Tomorrow's Torah portion - Shelach Lecha - provides insight on the challenges of leadership. Moses sends a representative from each tribe to scout out the land of Israel. Over their 40 day mission they are supposed to ascertain the nature of the land and its inhabitants and provide intelligence that would make the impending conquest possible. Ten of the tribes report that the land is filled with giants, the cities are well fortified and it will be impossible to defeat them. Only two - Caleb and Joshua - suggest that with faith in God the Israelites will triumph.
Faith in the mission and commitment to the ideals of the institution are hallmarks of a successful leaders. Such leaders understand the challenges that lie ahead and frame the task in such a way that would motivate and inspire others to work together to achieve the goals. Such is the case of our outgoing president Stuart Carroll and our incoming president Bresler.
It’s been a pleasure working with Stuart these past two years. He cares very much about our shul and has worked tirelessly to ensure that we are grounded fiscally, administratively and programmatically. In other words he motivated the executive committee and the staff to work their best at making our shul the best it can be. Stuart and I have worked closely on strategic planning and other initiatives and he has encouraged me in all initiatives that I’ve suggested. He’s been in shul every Shabbat and has listened and elicited comments from many people at Kiddush to ensure that we are being the best shul we can be. Thanks Stuart for all you’ve done.
I look forward to working with Judy Bresler. She grew up at Shaare Tefila as her parents Ruth and Dr. Arthur Bresler (may they rest in peace) were among the founding members of the synagogue. Judy has been on our board and has served as secretary and also our legal counsel. She too has been dedicated to the vitality of our congregation. I know that she will work hard to cultivate new leadership and new ideas as our synagogue attempts to grow. I know that she’ll work hard to create a vision with the executive committee and the staff so that as one we can move forward into the future. We look forward, Judy, to your leadership.
Finally I must acknowledge two others - past presidents and long time board members - who have completed over 20 years of service. Wendy Abraham and Mark Kaufman exemplify the characteristics displayed by those two scouts - Caleb and Joshua. They are dedicated members of our shul, they believe strongly in our shul's mission and they devoted much time and effort to see our shul thrive and succeed. Though they will no longer serve on the board we are glad that we'll still see them in shul!
May our board members and officers always keep the faith and trust the vision of our shul.
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