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New Year message from board president Karen Lior, on behalf of the board
Judaism is best practiced in community. While we have rituals that happen in our homes and around our tables such as Shabbat dinner, Seder and eating in the Sukkah, even at those times we are advised to open our homes to a stranger, ‘let all who are hungry come and eat”. We are advised to take care of each other and our loved ones; to be open, welcoming, inclusive.
Shir Libeynu exists to be an inclusive, diverse, welcoming, open community. We are the longest-lasting, intentionally 2SLBGTQ+ congregation in Toronto, and we are proud of that history and of our accomplishments. While history is important, together, as a community, we also envision a future for our congregation; a future that will only be realized with your help.
We have an amazing spiritual leader who creates meaningful, magical services; we have wonderful members who volunteer to sing; read; carry the Tora;, put the Torah away; all, important tasks. But this is only part of the work of keeping Shir Libeynu alive, relevant and vibrant.
It was wonderful to see so many members over the High Holy Days, but we need you to be with us through the rest of this year, and the next year, and the one after that.We need helping hands, willing hearts, critical and strategic thinkers. We need your skills and talents.
At the moment we are only five people on the board. Five, with the monumental task of leading and guiding this community toward realizing our shared future vision for our congregation. We have so many ideas, plans and dreams, none of which will be realized if we don’t have more people step up to help. Simply put: five isn’t enough.
Everyone, including members of the board, is busy with work; with lives; with aging parents; with children; with grandchildren and other commitments. For the five of us on the board, it is no different and planning for and managing the day to day running of our congregation along with Shabbat and other services; all the planning that goes into making High Holy Day services work for everyone; and making decisions about how best to maintain and sustain this congregation is simply not sustainable if we remain a board of only five.
Judaism thrives in community; a strong, diverse, group working together toward a shared vision. We celebrate in community. On Yom Kippur we turn to each other for forgiveness before we turn to the Divine; we need each other.
In Into the Woods by Stephen Sondheim, Cinderella sings, You Are Not Alone:
No one acts alone, believe me, no one is alone,
People make mistakes, holding to their own, thinking they’re alone,
Honour their mistakes, fight for their mistakes, everybody makes,
Just remember, you are not alone, no one is alone,
Hard to see the light now, just don’t let it go,
Things will come out right now, we can make it so.
You are not alone, no one is alone.
At Shir Libeynu we try to make sure that no one feels alone; that we are all embraced by a supportive community that can lift us up and carry us, if need be, out of the woods.
As President, I want that community to continue for many years to come. I know the other four members of the board do too. The question is, do you? If your answer is yes, then we need some of your time, a bit of your energy, a little of your leadership skills. Only if each of us contributes to this community can we ensure we sustain ourselves as a community.
Shana Tova and G’mar chatimah tova,
Karen
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