Larry Froehlich, Kehilat Shalom President
Rosh HaShana – 1st Day: September 19, 2009
Shabbat Shalom and Shana Tova. Welcome to each and every one of you.
Rosh HaShanah inaugurates a period of self-reflection of the past year in preparation of the year to come. This is certainly true on a personal level. But it is also true on an organizational level, as well. So I will attempt to assess, briefly, how Kehilat Shalom did this past year, a sort of “state of the synagogue” for our shul.
To be brutally honest, we had our ups and downs this year. Now, maybe it’s because as President I am more aware of what is going on across-the-board at Kehilat Shalom, but it seemed like there were more of our share of things happening that we wished didn’t happen. Too many personal challenges like illnesses, injuries, deaths of members or relatives of members, or financial difficulties. It’s been a tough year for many of our families. Fortunately, our wonderful community responded as best it could in those difficult situations. And I think that is what makes us special—even unique—among area synagogues: a sense of caring among ourselves that impels us to help each other, even those whom we don’t know well, or don’t know at all.
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Yom Kippur – Kol Nidre: September 28, 2009
A young man and his wife moved into a small town. One reason they chose this place was the beautiful garden in the center of the town. The garden had 25 types of roses and at least 100 other types of flowering plants. There were lilacs and forsythia and mountain laurel, benches protected by shade trees and gazebos in the middle of groves of fir trees. A small babbling brook coursed through one corner of the garden, and benches abounded throughout the several acres of well-tended beauty. Of course, there was a children’s area with a petting zoo, a carousel, and a nature center that was always filled in the summer and on weekends with wide-eyed children. The townspeople loved this garden and treated it with reverence...
By now you may have figured out my use of the garden as a metaphor for the synagogue and especially the synagogue as a community.
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Contact Larry via email: larry@kehilatshalom.org
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