Synagogue Updates

Good morning all,

Great things going on today and so I am including a few quick zoom links before getting into the article. 

8:45am: World Wide Wrap (learning to wrap Tefillin) followed by the Silver Circle Brunch (10:15am) in honor of Alan Fink
9:30am: Scholar in Residence Ilana Kurshan
11:00am: Study Torah with Friends with Mike Elkins

Now onto the letter. Today was one of those days that I was struggling to decide what to write and then, like it so often does, something fell into my lap. Larry Nathanson sent me his speech that he is delivering at the Silver Circle Brunch this morning. His speech is both a history of some great ideas in the synagogue and a call to action. One of the things that I have loved about this synagogue, and this came up often during the Rabbinic Search Weekends, is that so many of our community traditions are congregant driven - from the idea creation to the implementation. When someone has an idea, this community has shown that it will often support it.

What is your big idea? What would you like to see happen here? Let's talk and see how we can create the next tradition?

Ken

Larry's Speech

My family joined Temple Beth Hillel-Beth El in 1990. At that time, the Temple had a Men’s Club, but it was really a Men’s Club in name only. Sure, we would have an occasional Poker or Casino Night. And, every year we would gather to build the Sukkah -- back when real carpentry skills were needed. But, for the most part, the Men’s Club -- as opposed to the Temple’s vibrant and amazing Sisterhood – did not really exist.

That changed in the early 2000s. And it changed, when Alan Fink, of blessed memory, who we honor every year at our annual Silver Circle Award, and Howard Elgart attended a meeting of parents for that year’s Confirmation Class. Alan and Howard were told the Temple did not have enough money in the budget to fund that year’s Confirmation Class’s trip to New York and the parents would have to come up with a way to fund the trip themselves.

Alan and Howard were surprised and disappointed the Temple lacked funds for the annual trip and they started to brainstorm how the Temple could raise funds for that year’s Confirmation Class and for future classes as well. They came up with the following idea. What if the Temple’s Religious School and Men’s Club were to host a fund raising event on a Sunday morning to raise money for the Confirmation Class and for other worthy charities. Our community would gather together to walk, run, or bike to raise money. Following the athletic part of the morning, the community would gather together for a festival, with food and drinks, lots of balloons, DJs, and live music. Prior to the event, the Men’s Club would work with the Religious School students to discuss the importance of charity and working together select worthwhile charities to support. That was how the Tzeddakah-thon was born.

The first Tzeddakah-Thon was a great success. It brought our community together in a new way for a common purpose. It raised money for our Confirmation Class and other worthwhile charities. It was such a success it became for many years an annual event bringing our community together and raising tens of thousands of dollars for charity.

Another unexpected benefit of Tzeddakah-Thon is it rejuvenated our Men’s Club. The guys who Allan and Howard brought in to help with the Tzeddakah-Thon stayed on to become active members of our Men’s Club. What started as an annual event to raise money for the Confirmation Class became our Scotch and Steak in the Sukkah, Dinners with Rabbi Cooper, parties to watch the Eagles, Phillies Game night, golf outings and ski trips, and volunteers when the Temple needed assistance. Many of these programs still exist today and guys who Allan and Howard brought in to assist with the Tzeddakah-Thon are still active members in the Men’s Club and Temple today.

This same spirit that began with the Tzeddekah-Thon in the 2000s renewed itself in the late 2010s when Stuart Gordon came up with the idea that our Temple’s Men’s Club would sponsor an annual Kosher Barbecue competition. That competition would also include a festival with lots of food and drinks, games, live music and DJs. That’s how Hava Nagrilla was born. And, like Tzeddakah-Thon, Hava Nagrilla brought our community together, raised money for worthwhile causes and gave our Men’s Club a purpose.

Now, that brings me to this year’s nominee. I’ve spoken before about how Alan Fink was a great problem solver and idea person. But, to make events like Tzeddah-thon and Hava Nagrilla happen you need not only great ideas, but volunteers to make those events work. And for those events, no one worked harder and devoted more time to make those programs a success than this year’s honoree Gary Friedman. Whatever the task, no matter how many hours, in setting up, running the event, and clean up, Gary was on the front lines making sure what was needed to be done was done and done correctly. We are so grateful to you for your years of services in implementing these grand ideas and making them work.
 

Congratulations on this well-deserved honor!