Dear Friends,

 

June is the time of year when we start to think about wrapping up the school year, slow down for the summer and actually gear-up for the High Holidays - ALL at the same time!

 

As we wrap up the year, I always like to offer some words of thanks to all those members who have helped support our community in the last year. It would be impossible to thank all those who have been involved by participating on committees, setting up for events, bringing food for oneg, cooking for the shelter, participating in our social justice/action programs, re-supplying our paper supplies, gardening around our building, organizing events like break-fast and the seder, helping to raise money for our community, and so, so, so much more. If one were to actually count the volunteer efforts, we would be amazed. One particular mission that took a huge amount of effort had to do with updating our kitchen. To all the people who participated in the effort: Jerry Lotto, Susan McHugh, Cayla Maguire, Tamar Wexler, Joanna Myers, Mitch Hyatt, Cris Shuldiner, the graduating class of 2018, Congregation Shalom Sisterhood, past B'nai Mitzvah classes and more.....Thank you for your contributions and generosity of spirit and time.

 

I also would like to thank our amazing staff. Thank you to Joan, Bonnie, Sandy, Phyllis, Larry, Dwight, and Matt who have helped our community to run smoothly this past year. In particular, I would like to thank Joan who is officially retiring at the end of the month. It has been a joy and honor to work with Joan. She has been with the synagogue for many years and in far too many ways, both large and small, she has gone far and above what was required to support our community.   She is dedicated, caring and creative and more importantly has valued the spiritual work of our community. Personally, I am deeply grateful for all that she has done to help me succeed in my work as a rabbi and for all she has done to help nurture Jewish life at Congregation Shalom. Most significantly, Joan cares deeply about the children in our community and has done so much to help them experience our education program in a fun and dynamic way. Finally, we will be saying good-bye to Yael, our amazing education director. There are far too many words that I would want to share about her place in our community so I hope you will join us on June 1st for the service in which she will be honored.

 

Wishing you all a happy and renewing summer,

 

 Rabbi Shoshana M. Perry

Please click here to read previous columns on our website

 

L'shalom,

Bylaws Meetings

 

On Wednesday, June 20 at 7:00 p.m. we will be holding a special meeting of Congregation Shalom to vote on adopting new bylaws for the congregation.

 

Over the past half dozen years, the Board of Trustees and several committees have been working diligently to rewrite our bylaws. After more reviews and rewrites than anyone can count, last month the Board voted to recommend the new bylaws to the congregation.

 

The new bylaws reflect Congregation Shalom in 2018, they parallel bylaws adopted in other Reform congregations, and they clean up inconsistencies and ambiguities found in our current bylaws. While holding on to our founding traditions, the new bylaws bring our corporate structure into the 21st Century.

 

The current bylaws, the proposed new bylaws, and the brief overview of the differences can be found on our website under "Members Only."

 

We will be holding two sessions, June 6 at 7:30 p.m. and June 10 at 10:30 a.m., to review our new bylaws, explain the key differences, and answer your questions. We urge you to attend and become comfortable with the new bylaws prior to the special meeting.

 

We look forward to seeing you at a review session and at our special meeting.