March 6, 2013 Meeting Summary - Rolling Up Our Sleeves

March 8, 2013

This has been an exciting week at Beth Radom. On Wednesday March 6th we held the first of many working sessions of the Transition Task Force (TTF). We were thrilled to see so many of you come out, roll up your sleeves and get busy with the important work of building and bettering our shul as we transition into the future of Beth Radom.

Meeting Summary:

1. Cantor David led us in a D’var Torah where he discussed this past Shabbat’s torah portion in light of the role of leadership and how B’nai Yisroel reacted when Moshe, their leader, did not return from his journey up Mount Sinai. Cantor David explored the notion of the responsibility that each person has to assume the role of leadership, to grow their own leadership and to help grow the leadership of others.

2. TTF Chair – Cari Kozieork Bahar presented the TTF framework for the transition process which includes the four stage process of HEALING -> DISCOVERY-> SEARCH-> INTEGRATION. This was a shortened version of what the TTF originally presented to the Board because financial realities at the shul changed since the January inception of the TTF and so plans had to change as well. Original timelines included the hiring of an interim/transitional Rabbi by summer 2013 and the hiring of a permanent Rabbi by summer 2014. Realities being what they are, the TTF has had to change its recommendations to include:

a. Hiring of a Ba’al Korah – to help with conducting of services

b. Hiring a Rabbi for High Holiday services- to ensure continuity of meaningful services 

c. Continue with the “Healing” and “Discovery” processes as planned

d. Work together to try to resolve the major financial and other serious shul issues in the next six months in order to continue with the original TTF plan to search for and integrate a new Rabbi


3. Cari discussed the key learnings that have been gleaned from the past several months in the shul as being:

a. The shul is run by volunteers – no one is paid a salary to do this job and must fit their volunteer work into the rest of their life’s obligations to career and family

b. Up until now, there have been a handful of people coming up with all of the ideas, doing all of the work and making all of the decisions in the shul 

c. More people want to help generate ideas and implement solutions



4. Formation of 3 sub teams of the TTF.  We formulated the following three teams listed below (* denotes Team Leader). 

a. Volunteerism/member engagement: Mandate: To increase volunteers by 20 people in the next 6 months

VOLUNTEERISM   volunteers@bethradom.com

Robin Flamer *

Allan Fryman

Bluma Wagner

Cindy Joseph

Ed Saxe

Jeff Bernknopf

Jenny Ophek

Karen Cohen-Fryman

Linda Saxe

Richard Tinianov

Robin Flamer

b. Money/Fundraising: Mandate: To raise $50,000 in the next 6 months

FUNDRAISING    fundraising@bethradom.com

Ilene Bronsteter *

Ann Sharpe

Flora Finewax

Moishe Finewax

Sandy Shessel

Sharon Rubin

Terry Schacter

c. Membership: Mandate: to increase membership by 20 families in the next 6 months

MEMBERSHIP   membership@bethradom.com

Cari Bahar *

Cari Bahar

Debbie Elman

Lottie Glass

Marty Kochberg

Ron Kohn

5. The new teams had breakout sessions where they brainstormed ideas and events and came up with actionable plans and set times for follow up meetings to continue their work over the next 6 months. Watch for reports from these teams in the coming weeks as we hear what they have planned. 

Overall, the meeting on March 6th was a turning point and marked the beginning of a new way for people to become involved, have their ideas heard and to have a say in how our shul goes forward. The teams will continue to welcome any members that would like to join or who simply have ideas to suggest. Please email the team(s) you are interested in
joining and indicate how you would like to help, and we will get you in touch with the people in that team.

• Volunteers       volunteers@bethradom.com
• Fundraising      fundraising@bethradom.com
• Membership     membership@bethradom.com

The TTF thanks everyone for showing up and participating in the meeting. We understand that many of you have strong and hurt feelings about the events that have taken place in our shul over the past several months. We all need to heal now and the best way to heal is to be empowered to participate in designing the kind of shul that you want to have. We hope that you will embrace this opportunity to have your say by joining one of the teams working on transition. 


