President's Message
June / July 2024
Dear Chaverim,
We have had a wonderful Spring with Purim and Passover, and Shavuot coming up soon. I hope
everyone enjoys these holidays with their family and friends. We had a very nice second night seder
at TBS, with around 60 people attending. Rabbi Craig did a great job leading the ceremony, and
Ruth Ann and Team did a great job with the food. Organizing and serving all those dishes to 60
people in tight quarters was no small task! Again, kudos to the Rabbi, Ruth Ann, and all the others
who helped make the seder a success.
Now Summer is upon is, having just celebrated Memorial Day in the U.S., the unofficial start of the
Summer season. Many of our congregants take a break from the hot weather with trips to cooler
climates. We wish everyone safe travels.
As previously discussed, our Jewish Style Civil Ceremony committee (“the JSCC”) was formed to
explore the possibility of the Rabbi performing marriage ceremonies between Jews and non-Jews.
The JSCC has been working extensively on this, and as of this writing, is conducting focus group
meetings to solicit the thoughts and opinions from a broad spectrum of the congregation. In
conjunction with the Board of Directors, the JSCC will present the status of this initiative at our next
congregational meeting on June 23. This is an important subject, and many congregants have
strong opinions on the matter. I want to thank the committee for their work to date, which is chaired
by David Scholl, and also includes Jeanne Epstein, Brittany Levy, Maureen Pelter, Neil Perlman, Bill
Troner, Dan Weber, and Rabbi Craig as an advisory non-voting member.
Unfortunately, the war in Gaza drags on, fueling added turmoil in the Middle East, and other parts of
the world, including the U.S. I would be remiss if I did not continue to mention this in my remarks.
Wars are hideous and include great suffering among all those involved. We also feel the pain here
in the U.S. with the renewed antisemitism that has been unleashed. We all hope and pray the war
will end soon, the hostages will come home, and peace will come to the region.
As mentioned above, our congregational meeting will be held on June 23rd. We will discuss the state
of the Temple and our plans for the next fiscal year beginning July 1, including a proposed slate for
our Board of Directors and a proposed financial budget.
I hope everyone has a wonderful summer, and if you are traveling, please do so safely.
L’Shalom
Paul Newman
Dear Chaverim,
We have had a wonderful Spring with Purim and Passover, and Shavuot coming up soon. I hope
everyone enjoys these holidays with their family and friends. We had a very nice second night seder
at TBS, with around 60 people attending. Rabbi Craig did a great job leading the ceremony, and
Ruth Ann and Team did a great job with the food. Organizing and serving all those dishes to 60
people in tight quarters was no small task! Again, kudos to the Rabbi, Ruth Ann, and all the others
who helped make the seder a success.
Now Summer is upon is, having just celebrated Memorial Day in the U.S., the unofficial start of the
Summer season. Many of our congregants take a break from the hot weather with trips to cooler
climates. We wish everyone safe travels.
As previously discussed, our Jewish Style Civil Ceremony committee (“the JSCC”) was formed to
explore the possibility of the Rabbi performing marriage ceremonies between Jews and non-Jews.
The JSCC has been working extensively on this, and as of this writing, is conducting focus group
meetings to solicit the thoughts and opinions from a broad spectrum of the congregation. In
conjunction with the Board of Directors, the JSCC will present the status of this initiative at our next
congregational meeting on June 23. This is an important subject, and many congregants have
strong opinions on the matter. I want to thank the committee for their work to date, which is chaired
by David Scholl, and also includes Jeanne Epstein, Brittany Levy, Maureen Pelter, Neil Perlman, Bill
Troner, Dan Weber, and Rabbi Craig as an advisory non-voting member.
Unfortunately, the war in Gaza drags on, fueling added turmoil in the Middle East, and other parts of
the world, including the U.S. I would be remiss if I did not continue to mention this in my remarks.
Wars are hideous and include great suffering among all those involved. We also feel the pain here
in the U.S. with the renewed antisemitism that has been unleashed. We all hope and pray the war
will end soon, the hostages will come home, and peace will come to the region.
As mentioned above, our congregational meeting will be held on June 23rd. We will discuss the state
of the Temple and our plans for the next fiscal year beginning July 1, including a proposed slate for
our Board of Directors and a proposed financial budget.
I hope everyone has a wonderful summer, and if you are traveling, please do so safely.
L’Shalom
Paul Newman