A Wonderful Weekend

Shalom. What a wonderful weekend we had at Temple. First we celebrated the Bat Mitzvah of Chelsea Wright. Chelsea did a wonderful job leading the congregation in worship. She made us all very proud.

Additionally over the course of this past weekend we welcomed our Scholar in Residence, Rabbi Michael Cook. Rabbi Cook spoke four times, first to area clergy (21 attended), then after Sabbath eve worship, next for our Aleinu series Saturday evening and finally on Sunday morning during a catered breakfast. By the way the breakfast was delicious. Rachel Jacobs of Kosher Vermont put out a fantastic array of food.

Yesterday I received a warm note from Roddy O’Neil Cleary, retired minister from Burlington’s Unitarian Church. I share her note with you.

Dear Jim, Thank you for providing such a rich and rare opportunity! Rabbi Michael Cook could not have been a greater gift to the community. I have met and heard many gifted Jewish teachers over the years among them Abraham Heschel and Mark Tannenbaum. I do believe that Cook was the most charismatic…

And your congregation was so warm and welcoming to me on Sunday morning. I told my friends that I chose to go to Temple instead of church on Sunday! I think Jesus would have been pleased. I’m happy to be your neighborhood. Yours, Roddy

Many thanks to those who helped make this weekend a great success, particularly those members of the Membership and Marketing and Spiritual committees. And a special thanks to the late Dr. Martin Wennar whose generosity made this wonderful weekend possible.

In Peace, Rabbi James Scott Glazier

Thank You For Your Patience

Dear Friends, for some time communications from Temple have come via the internet (weekly updates, emails and our web-site).  The Shofar has been incorporated into the weekly update and “click throughs” within the update transport us to the appropriate page in the congregational web-site.  Initially some people were put off by the change from paper mailings to electronic ones.  However due to the enormous expense associated with paper mailings the Temple Board decided electronic mailings would be the general means of communicating information to the congregation. Change is never easy yet I am pleased to share that over the course of the past year more and more of our congregants have embraced electronic communications.  Readership has increased by fifty percent and “click throughs” have increased by thirty percent.  This acceptance of our financial reality is heartening and for that I am grateful.  For those members who are not equipped to receive electronic mailings the Temple Office is ready to forward hard copies. More than the financial benefit to Temple is the environmental benefit. Reams and reams of paper are being saved.  A sixteen page newsletter sent to 350 homes twelve times a year constitutes 33,600 sheets of paper or 67.5 reams (more paper than the Temple office uses in an entire year).  This is something we can certainly be proud of. I know change can often be uncomfortable and that change for change sake is often done with little forethought. Yet much thought went into this decision and much benefit has already been forthcoming as a result. Thank you for your patience and understanding. Your thoughts and responses are always welcomed and appreciated.

In Peace, Rabbi James S. Glazier