President's Remarks
Jonathan Howard
Rosh Hashanah address to Temple Beth El / 9-13-07

I was driving with my dad down Rea Road and turned on Ballantyne Commons into the parking lot. My dad turned to me and said, “Your president of a church?
But seriously… I want to thank St. Matthew’s for its generous hospitality, and to thank each of you for your cooperation as we make the best of these circumstances.
 
Space is a critical problem. It is, if you’ll pardon the expression, the “final frontier” for our segment of Charlotte’s ever-increasing Reform Jewish community.

One way we are addressing the space issue is by supporting our brothers and sisters who are organizing a new Reform congregation in the Lake Norman area. It is quite a burden to ask them to come from North Charlotte to our building several times a week for services, Hebrew School, Bar and Bat Mitzvah lessons. So, together with the Union for Reform Judaism, we are encouraging them and helping to facilitate their progress.
 
Our own congregational growth trajectory is continuing as planned. We have added another 90 new families since the last High Holidays, and we fully expect to reach 15-hundred families over the next six to eight years. If anything, not only are new Jewish families continuing to discover the joys of relocating to the Queen City, but they are finding it so pleasant to live here, that fewer and fewer families are leaving.
 
One of the newer families, in fact, was so impressed with our temple and our clergy, that they wrote a beautiful note, and went to the extra trouble of enclosing a contribution for our Capital Campaign. It was a check in the amount of… one-million dollars!
 
Now I’d love to be able to tell you that we took that remarkably generous donation and wagered it all on Appalachian State to beat Michigan… but that’s not how we operate this synagogue. We leave the clairvoyant predictions to the prophets in the Bible.

But it doesn’t take a Jeremiah to foresee the dire need for us to double the physical space in our facility. Nor does it take an Isaiah to envision how comforting we will find having a 17-hundred seat capacity with expanded sanctuary, a second social hall, functional offices, youth lounge and a lobby for gathering and socializing.

The greatest of all the ancient Hebrew prophets, of course, was Moses. And he plays a key role in the Torah portion, Terumah. That parasha has become one of my personal favorites, and you’ll soon see why.

“The Lord tells Moses: ve-asoo lee mikdash, ve-sha-chan-tee be’toh-cham – “And let them make Me a Sanctuary, that I may dwell among them.”
 
Does God, who created Heaven and Earth, really need the Israelites to find the Home Depot nearest to Mount Sinai to build God a Sanctuary?...

The Commentators suggest that the Sanctuary was as much for Man’s benefit as it was for the Divine. This was to be a place of sublime holiness, where Man could encounter God’s Presence on Earth.
 
Interestingly, the Torah employs the active verb, ve-asoo – “Let them make” – in order to teach us that the Sanctuary was more about the people than the building – and about full participation in creating a sacred community.

Here at Temple Beth El we have also committed ourselves to involving the entire community in our sacred mission – whether it’s providing transportation services to bring our seniors to and from our programs or providing a full-time youth director for our expanding youth programs.

My thanks to our Executive Director Sara Schreibman and her superb professional staff for their passionate pursuit of excellence as we strive to make a difference in our congregant’s lives, our community, and our world.

Still, despite our focus on improved communications, not everyone has gotten the message and gotten involved. If I could whisper in their ears, I would tell them, as I’ve become fond of saying, “You don’t know what you are missing!”

So I would like to urge each of you here today to do your friends and your neighbors a huge favor: The next time you come to Temple Beth El for Shabbat dinner or for Adult

Education or for Mitzvah Day or whatever -- bring them along with you! Twist their arms, if you have to! Our clergy will thank you… I’ll thank you… And, eventually, they will thank you.
 
By enlarging our “critical mass” of active, involved members – and by learning how to effectively reach out to the unaffiliated Jews in Charlotte – we will be creating a climate of kedushah, of holiness that will enable us to better appreciate God’s presence in our midst. In this regard, last night, many of you had the pleasure of hearing from Rabbi Streiffer. We are delighted to welcome him and his family to our congregation. In the past year, we have also been availing ourselves of the wisdom and skills of Rabbi Mort Kaplan. Together with Rabbi Schindler and Cantor Bernard, we at Temple Beth-El are blessed with a world-class clergy to teach and inspire us keeping us focused on the larger issues that transcend merely numbers.

Oh, have I mentioned that we are currently engaged in a ten-million-dollar Capital and Endowment Campaign?

Here, too, I’ve found Exodus, Chapter 25, to be quite instructive. Verse 1 reads: “The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ‘Tell the Israelite people to bring Me gifts; you shall accept gifts for Me from every person whose heart so moves him.’”

