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President's Corner - Greg Sterling
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JULY/AUGUST 2010 VOICE ARTICLE
MAY/JUNE 2010 VOICE ARTICLE
MARCH/APRIL 2010 VOICE ARTICLE
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2010 VOICE ARTICLE
YOM KIPPUR 2009/5770 - THE SOLOMON PROJECT
2009/5770 ROSH HASHANAH REMARKS
LETTER TO THE CONGREGATION, FEBRUARY 23, 2009
OTHER VOICE ARTICLES
JULY/AUGUST 2010 VOICE ARTICLE -- OUR COMMUNITY IN ACTION
Our Beth Jacob Community continues to be on a roll. The fiscal year that ended on June 30 is another example of achieving many successes together. We continue to support several thriving programs, and we have several initiatives designed to “raise the bar” in our community.
I have been the lucky one that has received many compliments about our community’s achievements and the warm, participative culture that we have created. While I sincerely appreciate the kind words, as a community we should be acknowledging and thanking our very large group of active volunteers. They are the ones who are achieving our great successes. It is those volunteers that are making our Kehillah Kedoshah so special.
As I have said many times, I believe we are the envy of most synagogue communities in our area. We should be proud of that because we (the members of CBJ and our professional staff) created our special community. And of course, as someone who is always looking toward the future, I believe we have so many more opportunities to continue to “raise the bar.”
In this issue of the Voice, we would like to acknowledge the many key programs, committees, and volunteers we have. My only fear in listing our volunteers is that we may miss someone inadvertently. Please forgive us in advance if that happens.
Please take a look at this list. In my opinion it is truly stunning how many people are volunteering for the benefit of our community. We have also included our professional staff because they are integral parts of many committees.
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Adult Education Committee
Emilie Goldman, Laurie Hahn Tapper, Carolynn Licht, Norman Licht, Michele Madansky, Masha Merkulova, David Ron, Susan Ron, Linda Rosen, Mindy Rosenberg, Patti Smilovitz, Janet Teman
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Blood Drive
Leslie Weinstein
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Board of Directors
Gilah Abelson, Bernie Arfin, Mimi Arfin, Neil Blecherman, Helen Danczak, Reuben Donig, Joe Gruber, Emily Hall, Darren Leva, Curtis Leviant, Lisa Levine Sporer, Paul Melmon, Eric Sahn, Jan Scheer, Kevin Scheier, Jim Scheinman, Patti Smilovitz, Greg Sterling, Barbara Weber
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Cares Committee
Blanche Aknin, Danielle Beres, Michelle de Haaff, Glenda Dennis, Pamela Ehrlich, Stacy Fradkin, Nicole Goldstein, Linda Klein, Lisa Levine Sporer, Heidi Pucel, Stephanie Rosekind, Amy Sahn, Carmen Saint
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Facilities Management
Jan Horowitz
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Home and Hope (Formerly IHN)
Carol Blitzer, David Chaiken, Ora Chaiken, Michelle de Haaff, Pamela Ehrlich, Mimi Ezray, Cindy Glazer, Lea Goldstein, Emily Hall, Bryan Johnson, Olga Poole, Susan Ron, Stephanie Rosekind, Janet Teman, Dottie Yourtz, Cantor Barbara Powell, Karen Stein, Anne Vallerga, Leslie Weinstein, and the 7th and 10th grade classes. Plus, we have over 120 members from CBJ, Peninsula Sinai Congregation, and St. Bede's Church who volunteer to help with the many tasks required to make our host weeks run smoothly.
