President's Column - Summer 2018

Shalom.
TBT was a hotbed of activity in June, so the summer months of July and August should bring us some respite and time for reflection.

Every weekend in June brought excitement – from the Broadway and Burgers dinner and entertainment extravaganza, to the Board Installation Shabbat, to the blockbuster farewell Shabbat for Cantor Margolius. Yes, about 200 congregants filled our synagogue to honor our Cantor before his departure for New Orleans – and the tributes and unique gifts were heartwarming. I have to thank Sandy Whelan (chair), Jodie Ambrosino, and Judy Merriam for serving on the committee that, in conjunction with the Rabbi, organized the night. And special thanks to Rob Jacoby for the Cantor’s portrait on behalf of the Torah Study participants, and to John Lesage, the master craftsman who designed and created by hand the magnificent wooden music stand that Cantor Margolius will take with him as a reminder of our musical experiences together these past five years.

The next two months will bring a slower pace. Remember: every July and August service on Friday nights starts at 6:00 p.m. Those held at TBT will have a pre-service oneg (“pre-neg”) at 6:00 followed by a relatively short service. Then there are the two beach Shabbat services at Madison’s East Wharf Beach, on July 13 and August 3 at 6:00, followed by a short walk to a congregant’s house for the oneg. Last year’s beach Shabbats were memorable, so bring your folding chair and join us! Bonus treat: hearing Cantor Mark Stanton’s beautiful voice – which many of you heard at Cantor Margolius’s farewell Shabbat – at every summer service starting with Friday, July 6.

- Jeff Babbin

President's Column - June 2018

Shalom. June brings us to both endings and beginnings. When one era ends, another always begins. June is the last month of TBT’s fiscal year, and with it we have Board members departing after years of service but also congregants newly joining our Board to help us fulfill our mission statement in all we do. At our Annual Meeting, we recognized the departing Board members and came together to welcome the new ones. If you are interested in service to your synagogue, whether it is on the board or, just as important, on one of our committees; please let me, the Rabbi, our office staff, or another Board member know.

June is also the month when we say farewell to Cantor Kevin Margolius, who in his five years of service to our congregation has been a spiritual and musical leader and friend. He leaves us as a stronger community, and with a solid religious school, ready for the next era. And that era is already starting as we welcome our new cantor-educator, Cantor Mark Stanton, who brings a wealth of experience and talent to the shoreline of Connecticut. It is fitting that on Friday evening, June 15, we will have the opportunity to celebrate all that Cantor Margolius has brought to our community while also saying hello to Cantor Stanton, who will attend that special Shabbat service. Do please come that evening as we transition from one era to the next.

June is also a month of high school graduations, where in our own families we celebrate what our children have accomplished while readying them for the next era of college and adulthood. In May, we had a special Shabbat service recognizing and blessing TBT’s large group of 12th graders (including two from the Babbin family!) as we looked both backwards and forwards. I am pleased how TBT has prepared our children for leading Jewish lives as they depart our homes for the next stages of their lives.

- Jeff Babbin

President's Column - May 2018

Shalom.

“Civility.” That’s a word I want to plug in this month’s column. It’s a short column because I am facing a barrage of work-related deadlines in my legal practice. But what makes it all tolerable is civility in my profession and in the workplace. A lawsuit is by definition an intractable dispute among people or businesses, so we have courts that apply the rule of law to maintain civility. Now, sometimes I do face a lawyer for the opposing party (usually from out-of-state!) who thinks that being difficult will give him or her an advantage. That is mistaken. One thing I’ve learned about Connecticut is that most of my Connecticut legal peers, even when our clients are locked in a legal battle, are civil and professional and make Connecticut a wonderful place for the legal profession. Connecticut is, as you all know, a small world, and lawyers who are opposed to me on one case might be working alongside me on another one, or working on a project with me for a legal organization like the bar association.

