As you may know, my term as president is coming to an end in a little more than a month, so this will be my last Kol Kehillah article. It has been an honor to serve this congregation for the past two years. I will remain readily available to help our next president as she implements her ideas to keep TKC moving in the right direction. I have the utmost confidence in her.
When I became president, we were coming off of the pandemic, a challenge which Alan Abrams led us through in an exceptional manner. But it was time to put the pandemic behind us, increase our services and events, and encourage our members to return to the Kehillah. You will recall that I dubbed it “bringing the Kehillah back to the Kehillah.” Among other things, we were also seeking a permanent solution to lead our temple music program in services and in the religious school. I am extremely fortunate to have had an amazing group of people on the executive committee and board of trustees and an exceptional staff and Rabbi, who were prepared to roll up their sleeves and get to work to help solve these issues and many others. And that is just what they did.
For the past two years, in addition to our regular services, you have seen a steady stream of programs, events, fundraisers and just some good old-fashioned fun. I couldn’t possibly list all of the services and events, but we did everything from the Purim spiel to game night with Sisterhood, to special Simchat Torah services. We also brought back Oneg teams and started Chavurot. I hope you would agree that these events and programs have brought us back together and strengthened our community. None of them could have happened without significant work by the Board and staff and, ultimately, participation by our wonderful congregation. And the fun won’t stop when I step down. In addition to our usual end-of-the-school year activities (Baccalaureate, annual Seder, end of religious school) we are doing a Passover Seder match-up program, John Burke and friends will be performing in concert, and we are working on a 5k fundraiser in August, among many other things. And, after a persistent search and hard work from our search committee, we were also able to find our new song leader Kyra Goldman to lead our temple music program.
I could go on and on about how our board and staff have stepped up to the task of taking our Kehillah to the next level. Our social media presence has improved immensely, and our presence in the media generally is improved. And, if you have not noticed, thanks to member Jim Koppel, we have all new streaming equipment for our services – which he runs every week – that allows for a much clearer, more interactive service experience for our members who are unable to attend services in person. And, as horrible an event as October 7 was (and continues to be), our community service showed how important Kehillat Chaim is to Roswell which culminated in the most well attended non-High Holiday service we ever experienced.
In closing, I just want to say thank you. Thank you to the Board, the staff, to Rabbi Holtz and to the congregation for their friendship, presence, and hard work. A person can have all of the ideas in the world to move an organization forward, but implementation of those ideas requires buy-in from many people or they will remain just ideas. I received amazing support as president, and I am grateful for that. I have no doubt that the effort, energy, and enthusiasm for Temple Kehillat Chaim will continue after April 28. Last, for those who have not been on the board or other leadership at our temple, I hope you will consider doing so. The camaraderie, the friendships and the experience is extremely rewarding.
I hope to see you soon at services.