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Israel Connections Committee
Reuben Donig, Carl Grumet, Aaron Hahn Tapper, Laura Rosenzweig, Barbara Sommer
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Membership Committee
Neil Blecherman, Ora Chaiken, Jacqui Inglis, Darren Leva, Josh Lipp, Jan Scheer, Jim Scheinman, Eric Stone, Paige Winikoff
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Men’s Community
Mike Klein, Greg Sterling
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Office Support
Blanche Aknin, Joe Gruber, Stefi Rudolph, Shannon Steckel
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Preschool Committee
Lori Brockman, Dana Carmel, Robyn Cornyn, Andrea Potischman
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Pulpit Committee
Mimi Arfin, Bryan Johnson, Eric Sahn, David Smilovitz, Greg Sterling
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Mishloach Manot
Beth Bloom, Michelle Gee, Eric Stone
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Purim Shpiel
Kathy Duval, Jeff Klein, Amy Ningen, Sean Ningen,
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Religious School Curriculum Committee
Esti Ben-David, Ralph Boucher, Michal Braker, Alison Deutsch, Pamela Ehrlich, Marietta Fulton, Jan Horowitz, Tami Raubvogel
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NESS Committee
Esti Ben-David, Neil Blecherman, Ralph Boucher, Michal Braker, Alison Deutsch, Julie Dorsey, Gerry Elgarten, Rabbi Nat Ezray, Bill Futornick, Nicole Goldstein, David Langer, Lisa Levine Sporer, Tami Raubvogel, Gwen Solomon, Greg Sterling
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Religious School Committee
Danielle Beres, Ralph Boucher, Marty Bronk, Judi Eichler, Lisa Levine Sporer, Michele Madansky, Nancy Nagel, Amy Ningen, Gwen Solomon
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Special Needs
Ann Cauterucci, Mimi Ezray, Lisa Levine Sporer, Tami Raubvogel, Carol Stone, Ellen Turbow, Paige Winikoff
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Steering Committee
Lisa Levine Sporer, Tami Raubvogel
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Teacher Mentor Committee
Ann Cauterucci, Gerry Elgarten, Ira Lit, Michal Katz, Tami Raubvogel Jan Scheer
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Religious Practices Committee
Helen Danczak, Marietta Fulton, Lottie Gutterman, Jon Levinson, Larry Shapiro, David Smilovitz
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Religious Services Leaders
David Bloom, Marty Bronk, Arthur Cohn, Bob Goldberg, Jon Levinson, Joe Gruber, Philip Rahm, David Smilovitz, plus approximately 30 Torah readers and 50 megillah readers
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Rockin’ Shabbat Committee
Gilah Abelson, Karin Bloom, Cynthia Brickman, Marty Bronk, Ora Chaiken & Family, Ann Forman & Family, Judith Lynn & Family, Gwen Solomon & Family, Ben Inglis, Jacqui Inglis & Family, Justin Kasser, Sharon Kasser, Dahlia Rappaport, Mitch Rappaport, Rob Saltzman, Jacki Silber & Family, Eric Stone
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Rosh Hashanah Honey Sale
Leslie Weinstein
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Sisterhood
Phyllis Brock, Karen Gould, Linda Klein, Lisa Levine Sporer, Sally Oken, Caryn Siegel
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Solomon Project Communications Team
Dan Leemon, Apryl Stern
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Solomon Project Design Committee
Yeshaya Ballon, Julie Dorsey, Dan Hoffman, Jim Inglis, Marty Keller, Grace Rosenberg, Greg Sterling, Nancy Sterling
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Solomon Project Solicitation Leadership Team
Mark Abelson, Josh Lipp, Greg Sterling, Sheila Zelinger
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Solomon Project Solicitation Team
Mark Abelson, Yeshaya Ballon, Norm Berkman, Pat Brodkey, Steve Brown, Ora Chaiken, Maddy Chaleff, Barry and Lisa Cheskin, Michelle de Haaff, Julie Dorsey, Gerry Elgarten, Alan Fisher, Bruce Fram, Susan Golovin, Joe Gruber, Emily Hall, Richard Harte, Dori Ben-David Johnston, Mike and Linda Klein, Dan Leemon, Jon Levinson, Josh Lipp, Kathy Reich, David Ron, Cary Rosenzweig, Eric Sahn, Jim Scheinman, Barry Sherman, Elliot Stein, Greg Sterling, Alisa Yaffa, Shelia Zelinger
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Steering Committee
Rabbi Nat Ezray, Bill Futornick, Susan Golovin, Dan Hoffman, Dan Leemon, Eric Sahn, Greg Sterling, Eric Stone
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Teen Committee
Helen Danczak, Nicole Goldstein, Dan Hoffman, Howard Kaplan, Shirley Kraus, Jennifer Levine, Nancy Melmon
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Website Management
Apryl Stern
MAY/JUNE 2010 VOICE ARTICLE
Well, it’s that time of year again. This is the time when we talk about budgets, dues, and salaries. Before I get into those matters I want to first to tell you that I could not be more excited about where we are headed as a community. I’m in my third year as President of the Board, and I think this year is clearly the most exciting. We are very close to breaking ground on the first phase of the Solomon Project. We are about to sign Rabbi Ezray up for another five years as our Rabbi. The transformation of our Religious School into a “best in class” school is moving into high gear, and we continue to attract new young families to join our community. We clearly are the envy of many congregations, and we should be proud of our collective accomplishments.