It is a shame that our political world has lost the civility that had long been a hallmark of legislative and executive life and tradition. Has it improved anyone’s political standing, the ability to get things done, or the lives of the politicians and their constituents? I think not. Now, there were exceptions in history to this civility, like the 1856 caning of Senator Sumner by Rep. Brooks, a dispute that foreshadowed the larger divisions that led to Civil War. Civil discourse has greatly improved since then, but we risk too much by forgetting the benefits of civility.

To help all of us continue to engage in meaningful and respectful exchanges within our communities, TBT is presenting a program entitled “How to Talk to Each Other: Effective Communication about Differences.” If you are reading this in late April, please join us at TBT on Sunday, April 29, 2018, at 9:30 a.m. to hear from two expert TBT members, Nancy Abramson, MSW, and Rosemary Baggish, MPH, about how to talk and discuss issues in a divided, polarized country. You’ll even get to enjoy a light brunch.

I also hope to see you all on Tuesday, May 22, 2018, for our congregation’s Annual Meeting. An update on the building project will be on the agenda, along with the usual information and honors. Come at 7:00 p.m. for dessert and attend the 90-minute program from 7:15 to 8:45 p.m.

- Jeff Babbin

President's Column - April 2018

Shalom.
It was exciting to see over a hundred of our congregants at our March 11th congregational meeting, to learn about our synagogue renewal project. The Rabbi delivered an inspirational message linking our past to the future, Bruce Topolosky explained the work of the Building Committee and how the needs of our building and community are being examined and documented, and our architect Duo Dickinson sought to help us visualize a building and landscape (and parking!) that will both serve and inspire us.

We also heard about our pending purchase of our adjacent property along Route 79, 206 Durham Road, to give us much greater flexibility for the project and an expansion of our frontage along the main road. Our fundraising consultant Peter Heller introduced himself, as we soon embark on a campaign to strengthen the financial foundation of our community, which will reflect the commitment and investment of our congregants. From this great start, taking into account both your ideas and concerns, our Building Committee will be very active in the coming months to develop schedules and timelines and work with the architect to produce design options to share with the congregation and ultimately to be considered by the Board.

Rest assured that your Board and Clergy are fully committed to the present as well as the future, with all synagogue services, education, lifecycle events, and social activities proceeding without interruption or diminishment (even if temporary space will be planned for as needed). All planning will be done with deliberation and in consultation with the congregation. The results will not disappoint.

Please save the date of Tuesday, May 22, 2018, for our congregation’s Annual Meeting. An update on the building project will be on the agenda, along with the usual information and honors. Due to scheduling issues, we will have an evening meeting instead of our usual Sunday morning gathering. Come at 7:00 p.m. for dessert and attend the 90-minute program from 7:15 to 8:45 p.m.

A shout-out to the efforts of our Social Justice Committee in organizing TBT’s participation in the Guilford gathering of the national March for Our Lives event, held on March 24th.
As you read this, I hope you are enjoying your celebration of Pesach and, just perhaps, the beginnings of some sign of spring in Connecticut!

- Jeff Babbin

President's Column - March 2018

Shalom. We cannot wait until the Sunday, March 11th congregational meeting to share with you all how our synagogue renewal project is coming along. Come nosh with your fellow congregants at 9:30 a.m. and then learn what the many volunteers on our Building Committee and their supporting cast have been up to when putting their heads, hearts, and talents together in service to our community. Come hear the choices examined and the vision for the future. A must-see will be the large-scale model and the aerial drone footage of our property presented by our architect Duo Dickinson. It will be an engaging and informative morning, to wake you up after losing an hour’s sleep from going on daylight savings time.

March also brings us the Passover Seder – yes, in March, not April! Never too early to plan to spend your Second Seder with your fellow TBT congregants at our communal Seder on Saturday evening, March 31.

While we can take delight from our synagogue community, we also cannot ignore the sad news around us. Our synagogue and nursery school mourn our nursery school graduate Ethan Song, the Guilford High School freshman who passed away in tragic circumstances in recent weeks. Then we had the national news of the events in Parkland, Florida. We certainly need a new national conversation about guns and public safety. I hope that as many people as possible take this opportunity to engage in the civic advocacy and public discourse necessary to move our nation to a sounder and safer footing.

