From Our Rabbi

Greetings B’nai Israel Community,

October was a very busy month! With Rosh Hashanah, Kol

Nidre, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, and Simchat Torah, it has been a

very busy Season of Celebration. I am honored beyond measure

to have been able to lead our congregation through this festive

time. Hopefully everybody who participated had a wonderful

experience and came away enriched from the experience. A

huge thank you, of course, goes to our guest Cantor, Scott

Simon. He did incredible work and put together some

wonderful services!

All of the above-listed events had record attendance and

participation, with almost 100 people attending our

Break-the-Fast celebration. It wasn’t that long ago that we were

struggling to get a Minyan together for Shabbat Services, and I

am ecstatic about the strength and health of our community

For the holidays as well as our consistent events, enormous thanks

must go out to a few key people. Susan Abelkop, Peggy Buchman, Brian Hendrickson,

Rex and Alane Russell, and the entire Sisterhood group have gone to

enormous lengths to make our events successful. When you see them, please

give them a hug and a sincere “thank you.”  They deserve it!

My focus for the rest of this year is to strengthen our existing programming,

institute some new initiatives, and increase our membership. If you know any Jewish

family in the area who is unaffiliated, or has left the synagogue for whatever

reason, please send me their contact information. I’m happy to be in touch with

them, invite them to our events, and make them feel welcome.

I said it in my Yom Kippur sermon, but I want to reiterate that everybody

has a home at B’nai Israel. If you are feeling conflicted, have questions, or

want to explore the often- contradictory ideas that exist in Judaism, I am

happy to be your thought partner. It is possible that I won’t have the answers

to your questions right away, but I’m happy to help you work through them.

Nothing could be more Jewish than exploring these problems together.

Thank you, and Shavuah Tov!

Elliott McCarthy

Spiritual Leader