Our El Sid

Mea maxima culpa for failing to recognize the retirement of Sid Sussman from the Temple board at the annual meeting and in my subsequent blog post.

In addition to providing more than a decade of inspiring service on our board, Sid is the champion of our popular Comparative Religion Series. He has also been the key leader for TBE’s well regarded community relations efforts, overseeing many of our dialogues, organizing and presenting talks, and representing our congregation and the broader Jewish communiy at events and programs across the city.

Sid serves on the board of Mecklenburg Ministries and has been honored for his interfaith work, teaching thousands about our faith through his actions and his words.

He has been a pillar in making Temple a strong presence in Charlotte, not to mention one of our congregantion’s biggest mensch’s. Thanks to Sid for his service.

Saluting Our Outgoing Board Members

At the annual meeting last night, we honored three board members who are stepping down at the end of this year. Here’s what I had to say about each:

Leslie Archer — One of the most committed and spiritual people I know. Leslie provided strong leadership on the board, and her family was a major catalyst in our successful capital campaign.

Judy Seldin-Cohen — A fearless, passionate and relentless leader on the board and co-chair of Social Action and Justice Committee. Skillfully and single-handedly shepherded the board in the process of adopting a resolution in support of affordable housing, making us one of a rare few houses of worship in Charlotte to take such a public and I think, courageous stand.

Jonathan Howard — Our immediate past president. Jonathan recently ran a half-marathon and was limping around and whining afterward. But he certainly did not limp to this finish line of his board work. I can say without exaggeration that Jonathan was one of this congregation’s greatest presidents and leaders.

Please join me in thanking these outgoing board members for their hard work and commitment to Temple Beth El.

Annual Meeting Remarks

Following are my prepared remarks from last night’s annual meeting in the LJCC Sam Lerner Center:

It is my pleasure to welcome you all to this annual meeting — the first and, I hope, last one we’ll ever have in this room.

Temple Beth El has been a very busy place during the past 12 months — officially dubbed the Year of the Wandering Reform Jews.

Our historic building expansion and renovation got underway, when we moved out of the old building last summer and broke ground in October. Since then, work has accelerated at a breakneck pace and we’re nearly a third of the way completed. In a few minutes, building committee chair Ben Benson will brief you on the details, complete with recent photos of the construction site.

Over the past year, the economic drought seemed to suck the energy out of all of us. Congregants continued to seek assistance from us at record levels – and our staff and clergy again responded, in collaboration with Shalom Park partners such as JFS, Federation, the JCC and Temple Israel as well as outside agencies.

But the drumbeat of Temple life remained steady and strong. Enrollment in the religious school again neared 500 students, more than 70 sheva students became bar or bat mitzvah, and nearly 100 attended classes as part of our new Temple Beth El University.

Our community celebrated births and weddings, honored Cantor Bernard for 10 years of cantankerous but inspiring service here. We worshipped every week together, held our first-ever and successful Purim Dance, welcomed new members to our faith through conversion, and mourned the passing of some good friends and long-time congregants such as Faye Green and Donna Levin.

Meanwhile, every demographic segment of our congregation, from families with pre-schoolers to singles to 40s-50s to seniors, buzzed with programming and other activity.

As with many of our families, the board and staff had their hands full keeping the Temple’s budget in check. We persevered, and despite a large shortfall in pledge income from what was expected, we finished the year with a small deficit of $15,000 out of a nearly $2 million operating budget.

In the past year, we also looked up from the daily work for a view over the horizon — launching several strategic initiatives designed to ensure that Temple stays strong for many years and generations to come.

For example, you may be surprised – or even shocked – to learn that almost half of our congregants pay below the expected pledge amounts for their membership categories. This year, that represented more than $500,000 in lost income to the Temple – and pledge income is by far our largest source of operating funds. This has been a chronic challenge for Temple, not just something that flared in the most recent economic downturn. In the coming year, we will confront this challenge with deliberate intent, creativity, and of course, compassion.

Our past presidents agreed to take a hard look at our financial model – everything from pledge income and operating expenses to endowment growth – and bring forth recommendations for improved effectiveness to the board. Similarly, the executive committee has charged Susan Jacobs with a thorough and strategic assessment of the religious school’s business model, and what the school will need to be successful in the future.

And God willing, we will offer our first-ever customer service training for staff and lay leaders before I step down at the end of June.

Speaking of which, it’s hard to believe that my term as president is almost over. Two years blew by, as my predecessor Jonathan Howard promised it would, and as I have assured my successor, Moira Quinn, it will.

Every day I have been humbled by the passion and commitment for Temple Beth El shown by outstanding clergy, committed staff, a talented and passionate board, and you – the congregation.

It hasn’t always been easy — as Jonathan also promised as recently as this afternoon. But it’s been an amazing ride. And as I climb into the back seat for the last leg of my leadership journey, I’d like to say thank you again, to all of you, for your support and the privilege of serving your family’s spiritual and religious needs.