President’s Message
Our family, along with the congregants of B’nai Israel, were blessed to celebrate our grandson Kamren’s Bar Mitzvah a few weeks ago. I had the honor of handing him the Torah at that Service. This act symbolizes the tradition that has been carried from generation to generation since the time of Moses. I have also had this honor at my older grandson Kendal’s Bar Mitzvah and at the Bar Mitzvah of my son Matthew.
What makes this so gratifying is that I feel I have accomplished the responsibility given to the Israelites by Moses at the banks
of the Jordan River before they proceeded into the Promised Land. Moses told them to take the teaching brought down from Mount Sinai and pass them to the next generation. Moses told the people that it was their responsibility to perpetuate the Tribe of Israel. Today we perpetuate the Jewish Community through our local Synagogue and through the ritual of the B’nai Mitzvah.
When I spoke to Kamren while on the Bima, the theme was “Teach your children well”. His Torah portion, Kedoshim, contains the “Holiness Code,” a code we can live by.
At this month’s meeting of the Officers and Directors of Congregation B’nai Israel, we focused on our Religious School. Rabbi White spoke to us about the importance of the School. He taught us that the Torah was given to us for one reason – the children. Therefore, the Board of Directors is committed to offering an excellent Religious School to our community. We have filled the positions for the upcoming term and I want to tell you how thrilled I am at the excellent teachers and principal we have in place. I can assure all the parents of our community that their children will be taught by a staff of professional teachers with years of experience and the highest ability. If you know of any Jewish parents in the area, invite them to the Religious School Open House this Fall.
This month we also celebrated Shavuot, the receiving of the Torah. Shavuot is a time to rededicate ourselves to our precious heritage. It can also be a time to rededicate ourselves to Congregation B’nai Israel. Judaism is a system of doing, a system of action. A Mitzvah is an act, not a thought. Yes, we need ideas, but an idea needs to be carried out. We need people to convert the ideas into reality. So, volunteer for a committee. Help us with membership. Assist us with fundraising. We know your time is very valuable. It is also valuable to Congregation B’nai Israel.
B’Shalom
Fred