Congregation Brothers of Israel
530 Washington Crossing Road • Newtown, PA 18940 • (215) 579-2200
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Congregation Brothers of Israel
530 Washington Crossing Road • Newtown, PA 18940 • (215) 579-2200
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As some of you may know, prior to my retirement in 1999, I was a high school writing teacher (as well as a locksmith) for 33 years. One challenging aspect of that profession was that I often had to encourage students to overcome “writer’s block” or “blank page syndrome” whenever I assigned a paper. Now I have a taste of how they must have felt. When I signed on to serve as synagogue president, I expected there would be late night calls, voluminous email communications, and an endless schedule of meetings. And I was fine with that. But each month when Mindy sends me a reminder that my Voice article is due, I immediately slip into stress mode. Some months, I have a message to deliver or news to share; other months, it’s not that easy. (Like this month!) Each month I somehow manage to put an article together, and the pressure cooker goes into dormant mode. When I’ve written an article that’s particularly thoughtful, I am pleased and expect that I’ll get some feedback. I rarely do. A few weeks ago I was engaged in a discussion with a member after a function at shul. He was making suggestions about how we could implement a program of interest to him I smiled and nodded enthusiastically and asked, “Did you read my comments about that in my Voice article last month.” Sadly, he said he hadn’t read it. (I considered deliberately writing a gibberish article just to see if that would elicit a response, but then I had a flash of humility and acknowledged that from the members’ viewpoint, maybe what I was regularly writing was little more than gibberish to begin with!!) I am open to suggestions from members about topics they’d like me to explore in my monthly message, so feel free to drop me a line with your ideas. As I write this message, Purim is nearly upon us. We just enjoyed a fabulous Purim Ball event sponsored by Ways and Means. Attendance could have been better, but the evening was a blast. (Special thanks to Judy Minsky, Bari Wolfson, Jeff Leventhal, Donna Nowicki and Steve Stinus for their tireless efforts.) Our Purim services and carnival will take place next Sunday during religious school, a program that’s always fun. Also kudos to all those involved in planning and participating in our first major league Super Bowl party, and to Michelle and Eddie Goldberg for organizing our post-Megillah wine tasting event. I’ve really been enjoying my presidency. It has given me an opportunity to work with so many great people in the synagogue family and the extended community. Please try to get involved in some aspect of ritual, educational or social life at Brothers. I promise you’ll be glad you did.
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