- Jeff

President's Column - February 2018

Shalom. The Jewish people have historically provided a home for refugees and aid to those in need. I would like to mention a couple of examples of that mission from this past month. First, I am pleased that TBT’s participation in the Shoreline Interfaith Refugee Resettlement group (SHIRR) has led to our sponsoring another refugee family arriving on January 25 (just a few days after I’m writing this column – and my twin daughters’ 18th birthday, if I can throw that in!). The family of 3 from Afghanistan will have a Branford apartment near the center of town. As reported in our TBT weekly Shofar blast, TBT needs to raise $3,500 to honor its financial commitment to help resettle the family, and I am confident that our congregants will fund that commitment.

I also recently attended a special briefing in New Haven, organized by the Jewish Federation of Greater New Haven, by William Recant, the Assistant Executive Vice-President of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC). Invited guests heard Dr. Recant speak passionately and eloquently of the JDC’s mission and accomplishments over several decades, providing aid, medicine, social support, and rescue operations (as needed) to Jewish and other communities around the world. Dr. Recant’s work in this field goes back to assisting with the airlift of Ethiopian Jews to Israel, but more recently the JDC has needed to intervene to assist Jews in need during the current crisis in Venezuela (among many more examples too numerous to mention here). The JDC is a partner agency of the Jewish Federations of Greater New Haven, and hearing of its work makes one proud to be part of the greater Jewish community.

I am also proud to say that many of our congregants (adults and children) recently participated in the various one-year anniversary Women’s Marches held in multiple cities. I fully expect to see and hear of many more efforts by our congregants to both promote social justice and assist people and communities in need.

- Jeff

President's Column - January 2018

Shalom. In contrast to the cold, snowy weather as I’m writing this in mid-December, I have experienced the warmth of several wonderful community events this month. Our TBT communal Chanukah dinner and service - attended by about 150 congregants, including many children - was a joy to behold, and our Mitzvah Day at religious school was equally uplifting. The collective spirit of our children at these events warmed up the coldest days.

An even bigger gathering was the Biennial conference for the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ), where I spent a few days in Boston in early December with over 5,000 fellow Reform Jews from across the United States and Canada (including seven of us from TBT!). If there was ever any question about the spirit and vibrancy of Reform Judaism, going to Biennial will dispel those doubts. (You will all have another chance two years from now in Chicago!) Among all the learning sessions, talks, services, and entertainment was an important sermon by URJ President Rick Jacobs discussing the growth of Reform Judaism in Israel and the determined fight to ensure its rightful place in Israeli society and law, along with useful perspectives on the status of Jerusalem and the West Bank.

Closer to home, we will have an important opportunity to learn about our exciting synagogue building project, and its current status and options, at a congregational meeting scheduled for Sunday morning, March 11th. Please follow the progress of our project in the monthly update in Shofar newsletter and put the March 11th gathering on your calendars.

- Jeff Babbin

President's Column - December 2017

Shalom. We have all just celebrated Thanksgiving, a holiday that brings together people of all religions and communities in our country. It must be an especially sweet day for refugee families celebrating their first Thanksgiving, their first celebration of being a new American.

Coming together as a community and bridging our differences was in important theme of a Guilford event that I recently attended one Sunday afternoon in November. Entitled “Building a Community of Compassion,” a broad cross-section of Guilford residents (including clergy, activists, and concerned citizens) explored their own experiences and those of others regarding diversity (or lack thereof) in the area and incidents of bias or intolerance. There was much reflection and conversation, and many of us spending the afternoon at the Guilford Community Center learned a great deal by just sitting down and listening to the stories of others. We ended the day by each person committing to assist with an action plan. For me, I will attend a meeting on December 6th to explore forming a Guilford Human Rights Commission. Thanks to Rabbi Offner for being part of the steering committee organizing the event and inviting me to participate.

