From The President

When I became President 2 years ago, I charged the Board with making CBS a "Thriving Jewish Community Center in the Central Valley." I wanted CBS to be your second home and for you to feel welcome and comfortable here. Now that it is time to welcome Dan Brotslaw as our new President, I have been reflecting over my tenure serving you.

In the past 2 years, our synagogue has experienced most of the same issues that synagogues across the country are experiencing: defining who we are and where we are going; hiring a rabbi; dealing with dwindling membership and a terrible economy; fewer volunteers and children; helping our interfaith families feel comfortable with our laws and customs; becoming more welcoming and friendly to visitors and new members; creating new and exciting fundraising events; and sadly, dealing with the passing of our beloved congregants.

Being President makes you privy to all the ups and downs and good and bad of synagogue life. Will I miss it? No...but definitely YES! I am a helping person by nature and I enjoy resolving. I have never enjoyed the politics that come with leading an organization, but that comes with the job. My views and decisions shifted from what is best for Joyce Gandelman to what is best for Congregation Beth Shalom and it has not been easy. I apologize to anyone that I may have offended or hurt. So no, I won't miss the politics.

But I will miss working with a wonderful, hard-working Board of Directors, weekly meetings with the Rabbi, and working closely with great staff: Sandy, Laura, and Elizabeth. I have had an opportunity to get to know the members of the synagogue and share some of my inner thoughts each month with you. I hope the friendships and acquaintances I have made will continue to grow on and on into the future.

Over the past 2 years, our Administrator, committee members, and Board of Directors have done a tremendous amount of work in promoting CBS and I am so proud of the accomplishments you have made toward our Board's vision and for CBS. I would like to share a few of those with you:

• Our Rabbi Search committee convened and brought Rabbi Moldo, Andrea and Samuel to Modesto.
• Flo Loeffler and Tom Gough had a vision to feed First Responders on Christmas and we served about 200 meals in its 2nd year.
• While its inception was not during my presidency, Joel's vision to provide a campership fund for our students has continued to makeLatkas and Vodkas an avenue for raising those funds.
• Our Religious School has been reinvigorated and the children are participating and learning Hebrew and about our history.
• The Ritual Committee has adopted a new B'nai Mitzvah handbook, is exploring new ideas for alternative services and has obtained newer High Holiday Prayer books that we will use this year.
• Through a donation from one of our members, and under the direction of Amy Pezzoni and Cheryl Vincent, we have a Pre-K class that meets on Sunday morning for children under the age of kindergarten--yes, new babies are welcome!
• Laura has kept her keen eye on our building and Scott has done a lot of work maintaining the facility, repairing dry rot, new storage under the stage and whatever else we need.
• Although many people liked the oleanders, we were advised by the police several years ago that removing them would make CBS safer from vandalism and break-ins. Now that they are gone, we hope to plant some kind of ground cover there in the future. And I must also mention the beautiful job that Debra Steinberg and her pruning committee does YEAR ROUND to take care of our rose garden.
• Cafe Shalom this year was much more successful than in 2009. While we did not meet the financial goal we set, we changed the face and atmosphere of our annual event through great food, the addition of the arts & crafts show, several entertainment stages and a different type of silent auction. Yasher Koach to Dan and his committee!
• My hat (if I wore one) would really go off to Al Angel and the Golf Tournament team. Each member of that team is equally important as the other in the jobs they did, the energy and enthusiasm they put into the event and the wonderful outcome. But it is Al who had the vision and the persistence to get the thing going and I thank him for motivating his great committee to make it happen.

Finally, I would like to thank all of you for giving me the opportunity to serve you as your president for the past 2 years. I look forward to continuing to contribute whatever I can to making CBS a second home to you and anyone else who happens through our gates.

Shalom,

Remember, half of every subscription to J- will go to Congregation Beth Shalom.  See your Bulletin for details.