Dear Friends:
This is the last early morning email you will receive from me for a while as I will be beginning four weeks of vacation time as of Monday. Many clergy -- not just rabbis -- report that however much vacation they may in theory be entitled to, they rarely if ever get to take all of it. In the previous two congregations I served this was certainly the case. One of the things I love about Kehilat Shalom is the recognition that both the congregation and the rabbi benefit when the rabbi actually gets to take his or her vacation and recharge his or her batteries, and through the years that I have been here, congregational leadership has made sure that I have been able to do so.
Keleigh and I anticipate being in the area most of the time, and if a pastoral emergency arises, God forbid, if I am around I will make myself available to you. If for whatever reason we are away, Rabbi Emeritus Mark Raphael has generously agreed to make himself available to cover.
On Monday I will begin my 13th contract year as your rabbi. (I actually began on August 1, 2012 because my contract at my previous congregation ran through the end of July, but my second contract was actually for 23 months so that my contract year was in line with the congregation’s fiscal year.)
If you were part of Kehilat Shalom at that time you may remember what things were like. When I accepted the position and Keleigh and I began looking for a place to live, many people advised us that under no circumstances should we buy a house because the survival of Kehilat Shalom was so uncertain. Even the congregation’s own internal projections cast doubt on whether the congregation would be able to survive more than five years. On my first day at Kehilat Shalom, the then-administrator asked me what she should tell people who were calling seeking to reclaim yahrzeit plaques for their loved ones and in some cases even items that they had donated, because they had heard that Kehilat Shalom had closed.
On the other hand, there were also former members who decided to rejoin the congregation. As one of them told me, they had assumed that the synagogue would always be there for them if they needed it but saw no need to be members or pay dues. When it became clear that the synagogue in fact would not necessarily always be there, they realized that if they wanted to insure its future they had to be part of its present.
Today we also find ourselves at a crossroads where we will have to make some sacrifices and some tough decisions to insure the survival of Kehilat Shalom. Our building is beautiful and holds many memories both joyful and sad. Our sanctuary in particular is beautiful and with its light and openness is very conducive to meaningful prayer. But our building is also aging and in need of repairs and is expensive to maintain, to heat in the winter and cool in the summer. A number of officers and board members are exploring various alternatives, doing cost and income projections, and trying to understand which alternatives are realistic and which are not. This process has been and will continue to be transparent; no decisions have been made and none will be made without buy-in and approval from the members of Kehilat Shalom.
When I look at our congregation’s roster of officers and board members who take office Monday, it is an interesting mix. We have some people who were officers or board members when I started 12 years ago and continue to devote tremendous time and energy to our congregation. We have people who were members at that time but not particularly active, who have stepped up and shouldered responsibility. And we have people who were not members of Kehilat Shalom at the time -- some who did not live in the area twelve years ago, some who at the time belonged to other congregations, and some who were unaffiliated. It’s a nice mix of people who represent different histories and different perspectives and work together for the betterment of our community.
There are certainly still challenges to be faced as together we figure out the path forward. But with trust in God and trust in each other, we can create a bright future.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Charles L. Arian
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