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I
would like to take this opportunity to congratulate all our high school seniors
who will be doing an exodus of their own as they conclude their high school years.
What lies ahead for each of them only time will tell, but like the Israelites
who left Egypt in search of the Promised Land our young men and women will begin
their journey as well. Congratulations to Samuel Alpert, Eliza Blanchard, Zev
Chasan, Anya Cutler, Kaylie Hall, Alexander Hollender, Rebecca Lee, Adam Levitt,
Daniel Liebman, Kyle Perline, Max Resnik, Elena Salisbury, Coley Shapiro, and
Noah Sugarman. On behalf of the board I wish each of you great success in whatever
avenue you choose to pursue. June
is also a concluding time of year. We are winding down our 07-08 fiscal year and
I urge you to fulfill your membership pledge agreements if you have not already
done so. As I look back on this year, much has been accomplished. We have had
many new members join us; we welcomed Mike Kanarick, Jan Stickle and Lynn Modica
to our staff; we celebrated many life cycle events; we added much needed technology
to our building and completed Phase I of our Capital Campaign. We still have much
to do. I am excited that the Coalition for the Advancement of Jewish Education
(CAJE) national conference will be at the University of Vermont this summer. CAJE’s
mission is to empower Jewish educators to reach for excellence in Jewish education
through collaboration, professional development, and advocacy. We will have opportunities
for many of our educators to attend this conference. Although
the Bible does not associate the holiday of Shavuot with God’s Revelation
on Mount Sinai, the Talmud does. Shavuot is referred to as the day that God gave
us the Torah, not as the day we received the Torah. Every day, whether we realize
it or not, we are always learning and receiving the messages of the Torah, but
it was actually given to us only once. I
think back to all the things this past year I was given and wonder how well I
really received them. How many times do we all tell ourselves, “Oh, this
was an opportunity that was given to me and I missed my chance? If I had been
just a little bit earlier, or arrived a moment later… or just imagine if…”
Well, now is your time. We are giving you an opportunity to receive. On
Sunday, June 8, at 10:30 am at our Congregational Meeting you will learn about
our exciting strategic planning project, Tikvah 2020. I am inviting each of you
to the Congregational Meeting to vote on the budget, to vote on the next youth
board member and to embrace the beginnings of a process that will help us secure
and plan for the future of Ohavi Zedek Synagogue. At the meeting we will introduce
you to the Tikvah 2020 leadership team; we will provide information on how each
of you will have the opportunity to give your input on how Ohavi Zedek Synagogue
will look in 2020. I
wish you all a wonderful summer and look forward to continuing to work on your
behalf for Ohavi Zedek to provide Jewish opportunities that enrich our lives and,
as our vision states, “to continue to be a vibrant Jewish community in Vermont,
embracing our traditions while actively participating in our changing Jewish world.” ~Basha
Brody
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Every
year we mark the spiritual journey from slavery to Torah by counting the seven
weeks between Passover and Shavuot. Shavuot commemorates the revelation at Mount
Sinai more than 3,000 years ago, when God gave Israel the Torah, the Ten Commandments,
and the 613 mitzvot. The Talmud considers Shavuot a concluding holiday to Passover.