Changing the subject only slightly, there is a step we can all take to help TBT be a more welcoming, vibrant, and economically diverse place. This year’s Annual Fund campaign is underway, and my letter explaining how you can participate was mailed to all congregants and is linked in the weekly Shofar e-Blast. The Annual Fund brings in necessary funds for all aspects of TBT operations but is particularly critical in allowing us to welcome all Jewish shoreline families regardless of their economic circumstances. We are a stronger community for opening our doors to all area Jewish families, and we hope to have at least 50% of TBT members make a donation to the Annual Fund in an amount that is comfortable for them. Thank you.

Jeff Babbin

President's Column - November 2017

Shalom. The contemplation and exhilaration of the High Holidays are now behind us. They were polished off by wonderful and lively Sukkot and Simchat Torah celebrations with perhaps 100 congregants at each service, many of them children from our Religious School. What now? Nothing until Chanukah? Actually TBT does not shut down after the High Holidays and has a full slate of services and activities ahead of us this fall.

In addition to weekly Shabbat services and Torah study, Jewish Mindfulness & Meditation will have another Saturday morning session November 4, and the TBT Book Club continues to meet on the third Thursday of every month (see the Shofar for details). Lessons in Hebrew reading start on November 12, as a prelude to next January’s Torah Chanting class. And the can’t-miss event of the Fall is this year’s Scholar-in-Residence weekend: TBT will be blessed when Rabbi Deborah Zecher brings her love of Broadway and Bible to TBT. At the Friday, November 17 service, Rabbi Zecher will present a “Sermon in a Song.” Then on Saturday, November 18, from 6:00-9:30pm, join your fellow congregants for dinner, Havdalah, and Rabbi Zelcher’s presentation on “Broadway Bible,” combining rabbinic insights with her knowledge and performance of Broadway show tunes. Forget an expensive trip to New York and come to Broadway in Madison instead. Free to congregants (and non-members can come with a contribution). Just let the office know you’re coming.

There will also be multiple opportunities this Fall to learn and socialize with members of other synagogues. The URJ’s Biennial Convention is in Boston December 6-10, and already seven TBT members (perhaps a record!) will be going to join with thousands of other Reform synagogue members nationally. Registration is still open. Several of our teen members of the SALTY Youth Group will be attending the regional BBYO Convention in Danbury on November 10-12. All in all, a busy and fulfilling Autumn at TBT.

- Jeff Babbin

President's Column - October 2017

Shalom. We have reached another new year on the Jewish calendar - a time of renewal, a
time for reflection. Many of us in Connecticut are fortunate to be able to celebrate this time of year in our homes and in our synagogues. But we cannot ignore the news coming from other parts of our continent, where homes and synagogues are damaged and people are taking shelter in unfamiliar places. Thankfully, the Jewish community is united in times like this, with synagogues in neighboring but safe states helping to find shelter for those who fled their homes and Jewish organizations assisting with relief efforts.

The focus on the news media is on damage to buildings. What is important about a building? Isn’t a building just a structure, with roof, floor, and walls? Can’t it just be rebuilt after a natural
disaster? But, of course, a building is much more than that. We are often attached to our homes for reasons that go beyond architecture or the materials used in its construction. Our homes are where we connect with family and friends - creating a small community within the larger one; it is where we return for rest after a weary day of work or school; it is where we dream for the future and make plans.

In Madison, we all have another house - a house of hope (Beth Tikvah). TBT also provides a community within a larger one, and where many of us go for reflection, spiritual nourishment,
and companionship. But we as a synagogue are not turned only inward, as we also examine our relationship to the outside world and strive to improve that world for Jews and non-Jews
alike. Like all households, we have rules (although these go back thousands of years), which provide a helpful structure for living a good and meaningful life. It is my hope that we all work together in the year ahead to make a difference, whether it’s in one person’s life or the world at large. If we do that, then we have taken what is made of wood and other common materials and truly made it a synagogue.

Jeff Babbin