Click here to read more
Now let’s dive into the fun stuff: budgets, employment contracts, and dues. I will give you the short story up front. At the April CBJ Board of Directors meeting, the Board reviewed Rabbi Ezray’s new five-year compensation agreement that was negotiated on behalf of CBJ by the Pulpit Committee. In addition, the Board reviewed and approved the Fiscal 2010-11 budget that includes Rabbi Ezray’s new contract along with several very exciting improvements to our Religious School. The final vote on the budget is scheduled for our May meeting. The bottom line impact to us, as members, is a six percent increase in dues and a Religious School tuition increase adjusted by grade level in the next fiscal year.
If you recall, last year the Board decided that we would not increase dues or tuition because of the severity of the economic downturn. In addition, we decided to hold off adding any funds to our building maintenance fund. To manage flat revenues while our costs were still increasing, we implemented a salary freeze for all employees, took a critical full-time employee to part-time, and reduced our office staff. Both Rabbi Ezray and Bill Futornick volunteered to defer their contracted salary increases.
While we have been able to manage our finances this year, it is not possible to continue this way. Our goal has always been to raise the quality bar in everything we do, which we believe is happening. For example, even during these lean times we have been making major improvements in our Religious School including a new curriculum, new teachers, and a new school director. We are very excited about the next school year. At the same time, we have come to expect that our outstanding Clergy team and support staff, who have been operating under a salary freeze, will continue as usual. Many of us are members of this community because of our individual connections with the clergy team and Rabbi Ezray in particular.
I assume that for some of you a six percent increase may seem a bit alarming; however, I think it is important to understand that last year was the unusual year, not this upcoming year. To ensure that we were not heading in the wrong direction with our dues, our Finance Committee, led by our Treasurer Eric Sahn, prepared a detailed five-year forecast for income and expenses. From that forecast we believe that after next year we will likely return to annual dues increases in the 4% range (+/- 1%).Take a look at our history dating back to 2003 as it relates to dues increases.
- 2003/2004 10%
- 2004/2005 5%
- 2005/2006 5%
- 2006/2007 5%
- 2007/2008 10%
- 2008/2009 4%
- 2009/2010 no increase
- 2010/2011 6% (next fiscal year)
Fiscal Year % Increase
Interestingly, during the time I’ve been in this role as President and Eric Sahn as Treasurer, the total increase over 3 years will be 10%. The average increase is 3.3%, which is in line with the financial forecast. I encourage you to look at the 6% increase for next fiscal year as a catch-up, because of there was no increase last year and because we will have a new employment contract for Rabbi Ezray, which we are very excited about.
In terms of Rabbi Ezray’s contract, we are very fortunate to have an outstanding Rabbi who has been with us for 15 years and is ready to sign on for another five years. As I said in my remarks during the High Holy Days and in the January Voice, Rabbi Ezray is our “franchise player,” the key person who is the force behind our many great programs and our ongoing efforts to raise the bar in everything we do. At our April Board meeting, the Pulpit Committee presented the contract terms for the next contract, and the Board unanimously recommended that our membership support it.
Let me give you some background on the process that we follow to negotiate a Rabbi employment contract. In January, in accordance with our by-laws, a Pulpit Committee was formed and was charged with negotiating the contract terms. Before the Pulpit Committee began the negotiation, they prepared a set of principles and guidelines that were used as the basis of the offer. They also reviewed in detail the available salary data for senior-level rabbis on both a national and local basis, and they reviewed the five-year forecast prepared by the Finance Committee to understand what we could afford as a community. The goal was to structure a compensation package that rewarded Rabbi Ezray for his outstanding performance and would be considered “fair” from a market perspective. At the same time, it had to be a compensation package that our community can afford.
I should tell you that that the Rabbi market in this local area has changed since the last time we signed Rabbi Ezray’s contract. For example, several local synagogues have hired new Rabbis, driving up the salaries. Competition for high-quality Rabbi candidates is always difficult, and in most cases it requires some housing support because of the cost of living in this area. This change in our local market impacts us because it means we need to step up Rabbi Ezray’s salary to get him back in line with the market and to properly compensate him for his performance level. This step up in salary is incorporated into our budget for next year. Rabbi Ezray’s contract does not require any special assessments or special fundraising, which in many synagogues is typical for Rabbi contracts. You will learn more about the employment contract at the Annual Meeting, which is scheduled for June 8.
