Rabbi Jeret's Current Column

August  2010

Dear Friends:

I write to you this month from the front passenger-seat of a mini-bus, headed south from Jerusalem toward Masada - in Israel. Having just concluded an enjoyable opportunity for a road-side Camel Ride, we're now continuing onward, passing the outskirts of Jericho. Soon, we will drive south, parallel to the Dead Sea, stopping to hike the Nachal David trail and fresh-water spring, on our way to Masada, the ancient Jewish fortress where our ancestors staged their last-stand against the Roman Legion 2,000 years ago. Tomorrow, we will visit with the extraordinary young men and women training in the heart of the Negev Desert at the Israel Defense Force's (IDF) Tzukei Ovda Combat Engineering School, as we wind our way down to Eilat to scuba-dive with dolphins and sail the Red Sea.

The scenery in this portion of the Judean Desert is nothing short of majestic. The Judean Desert's mountain peaks seem as velvet, absorbing the harsh rays of the desert-sun so gracefully. This is just one snapshot of the many beautiful sights and sounds, of people and places, that approximately 125 of our members have enjoyed in Israel over the last three years, on Ner Tamid trips to Israel.

It is a Jewish privilege unique to our era, yearned for but unattained by Jewish generations past for 2,000 years, to share in the wonder of Israel and its people - our people; a blessing that each and all of us can support and sustain, toward Israel's strengthening and our own. Today, Israel's Jewish population is the largest, youngest, most dynamic, most diverse on the globe; white Jews, black Jews, Jews originating from virtually every continent and country on the globe, Jews both secular and religious - and everything in between. To those of our Ner Tamid family who have not yet visited Israel on one of our Adult Trips or Family Adventures, I hope that the future brings us opportunity to share together in the miracle and wonder, and the unique Jewish inspiration and source of Jewish pride, that Israel represents.

Still, with all of the exciting preparations back home for the upcoming year, I have good reason to turn my attention back to Ner Tamid. As is almost always the case, good things occur when good people come together with a sense of purpose. The State of Israel was born and has flourished ever since as a result of such synergy. Likewise, we at Ner Tamid have been blessed throughout our history, as we are today, with an extraordinary cadre of talented and dedicated individuals among our staff and lay-leadership. It is my pleasure to dedicate this column to all who are working together in tandem this year to deepen our synagogue in spirit and to strengthen us in number, as we celebrate together our synagogue's 50th Anniversary.

For the past year, I have enjoyed the genuine pleasure of working in close partnership with Loni Dyner, our synagogue's President and a trusted and dear personal friend. Loni's love and enthusiasm for our community is reflected in decades of devotion and leadership in service of our synagogue's most noble and fundamental purpose: To encourage, to nurture, and to do all that we can to ensure a vibrant future for the Jewish People. Loni and her husband, Harry, have given of themselves to our community for so many years, in so many ways, in service of this central purpose (for those who have joined our Ner Tamid family more recently, Harry is, himself, a past-President of the synagogue). Their children were schooled and nurtured Jewishly at Ner Tamid and our synagogue-community is both the center-spoke in the wheel of the Dyners’ significant Jewish involvement and the social context for so many of their closest friendships. As Loni begins her second year as President, I am thankful that we share together daily in the joy and privilege of preparing for a special year of celebration at Ner Tamid.

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

This year, we welcome to our staff our new Director of Operations, Mark Shear. Mark's strong business background, his warmth of personality, and his personal Jewish commitment can only help us to maintain and build upon the excellence to which we have become accustomed among our administrative and maintenance personnel and operations. Mark, welcome aboard!

Ami Berlin's commitment to our community, to our families, and to our children and teens is an expression of the best of who we are as a community. Simply put, Ami is an outstanding Jewish educator and, taken together, her professional expertise and personal passion for Judaism continues to enable our CLAL Religious School and USY and Kadima youth-programming to reach beyond past accomplishments to even greater heights. Ami has assembled and inspired a skilled and committed CLAL faculty and youth-advisory staff. Assistant Director of CLAL and Youth Programming and Israel Partnership Coordinator, Amy Berg, and CLAL Program Coordinator, Maya Cohen, round out our Religious School and Youth Programming administration; we are all grateful for their very meaningful contributions to our community over the last several years. Under Ami Berlin's leadership, our CLAL Religious School and Youth Programming staff is nurturing and educating our children and teens toward a vibrant and meaningful Jewish future.

Shelly Shapiro has served with distinction for 10 years as our Preschool Director. Under Shelly's leadership, approximately 200 children and their families have found a loving and inviting entry into our community. Shelly inspires and guides our Preschool's faculty toward profound commitment and professional excellence; her warmth and affection for our preschoolers and the joy of our children's laughter and discovery permeates the entire first floor of our school-building all day long, every day. I can speak to this as your Rabbi. I can also attest even more personally to this reality as the father of one Preschool graduate and another to be. 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. Theirs is truly and so obviously a labor of love, and the Jewish future will shine evermore brightly for the care that they show to all of our children.

Just under two years ago, our synagogue commenced an ambitious endeavor to develop a programmatic offering intended specifically for our Senior membership. No one could have predicted the enormous success that our Senior Programming Coordinator, Pearl Gold, has achieved in the relatively short period since she joined our staff. Pearl's extraordinary commitment to our community has endured since Ner Tamid's seminal moments and, in her current role, Pearl's contribution to our programmatic offerings has greatly enriched the experience of our Senior membership. We are blessed to have Pearl among our staff and we look forward to an exciting and meaningful year of Senior Programming.

In synagogues, 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 culinary contributions to the joy and beauty of all of our special celebrations? And, who would we be without Bryan Hawley's care for our facility, implemented daily with the personal concern with which one would maintain one's own home? Could we possibly sustain the excellence in all areas of our programming, catering, facilities-maintenance, and administration without Alma, Inez, Herman, Rosalina, Jovita, Pam, Bea, Pat, Jackie, Kris and Ruth? 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 hourly and daily by our staff for all of us, from our youngest children to our most experienced members.

Last but certainly not least, our community is blessed to enjoy Cantor Sam Radwine's joyous and sincere musical contribution to our Services and celebrations. Cantor Radwine and I share together in the joys and sorrows of our entire community. Cantor Radwine has earned our profound gratitude and admiration. Personally, I feel blessed to enjoy your friendship and partnership, Cantor, and I so look forward to celebrating our community's 50th Anniversary together!

As I conclude this column, we are about to pull into our hotel on the shores of the Dead Sea. This region of the Judean Desert and the Dead Sea serves as a most meaningful metaphor for the very existence of the modern State of Israel. Agriculture blooms on the desert plains, Dead Sea minerals and organisms are harvested and cultivated to heal ailments and feed the hungry, and a virtual town of resort hotels and spas hugs the seashore. Amidst conditions far less than optimal, life springs forth. Likewise, despite the unwelcoming neighborhood of nations surrounding Israel, it thrives even as others in similar circumstances might not even survive.

We at Ner Tamid are blessed to enjoy far more welcoming surroundings and a far greater general ease of life than do our brothers and sisters in Israel. As we embark upon a year of very special celebration together, let us join together in gratitude for the many blessings that God has granted us. As we do so, let us be mindful always of the strivings, struggles, and monumental achievements of Jews the world over, especially in Israel, and the important ways that we can share our blessings with them, offering assistance and lending support; we are bound always as one People, with a common purpose, and a shared future.

B'Shalom -- With Blessings of Peace and Wholeness,

Rabbi Isaac Jeret
Spiritual Leader