Annual Speech for the President of the Board of Trustees for a Reform.
Dear board members of the Trustee for a Reform Jewish Synagogue, the congregation gathered here today and all the friends taking part in this annual historical event of High Holy/ Holiday Services. First, I would like to give thanks to the Almighty God, who laid the foundation of the earth and stretched out heaven and who choose Abraham to make him the father of a great nation. It is through His mercy that He granted us this opportunity today to be alive and be here as we celebrate this big day in our calendar. In the mystery of His providence, at this time, we are meeting to reflect at what we have managed to achieve, and also focus on what we intend to do for the few remaining months.
As we agreed at the beginning of the year, we said that 2020 was a year of vision, as depicted by the Gematria license. This month, on January 17th, we celebrated American hero Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, exceptional service at Rodef Sholom. The event was a great success, and thanks to all who made it a success. As we all know, February was an annual cycle of Torah readings (The Five Books of Moses). We learned a lot from Moses, including how we can respond to disappointments in our own lives. Like Rabbi Kushner, from his book written, people should have trust in their abilities to overcome the unrealized dreams’ disappointments. As we learned in March that, in the Jewish faith, for a synagogue to be complete, there must be the ark housing the Torah Books, The Eternal Light, and windows. Windows represents the less fortunate people who require our help. Among other events, we celebrated the Annual Mitzvah day at JCC.
Contrary to our norms of the celebration of the first night of congregation Seder, this year, April, we had to forgo that due to the COVID 19 Pandemic. We managed to celebrate the Passover from home. During this month, we closed our offices and also introduced Zoom meetings to enable people to join the congregation of Rodef Sholom virtually.
In May, we saw the exit of Rabbi after 25years of service as the spiritual leader to the congregation of Rodef Sholom. His entry to the service came in precisely the same week the prime minister of Israel Yitzchak was Assassinated. Again, we sincerely that Rabbi for the excellent services he gave us, and as we look forward to holding a real event for his retirement party later when the pandemic is over. With our minister’s existence, we gave out a list of possible candidates to occupy the vacant position on the board of Trustees. We managed to modify the office hours and gave out a contact cell to call when in need. The month of July started with the entry of Rabbi Winnings as the new spiritual priest. We also had Annual congregation meetings virtually, which was a great success. We also celebrated the 244th anniversary of the declaration of independence. We, the Jews, have come from far since the times we used to deprive equal rights as the others. August is considered both a happy month and a sad month for the Jews. Sad because it’s the time first and second temples in Jerusalem were destroyed. Nevertheless, it’s a happy month since we celebrate love. This the perfect month to marry as it is considered an auspicious time.
The coming month of September is usually a month of High Holidays. With the next 30 days, we should try and take a 30day challenge and create some holy space where we can recognize the spirit behind the ordinary and powerfully open our eyes. For the upcoming events this month, you can always request them from the office. Rosh Hashanah is a great day for the Jewish believers, which comes in October. We are hoping to have a great day as we celebrate the day as we still hope things will have backed to normal. For the great day, the measure is being put in place to enhance the security, which comes with additional cost. Thus, if willing to support, kindly contact the office. Cheshvan is a quiet month with no feasts and celebrations as compared to Tishri. It is a perfect time to reflect on the spiritual harvest we have achieved from the previous months. December is our last month of the year, where we celebrate the coming of the Messiah into this world. It’s good we remember that the two anti-Semitic threats we face are Purim and Hanukkah as we pray for a better year to come 2021, free of the current pandemic we are having.
As I conclude, I urge all the members to continue supporting the well-being of this community and always support the other in prayers and actual support. The challenges of Rome are many, and I urge all of us to play his respective roles to betterment us a community individually.