For the past three years we have held open sessions to give our members a chance to learn about the budget in a smaller setting before the Annual Meeting. It is an opportunity to ask your questions in an informal setting. We will again host these open sessions during the month of May. I will be attending those meetings to answer questions about Rabbi Ezray’s new contract. The meetings are scheduled as follows: May 4th @ 6:30 pm., May 6th @ 10:30 am., May 25th @ 11:00 am., May 26th @ 5:00 pm.
Let me close by saying that I believe we will look back on this year as one of those special times in CBJ’s history. We will be celebrating a new Rabbi contract, breaking ground on a major renovation of our building, and implementing a significantly improved Religious School. We have so much to look forward to as we continue to strengthen our Kehillah Kedoshah.
As always, please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns. I look forward to seeing you at the Annual Meeting on June 8.
Greg
MARCH/APRIL 2010 VOICE ARTICLE
Solomon Project Update
As I write this article, the Winter Olympics are in full swing. I’m always struck by the athletes that talk about how they were driven by their big goals. Yes, they had ups and downs along the way, but they were always focused on their goals and they were committed to accomplishing them. I would say that the Solomon Project is now on the “final lap” before we can begin construction on our big goal. I’m confident when we look back, after we finish this project, we will be very proud as a community that we accomplishment a very big goal that at times seemed too big for us. In this article, I want to give you an update on where we stand as we move closer to our goal of starting construction for the first phase of the Solomon Project.
Click here to read the rest of Greg's March/April 2010 Voice Article
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2010 VOICE ARTICLE
My thoughts as I begin my third year as President of the Board.
It is hard to believe it has been two years since I was first elected President. As I have said many times, it has been a pleasure to serve you and our community.
In this article I would like to like to summarize my thoughts about our community. First, I want to repeat what I said on Rosh Hashanah: We are a strong and vibrant community. We have many of the key elements necessary to continue to be strong and vibrant for many years to come. There are many things going well in our Kehillah Kedoshah. Let me give you a few examples:
Click here to read the rest of Greg's January/February 2010 Voice Article
YOM KIPPUR 2009/5770 - THE SOLOMON PROJECT
Abraham Joshua Heschel wrote, "The body without the spirit is a corpse; the spirit without the body is a ghost." Our Kehillah Kedoshah, our Sacred Community, is our spirit. We are members of Congregation Beth Jacob because, on the “inside,” our congregation is a warm and welcoming Jewish home for all of us. It is the place where we connect, where our children learn about Judaism, where many of your children or grandchildren and perhaps you celebrated your Bar/Bat Mitzvahs, a baby naming, marriage and many other schimas. Tonight I’m going to talk about the “body,” our building, the physical space which enhances and supports our spiritual vision. Our meeting place where we celebrate our Jewish life together. The Solomon Project is our very exciting initiative to renovate our building and grounds to create a space that enables our vision of Kehillah Kedoshah.
Click here to read the rest of Greg's Yom Kippur remarks
2009/5770 ROSH HASHANAH REMARKS
Before I begin my remarks, on behalf of our Board of Directors, we want to wish you and your family a happy, sweet, peaceful, and most importantly, healthy new year.
It's hard for me to believe a year has gone by so quickly. I've truly enjoyed and continue to feel honored to serve you in this role as President of Congregation Beth Jacob's Board. I'm lucky to be serving at this time because our synagogue community and our organization are both strong and vibrant.
Click here to read all of Greg's Rosh Hashanah Remarks
REMARKS FROM THE 2009 ANNUAL MEETING
Let me start out by saying that our 2008/2009 fiscal year was a successful year as measured by the long list of achievements.
Click here to read all of Greg's Remarks from the 2009 Annual Meeting
LETTER TO THE CONGREGATION, FEBRUARY 23, 2009
The objective of this letter is to update you regarding our finances and to let you know what actions we are taking to address these issues. We take these issues very seriously and are acting, as required, to adjust to these new developments.
OTHER VOICE ARTICLES
May, 2009 - We Keep Moving Forward
February, 2008 - Our Sacred Community
July, 2008 - The Good News Continues...
February, 2009 - Embracing Divergent Points of View; Is Our Community Ready for It?
Contact Greg Sterling