News

People are feeling despondant, confused, hopeless, angry, and impotent, asking what can I do? These are just a few of the words we hear about the current events in Israel. The war against Gaza is approaching 2 years and there…

Imagine, just 5 weeks ago we were bathing in the soothing light of the Hanukkah candles and then 3 weeks ago we watched in horror as thousands of homes were destroyed by hurricane force Santa Ana winds that raked Southern…

For my December Kolumn, I thought I would write about the recent election, but so much has been said already, what could I add to the discussion? Then, I started wondering about my role as Temple President during tumultuous times.…

The story of Jews in America and the Jews at Temple Israel parallel each other. When Jews first arrived in the United States, they were living in big cities, amongst one another. After WWII, Jews were able to move to…

When I was given the privilege of becoming the President of Temple Israel, I was often asked, “What are your goals?” My primary goal was to not screw it up! I thought with a fantastic senior staff, our Torah Center…

I wrote an entirely different article for this month’s newsletter but given the events in Israel that began on Saturday, October 7th, that article is now relegated to the back shelf. Reminiscent of the Yom Kippur war in 1973, Hamas…

As we enter our 100th year as a congregation, we find ourselves in a remarkable place. We are led by talented, joyful clergy – partnering with stellar senior staff, dedicated employees, and we are financially stable. Not all temples are…

I am so excited about this year’s Gala. The first few years that we were members of Temple Israel, we would anxiously look forward to attending the yearly Galas as the social events of the season. We very much enjoyed…

What a challenging last 2 years for each and every one of us. COVID-19 has thrown a wrench in so many of our lives’ events, whether big or small. Under the direction of our Senior Staff and leadership, Temple Israel…

I think that a wonderful metaphor for being President of a Temple is that of a juggler. One must keep expertly juggling all the balls, making sure that they all stay in place doing what they should, without dropping any…