That’s how the Bible’s describes the first official fund-raiser in Jewish history.

This verse poses an interesting question: Isn’t God the One who showers us with gifts? What could Man possibly get for the Lord who has everything?
 
The rabbis teach us that just as the Sanctuary was for mankind’s benefit, so too were these gifts, called terumot. One way to translate terumah is “that which is elevated.” A terumah is a gift that uplifts the spirits of the individual who offers it.

What makes the Torah’s story of the terumah remarkable is the context of these gifts. Bear in mind that the rank-and-file Israelites had only what they had managed to schlep out of Egypt and through the desert on their backs. And yet from those meager possessions, they willingly gave to this Biblical building fund. Nedivot lev – is how Scripture puts it – “donations from the heart.”
Anyone here who has had the satisfaction and pleasure of being able to make a meaningful contribution of any kind appreciates that the old saying is true. “It is better to give than to receive.”

At the risk of sounding like that politician who got caught telling the truth… I am proud to report that since last Rosh Hashanah, we have had one-hundred percent participation in our Capital Campaign from the Officers and Board of Directors – your Officers and Board of Directors – as well as from the Campaign Cabinet and staff.

All told, we have succeeded in raising 60 percent of our goal – six-million dollars! – in less than 12 months from a relative handful of benefactors. A year ago, when I mentioned that our goal was to raise ten-million dollars for the capital and endowment campaign, there were audible gasps in the congregation. Now we have four million dollars left to raise – it is still a significant figure, but certainly one that sounds a lot more attainable. Can we do it?... Well, can Appalachian State beat Michigan? You bet!

The theme of our Capital Campaign has been “It’s our turn.” As Rabbi Streiffer explained last night, it stems from the famous Talmudic tale of the grandfather who planted a carob tree so that his distant offspring could enjoy the fruit long after he has passed on. And just as our ancestors planted the seeds for us to enjoy, now it’s our turn to plant for our children, for their children, and for generations yet to come.

Yet having studied the nature of the Biblical terumah, I now wonder whether the slogan “It’s our turn” really does full justice to our campaign.

Yes, we need to be appreciative of Temple Beth El’s visionary heritage.

And, yes, we must also be responsible, prudent, and pragmatic about providing for the long-term financial future of our congregation.

But the more I think about this – which I only do morning, noon, and night – the more I realize that there’s something missing in the phrase, “It’s our turn!”

Somehow, it doesn’t adequately convey a sense of simcha shel mitzvah – the joy of performing a mitzvah.

We have received generous Campaign pledges from long-time members, and these senior community leaders could have easily told us: “We’ve already done our share of giving. Now, it’s someone else’s turn.”

But they didn’t!

They watched their investment in the Jewish community grow. They saw how their gifts over the years touched so many lives. And as a result, they were eager to give another terumah – another gift that would elevate them spiritually.

As I mentioned earlier, we were also delightfully surprised by gifts from families who have not even been in our community for a full year. Certainly, they could have told us, “Give us more time to get settled, and then we’ll see whether we want to get involved. We don’t think it’s our turn yet.”
But they didn’t!

Instead, they were moved by our hospitality and warmth. They saw our dedication and sized up our potential to make a difference. That was enough to inspire them to make a nedivat lev – an “offering from the heart.”

If you look at the Campaign Web site, you’ll see more details about the design plans for doubling the size of our facility. You’ll also have the opportunity to read, in their own words, why a number of congregants have already made their donations.

Among them is an individual who wrote: “Like so many of us, I at first thought that contributing to the Capital Campaign would be – quote: ‘out of my league.’" She could have said, “Let those who are more prosperous carry the ball. I’m not in a financial position to take my turn.”

But she didn’t!

As she expressed it: “I reminded myself how important Temple Beth El is to me, and that whatever I can contribute to the Campaign is important for our future.”

She is so right! And that is just the kind of reasoning that will help us reach our goal.
My fellow congregants, we are more than halfway there!

And yes, it is now “our turn.”

It’s our turn to open our hearts. It’s our turn to be uplifted. It’s our turn to experience the sublime thrill of changing the world through tzedakah.

Ve’asoo li mikdash – it’s also our turn to become more active, more engaged, and more involved in building this spiritual community, with maximum participation in our myriad of educational, religious, and social programs.

We are all teammates in this sacred endeavor, and we are all counting upon one another. Our efforts in facilitating the continued growth and effectiveness of Temple Beth El make us all partners in doing God’s work.

We encourage you to give with an open heart – and with a smile on your face. May your generous support enable you and your loved ones to experience fulfillment, satisfaction, and the joy of mitzvot in the coming New Year.

Shannah Tovah!