September 2009

Dear Friends:

Last month, in my column, I reflected upon the root of all good things; good things occur when good people work together. At Ner Tamid, this is far more than a slogan. It is a core value that guides how we do what we do and exhibits why we do all that we do. We are blessed with an unusual cadre of decent, talented, and dedicated individuals among our staff and lay-leadership, and it is my pleasure to dedicate this column to those who are working together in tandem this year and in the years immediately ahead to deepen our synagogue in spirit while we continue to strengthen in number.

For the past two years, I have enjoyed the great privilege of serving in partnership and friendship with our now Immediate-Past-President, Mark Simon. Mark's enduring love and passion for our community is simply unending. He exhibited in every facet of his Presidency a true devotion to the welfare of our community and to ensuring its vitality into the future. The progress that we made and achievements we celebrated during his tenure were monumental. More personally, Arianna and I will always cherish Mark and Clara as dear, personal friends. Mark, you have earned my unending respect for your decency, integrity, and numerous gifts and talents. You and yours are a blessing to our own Jewish community and to the Jewish People.

While I will miss working with Mark, our incoming President is equally committed to our community. Loni Dyner has served with distinction as a volunteer-leader in our synagogue-community. Both Loni and her husband Harry (a past-president himself) have given of themselves to our community for so many years and in so many ways. Their children were schooled and nurtured at Ner Tamid. Loni understands both the interpersonal and very practical needs of our community. She exhibits a depth of wisdom that will serve her well in her Presidency and will serve to strengthen our synagogue as we continue to build our future one family at a time and all-together.

Arianna and I count our dear friendship with Loni and Harry among the multitude of blessings that have come our way since the commencement of my rabbinate here at Ner Tamid four years ago. Loni’s charm and kindness, her commitment to the needs of our immediate community, her devotion to the Jewish People and the State of Israel, and her clear and sound judgment will all enable her to serve our community as an outstanding President.

Joining Loni is an excellent team of talented and dedicated individuals who will serve on our synagogue's board. These individuals deserve our respect and admiration for the time and attention that they give to their volunteer involvements on behalf of all who benefit in any way from their association with Ner Tamid. Staci Labovitz and her nominating-committee worked diligently to put together an array of talent on our incoming board and we will only grow stronger from their efforts.

Our Executive Director, Eric Shatzkin, and his wife, Mel, were blessed with the addition of their beautiful boy, Max Oliver, to their young family. Eric’s work managing our maintenance and administrative staff has been very helpful to our synagogue over the past three years and, as many of you know, his approachable manner reflects the character of our community. His effort to cut maintenance and administrative costs have benefitted our synagogue significantly.

This past year, our synagogue added the new staff position of Senior Programming Coordinator. Pearl Gold, one of Ner Tamid’s founding members and a dedicated senior member, herself, of our community, was hired to fill this role. Last year saw the beginning of our efforts to expand offerings to our seniors. This year’s slate of Senior Programming is truly outstanding! Pearl has added a great enthusiasm and expertise to this area of our programming and we are grateful to her and to the wonderful volunteers working with her for their efforts!

Two years ago our synagogue welcomed a very familiar face to the position of Director of Education and Youth Programming. Ami Berlin's commitment to our community, to our families, and to our children and teens is beyond exemplary; as one who has supervised more than a few very capable Directors of Education, I know the extent of the blessing that she represents to our entire community. Ami is as committed to our community and to our educational aims and objectives, and, most importantly, to our children, as any Director of Education and Youth Programming, in any synagogue, anywhere; she has raised the quality of Education and Youth Programming to significant heights that all of us at Ner Tamid should be proud of. Ami has assembled an outstanding faculty for CLAL for the coming year. Our children will be the beneficiaries of Ami’s and her faculty’s dedicated endeavors on their behalf, long into their Jewish futures!

Of course, as new faces arrive, there are always some familiar faces that depart. Two years ago, we welcomed back to our community Heidi Shulman. A child of our community, she followed in her father’s and mother’s footsteps and reconnected with the community of her childhood while serving as our Assistant Youth Director and CLAL Program Coordinator. While all farewells with those whom we care for come with sadness, we are all very excited for Heidi as she embarks upon the next stages of her career and education.

Our new Assistant Youth Director, Ely Silverstein, and CLAL Program Coordinator, Maya Cohen, are no strangers to our children, teens, and families. They bring to their new roles in a familiar setting impeccable and well-deserved reputations and outstanding skills. In her second year, Amy Berg is blossoming into an excellent young educator, serving as CLAL’s Assistant Principal and as our Israel Partnership Coordinator under the guidance and supervision of Ami Berlin. Maya, Ely, and Amy are important and very much appreciated contributors to all of the good that we aim to achieve at Ner Tamid.

So many in our community have enjoyed the blessings of our Preschool, as our children have been nurtured and loved within its walls toward their readiness for school. Such nurturing does not occur by accident. The warmth of our Preschool Director, Shelly Shapiro, is the very warmth that inspires our Preschool's faculty and permeates the entire first floor of our building. I can speak to this as your Rabbi. I can also attest even more personally to this reality as a father, having watched Jacob grow in learning and character in our Preschool and anticipating Judah’s enrollment. Personally, on behalf of Arianna, and on behalf of all of the parents of our Preschoolers, I want to thank Shelly and her staff for the wonderful work that they do with our children every day. Theirs is truly and so obviously a labor of love, and the Jewish future will shine evermore brightly for the love that they show to all of our children.

Additionally, our congregation was proud to have celebrated our Preschool’s 30th anniversary last year. Thirty years of young students have been nurtured in our Preschool toward a vibrant Jewish future. Moreover, and with great pride, our synagogue’s Preschool became one of the first in the country to be awarded National Accreditation in accordance with the new and rigorous requirements that are now in place. To date, as far as I know, ours is the only preschool on the Palos Verdes Peninsula that has achieved this important and significant milestone!

In synagogues, many of those who work so hard to ensure that practicalities and logistics are taken care of are often forgotten when recognizing contributions of individuals to all that we achieve and enjoy together. But, who would we be without Chef Peter Carpenter's contribution of culinary delights to almost all of our occasions? And, who would we be without Bryan Hawley's attention to our facility, with the kind of personal care with which one would maintain one's own home? What would it feel like to walk into Ner Tamid without the likes of Alma, Inez, Herman, Mariana, Pam, Bea, Pat, Jackie, and Kris? – Or without our stellar and always available office-volunteer, Ruth Schuller. Not only would we be less efficient in all that we do, but we would be less of who we are! We are grateful, as a community, for the devotion and dedication shown by our staff, hourly and daily.

Last but certainly not least, I want to thank Cantor Radwine who, as our synagogue’s primary Shaliah Tzibbur – the primary leader of our chanting and singing in prayer – adds so much to our community. We are blessed to have a Cantor as knowledgeable and personally invested in our community, as he has been so for well over two decades of service.

There are far too many people who volunteer their time and talents, year-round, to our synagogue to mention all of them. They know who they are, and, in many cases, so do you. We are blessed with a bright future together because of everyone mentioned in this column, and so many more.
May the New Year of 5770 bring blessings of peace, health, and every cause for celebration – for all of us and all of Israel!

Shanah Tovah,

Rabbi Isaac Jeret
Spiritual Leader