Whatever happened to those quiet summers around Shomrei Torah? Not this year.
This summer we said farewell to Leira and welcomed back Rabbi George, refreshed and replenished, from his quadrennial sabbatical. We installed a new board, introduced our new “visual t’filah” using our new sanctuary projectors, and are publishing a new calendar of events for the coming year. We’re organizing our upcoming High Holy Day observance and readying a new school year. And some 300 of us had a blast, literally and figuratively, at our July 4th carnival.
What’s more, we’re putting the finishing touches on the August 19th Jewish Food Fest, probably the biggest single project our community has ever undertaken.
For Shomrei Torah, this is the new normal: non-stop activity all year round across all three of our defining purposes: learning, prayer and community. And the autumn promises even more.
What propels all this activity is an amazing cadre of volunteers supporting a dedicated staff and clergy, and a devoted congregation that reaches deep to providing the financial resources all of this requires.
As you read this, many of you have already renewed your memberships and made a generous pledge for the coming year. Others haven’t quite gotten around to it. Whichever camp you happen to be in, please accept the gratitude of all of us involved with leadership at Shomrei Torah. Only through your generosity can we continue to fulfill our mission, expand our programming, touch more hearts, and enrich the Shomrei Torah experience for everyone.
While the year-end financial results for fiscal 2011-2012 aren’t yet available, it looks like we will be very close to balancing last year’s budget, which means that together we managed to erase the significant budget deficit we had projected at the beginning of last year. This is a remarkable testament to your generosity (and to our penny-pinching staff, clergy and lay leaders).
Unfortunately, we’re also projecting a deficit for the current fiscal year—a fraction smaller than last year’s, but a significant challenge just the same. I’m confident that, with your continued generosity and support, we will find a way to close the gap again this year.
The Jewish Food Fest offers a delicious way to start. Come early, come hungry, bring a friend or two, and enjoy yet another way to participate in the non-stop Jewish community that is Shomrei Torah.
B’shalom,
Bruce