9:30, at the Temple. (Note> Torah Study WILL be held on Saturday, May 28.)

This week we observe Yom HaShoah or Holocaust Remembrance Day so I thought I would go online and learn something new about it. While Wikipedia is full of interesting facts, one thing that touched my heart was that:

At 10:00 a.m., an air raid siren sounds throughout the country and Israelis are expected to observe two minutes of solemn reflection. Many people stop what they are doing, including motorists who stop their cars in the middle of the road, standing beside their vehicles in silence as the siren is sounded.

Can you imagine how incredibly moving it must be to observe and be a part of that? How special to be in a country that truly never forgets the loss of approximately six million Jews – and the suffering of so many more.  In a world where we seem to constantly run from one meeting or appointment or obligation to the next, stopping – truly stopping – for two minutes sometimes seems impossible.  So, my hope for all of us this year is that we can each find our own unique way to commemorate the day (this Thursday) – and, in so doing, perhaps we will also be reminded of our many blessings.

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 and…

I hope you all have a wonderful week and I look forward to seeing you Friday evening!

Shalom!

Traci Welch