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Here are some things for which I am grateful to you, Marty: for your love of Torah, leading Torah study, providing Torah study guides, and including Torah study in our leadership meetings; for your commitment to ensuring that we can celebrate Shabbat in community nearly every weekend; for initiating the Israeli Film & Food Festival and for working with the Fundraising Committee to bring it to its fifth year this August; for building a remarkable library of Israeli films for us to borrow; for addressing anti-Semitism when it occurs in our area; for encouraging BAJC to take advantage of the many respources of the Union for Reform Judaism; for holding coffee klatches to hear people’s thoughts about BAJC; for reinforcing to the Board the importance of outreach to all of our members; for initiating a Brit Kodesh, a holy covenant, with our spiritual leader; for working with the local press so that unaffiliated Jews can learn about our activities; for bringing us to this “shechiyanu time” when we have had a beautiful consecration service expressing the commitment between BAJC and our Rabbi; and for the too numerous to mention 'little' things, like driving a member to Boston for kosher l'Pesach food. I'm reassured to know you will still be involved and I hope you will be enjoying your Jewish community in new ways.
I have been involved with BAJC for ten years, initially seeking enriching experiences for my pre-school daughters and grounding for myself as a Jewish parent. One of my earliest contributions to BAJC was creating our website. In 2004 I joined the BAJC Board of Trustees and over the years I’ve served on the ritual committee, the rabbi liaison committee, the Brit Kodesh committee, the rabbi search committee. For the past few years I’ve been “in training” as Vice-President. I look to Judaism for guidance when I face tough decisions, for humor in tough times, for joy in our life cycles, and for a community of support for me and my family. Now that both my girls are Bat Mitzvah, I feel that I will have the time to take on the challenges of shepherding our congregation through the next three years.
I love BAJC for many reasons, especially for our tradition of creating myriad ways for a wide range of people to connect. Whether you come to daven (pray)--alone or in community, learn, sing, dance, do tikkun olam (repairing the world), read books, play mah jongg, teach our kids, or work our land, there is something for everyone. And if something is missing for you, we want to hear about it and work with you to fill the gap.
My hopes for the next three years are to see all of us grow in our commitment to BAJC’s evolution, to support Rabbi Tom in his work to support us, and to create more usable space at our shul. Michael Knapp, chair of our building and grounds committee and newly-elected Vice-President, has us well on our way to beautifying our space, but we face challenging decisions about the building we want to create in the near future and how we will fund those dreams. I look forward to working with you on these challenges. Together we will continue the work that will ensure a Jewish future in southern Vermont.
L’shalom,
Julie
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