We will get to it after the High Holidays! I am sure if any of you needed something over the past 6 – 8 weeks, you heard this statement from myself, other Board or Committee Members, and the Rabbis. I hope no one took any offense to this. The amount of preparation and work behind making the High Holy Days a memorable time for you was our #1 priority – and hopefully, we did just that. 

I am very proud of our Temple Sinai community because so many of you volunteered your time for setup, helped with our Break Fast, and then followed up with supporting our Fall Mitzvah Day. The sukkah went up almost in the blink of an eye, the sanctuary is still shining bright, and the Northwest Park looks pristine.  

So what is next you might ask? The list with that question is long. I want to first reiterate what our CFO Jay Goldberg talked about during the High Holy Day Appeal. Over the past 18 months or so, we updated the classrooms by painting and upgrading the lighting, replaced and added lighting to the outside of the building, replaced the security camera system with newer technology, updated bathrooms with auto paper towel and soap dispensers, added needed electrical outlets on the outside of the building and of course, the big expense of having to replace our 30 yr old HVAC system. 

It is quite the list. And going back to my original question: what is next? There is so much more, enough that I cannot list everything here. To start, we must make sure we continue to improve our building for both security reasons and ADA compliance. You have heard us mention the need to replace our glass doors, add push-button/push-bar technology on those doors, and add more security cameras throughout the property. 

By now I am sure you are asking, “how do we pay for all of this?” One way is through grants. I have asked the board to create a Grants Committee to look at what grants we might qualify for and to pursue them. If you have time and experience with grant writing and applications, we could use your help. Another way to continue to help us is to continue to give to Temple Sinai. Our High Holiday Appeal is ongoing, and we still need your help. If you were not able to give during the last couple of weeks but can now, it is not too late. And if you cannot help out financially, please let us know if there are any skills or abilities you have that could help us in the way of saving labor. It really does take a village to make a Jewish community work.

There are never enough thank yous to go around for all the people dedicated to our Temple Sinai community. Many more thank yous are definitely needed to all who worked hard during the High Holy Days to make them so special for all of us. Thank you again to Rabbi Benjamin and Rabbi Sara, to Mike Stombaugh, to Marilyn Roberts and the Jewish Practice Committee, the wonderful choir with their beautiful voices, to all the board and committee members for helping with check-in, and to Martin Ross Security for keeping us safe. I want to thank you in advance for your help and generosity this year. I am honored and proud to serve as your President during this amazing adventure of renewing our facilities and giving it the love it needs so that it will last us for the next generation.

One last note – to all of you that brought in food for the Northern Nevada Food Bank and filled all the barrels and to all who brought in much-needed items for the Wooster Colt Closet – THANK YOU! 

L’Shalom,
Michael