Transition Task Force
Cari Kozierok Bahar, Chair

Rabbi Schonblum Says Goodbye

February 7, 2013

My Dear Congregants,

I write this letter to advise that I have come to an amicable arrangement with the Board of Governors of the Beth Radom Congregation to forthwith vacate my position as the Rabbi of the Beth Radom Congregation (BRC) and to take a well earned sabbatical until the end of July this year, when my employment contract with BRC formally ends.

Prior to taking up the position as the Rabbi of BRC, I was employed by The Pride of Israel. Many congregants of that synagogue followed me to the BRC and became active ands involved members of the BRC. In addition over the past ten years of my tenure at BRC I have made many friends here and you all have assisted me to enrich our services and foster a sense of inclusion. I shall miss greeting you all on Shabbat, on Yom Tovim, and at our Sunday morning minyan and breakfast.

I have found it an honour and a privilege to serve BRC over the past almost ten years. Although the past number of months have been a difficult time for all of us, it is now time both for me, my family and the BRC to move on.

A healing process needs to commence for the benefit of us all, and the shul must continue to survive and meet the needs of all its congregants. To survive and be in a position to meet all its financial obligations, including its obligations to its employees, including myself, the synagogue relies primarily on the payment of dues from its congregants.

I accordingly request each and every one of you who has not yet paid your dues for 2013, to forthwith call the synagogue office and make payment, and also make payment of your high holiday tickets.

I hope to remain in touch with the many friends I have made during my tenure at BRC. Please feel free to call me if need be, and for whatever reason.

With very best wishes

Rabbi Steven Schonblum.

President's Message re: Rabbi's Sabbatical

Dear Members,

The past few months have been a time of re-assessing and learning for all of us here at Beth Radom. What we have learned is the importance of keeping you all updated and in the loop about the goings on here at shul and that is why I am writing to you today.

As of Friday, February 8^th, Rabbi Schonblum will be commencing a sabbatical which will continue for the duration of his contract. The past few months have been difficult and have taken their toll on everyone in our community. For this reason we have come to a mutual agreement with him that a sabbatical for the remainder of his contract is the best solution for everyone involved. We wish Rabbi Schonblum and his family the very best of good health, happiness and success in his future endeavours.

We want to assure all members of our congregation that Cantor Rosen, along with many of our lay leaders, have made commitments to us to ensure that all services, events and simchas will continue at the shul uninterrupted. You will continue to have a place and a community with whom to worship, celebrate and, G-d forbid, turn to in a time of crisis. For any life cycle event or emergency, please contact the shul office so that we can be there for you when you need us. We also want to reassure you that our tradition of beautiful and meaningful High Holiday Services will continue and that we will ensure that we have a Rabbi in place to lead and enrich our services.

It is now time for us all to move forward and get busy with the important and sacred task of rebuilding and healing our community. Since December, the Transition Task Force has been hard at work ironing out a structure and a strategic plan to move forward in a way that will ensure the highest level of participation from all members of the congregation. On Wednesday March 6^th at 6:30PM, the Task Force will hold its first Town Hall meeting where they will unveil their plan and show you the various ways that you can get involved. We urge you to attend and to get involved in whatever way suits your schedule and skills best.

As difficult as this has all been, we all know of many synagogues that have gone through similar times of upheaval and hardship and have not only survived, but thrived as a result. We can draw inspiration from the founders of our congregation as people who not only survived much greater hardships, but who healed and moved on to create vibrant and meaningful lives for themselves and their community. Beth Radom will recover from this difficult time, and with your help and continued involvement, I know that we can work together to create a synagogue that not only meets, but surpasses the expectations and needs of all members.

I hope to see you in costume on February 23^rd when we will celebrate Purim together with a Megillah reading at 7:00PM followed by our annual D-J and dancing Purim Party.  Don’t forget to order your Mishloach Manot before February 16^th !

Sincerely,

Henry Icyk, 

President, 

Beth Radom Congregation