How great is this newsletter? We’re just thrilled to get this going in response to what we have heard from you about wanting to be more connected with each other. A HUGE thank you to our newsletter team, Cathy Rosenfeld and Carole Baden, who not only stepped up to help but then went above and beyond to make this something excellent. And of course thanks to all who have contributed and have helped us to launch it including Lee Bearson and Lisa Sibony.
What has the Board been up to since my first update to the congregation in late January? To list a few items, we completed financial training with our treasurer extraordinaire Mike Hassid and are beginning to think about the budget, grappled with topics such as the shul and responding to the political moment and the shul’s policy about children in the sanctuary, kicked off our project of organizing the committees (Committee on Committees for the win), addressed cybersecurity concerns, and, very importantly, kicked off the strategic planning process. Easy breezy stuff!
Speaking of strategic planning, here is where we are right now. As you heard at the Annual Meeting, the shul received a large tax refund relating to the pandemic. At the February meeting, after careful consideration, the board voted to use up to $50,000 of that money for an outside consultant.The strategic planning committee did a terrific job of identifying various potential companies that have worked with Jewish organizations and they interviewed three of them. We had great choices and after careful deliberation, we hired a company called Tiny Windows. We heard good things about them, we like that they are small but not just one person, and we like their proposal. We also like that they will work with the shul after the plan is in place to ensure we’re following through with it.
Stay tuned for more details on how this is going to work. It will take about a year in total, at the end of which we should have a five-year roadmap for continued growth and excellence, while staying true to our mission. There will be interviews, a board retreat, and, yes, of course, another committee or two. Speaking of committees—thank you to the strategic planning committee (Elana Naftalin-Kelman, David Radwin, and Danya Lagos) for putting up with my pestering and getting us to this place so quickly.
As always, please feel free to reach out to me any time. And enjoy those leavened carbs while you still can for a few more weeks!