President's Blog Oct/Nov 2025: All Together Again...

I want to take this opportunity to reflect upon how special this year’s High Holiday season was.  Not only were the services meaningful and the music beautiful, but this year I truly felt that everything and everyone came together in ways I not witnessed before or, perhaps, have simply not paid attention to.

I watched the reinvigorated Religious Life and Practices Committee, chaired by Seth Litman, put a tremendous amount of thought and effort into ways we can involve more congregants in services and events.  Together with Kyra and Rabbi Holtz, the Committee’s planning and execution of these ideas paid off and even more members of our Kehillah had a chance to actively participate and contribute to our services.  It’s true that greater involvement leads to deeper meaning for all.

Additionally, our amazing office staff worked tirelessly for months on the organization, programs for the services, and even launched our first-ever digital High Holiday tickets!  I know this was no simple task but the team pulled together and made it happen.

Once again, our Youth services for both Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur were enjoyed by its participants.  TKC’s students signed up for Hebrew and English readings and were purposefully engaged.  Thank you to Lori Dreffin, Caroline Figiel, Shayna Suddeth, Jason Simon, and Kendall McMahon-Kitchens for their continued support of this important programming.

Most importantly, we had new members, returning members, and prospective members to our Kehillah that joined us for these High Holidays.  It’s always a joy to see the sanctuary full and my hope for this new year is more growth in our congregation and more seats to be filled next year and every Shabbat in between.

As I’ve noted, there were many highlights from the High Holidays.  However, I also want to emphasize one of the most significant events of last year: the launch of TKC’s Capital Campaign.  Last year, our Kehillah came together in support of our first Capital Campaign in over 20 years, which is something that will carry over into this new year and impact many years to come.  To date, we are 70% of the way to our goal of $150,000.  We have already seen some of the results.  During the holidays, we sat and prayed together under a NEW roof!  And I’m pleased to let you know that we will begin our second project of paving the parking lot very, very soon!  None of this would have been possible without all of you, so thank you.

In this new year of 5786, I personally hope to see more of us gathered together in our TKC home with it’s new roof, new faces, and familiar faces.  I hope to see you all very, very soon!