From our President… Orin Golubtchik
Go spend a Shabbat or two in another shul – this may seem like very strange advice coming from the president (although it would temporarily alleviate the seating concerns), but having just done so during “yeshiva week” I can now appreciate our shul and our members even more. My father a”h used to tell me that every shul has their share of characters and concerns, and that people too often think that the grass is greener or the kehilla is easier in some other place. Upon reflection and hearing stories from friends in other kehillot, we can realize and appreciate what we have. I hope that those of you who were away had a good time, and am glad to have you back with us as we get closer to our Dinner and the completion of phase I of our construction project.
February promises to be a very busy month at Rinat on many levels, with shiurim, construction and final preparations for our Dinner. We will be offering classes on taharat hamishpacha given by our Yoetzet, a Friday night Tisch with Rabbi Twersky and Elie Kranzler, and the three part series on Kriyat Hatorah given by Rabbi Jeremy Wieder. A special yasher koach to our adult education committee for finding new topics and venues to complement our continued excellence in bringing distinguished rabbanim to speak to and educate our members.
Please read the update from the expansion communication committee found in this issue. As is clear to see from the street and the window near the Rabbi, we continue to make progress on our construction, and I am pleased to report that we remain on schedule to move into the new sanctuary and social hall at the end of March. Our current timeline projects to have our first davening there on Shabbat HaGadol, and we will be notifying the kehilla shortly about a program to be held on March 21 as we bring the sifrei torah from the current sanctuary into their new home. As a reminder, our social hall will extend underground well past the end of the sanctuary, and we expect to be able to book affairs and smachot beginning right after Pesach. Due to the hard work of Michael Epstein, Judah Seidman and Moshe Wertenteil, we have completed arrangements with local caterers who will be on the exclusive list to be used for any future smachot. This list, along with the new pricing structure and guidelines for dealing with potential conflicts in booking of the hall or shul, will be available in the shul office within the next few weeks.
At the end of January, our shul suffered a great loss with the passing of our member Bonnie Berman. While I did not know her well, I know that many of you did, as the Bermans have been long time active members of our shul and community. Our thoughts and prayers go out to her husband Jeff and her children Yonah and Yosef. Our shul has lost a piece of its past, and the Rinat community will do whatever it can to help the Berman family in their time of need.
By now, everyone should have received the invitation to the shul dinner honoring Terry Novetsky, Elliot Rothschild and Sharon Rifkind. The committee has made some changes to the format of the evening to make it an even more inclusive and entertaining time, and we look forward to seeing everyone on March 7th. Please make your best efforts to attend to make this a truly communal affair showing our hakarat hatov to these three well deserving members.
In a strange bit of déjà vu, Henry Gale was both the name of Dorothy’s uncle in The Wizard of Oz as well as a world class balloonist from Minnesota. When interviewed about his travels and asked to describe his favorite place to visit, Henry echoed Dorothy’s statement “there’s no place like home” - I second that sentiment and hope that you do too. I look forward to seeing you all at our Dinner and to davening together in our new sanctuary.