President's Column

President's Column - September 2020

At a time when many are feeling uncertain about what the future brings and are putting plans in place to make it through the next few months, we at TBT are doing something almost unheard of at this time: we are building for the future. That’s right – we’ve begun the enormous and exciting task of renovating our building! At the same time that we plan to keep our community together and safe, we are looking to a future where our building will be totally accessible, full of light and sound, secure, and with plenty of space for our members to worship, learn and create all kinds of community programs.

We don’t take on this important task lightly. We have been planning this work for years. And while it never seems like the exact right time for such a momentous undertaking, the building itself has let us know the time is now, as its systems are slowly failing and some of the structure is badly in need of repair.

While taking on this project is a challenge, it is by no means unprecedented here at TBT. Forty plus years ago, the founders of TBT took a risk to build our first synagogue with the hope that it would be a home for Jewish life on the Shoreline. And now here we are, almost 300 families strong.

As we look to a sweet new year and hope that many of the challenges we are facing today will be met and conquered in the year ahead, we at TBT can look to what we are actively building – both literally and figuratively—and look forward to next year in our own redone space that will welcome us and future generations for years to come.

Shana Tovah.
Sarah Mervine

President's Column Summer 2020

When I agreed to take on the role of President of TBT, I could not have imagined the challenges that 2020 would bring for all of us. It is a time of great difficulty for our world and our community on many fronts. And, yet, as I said at the annual meeting, I don’t think I have ever been prouder to be a member of this community and I feel increasingly hopeful as to what we will accomplish together over the next few years.

During the pandemic, TBT has offered a way to both reach out and to be reached. Through its Helping Hands program, it reached members to simply say hello and make certain all were safe and without need. Through virtual services, onegs, seders, Torah Study, Jewish Meditation and Religious School we have been able to worship together, learn together and just see one another’s faces. We have also continued the good work we always do – raising more in our online food drive than ever before, supporting our food pantries and local groups that help the larger community, and simply reacting to the news of the day and creating opportunities for reflection and learning.

The work doesn’t stop here. We will continue to build our community – both at TBT and in the world around us – no matter what the coming months bring. Future programs include exploring race relations through readings and discussions from the Social Justice Committee, a “get out the vote” initiative, intergenerational programming through the Religious School and other means, a virtual movie day with Kol Ami, and several summer outdoor in-person services.

While TBT is always involved in the work of building community described above, we will also turn our attention to literally building for our community. Soon after this Shofar is delivered we will see the first shovel hit the ground for our building renovation project. As with the work above, we need each and every one of you to be part of this exciting project and we thank you in advance for your support and dedication to our community.

While the year ahead may be one with many challenges, there is also much to be thankful for as we work towards the future. I feel confident we will face these challenges together and come out stronger, in a place that will be our Jewish home on the Shoreline for future generations.

- Sarah Mervine

President's Column - June 2020

Shalom. Summer is almost here, I have my vegetable garden planted, and the warmer weather and longer days all have us hoping for better times ahead. Your leadership, both clergy and the lay board, are carefully following the health guidance from our local and state leaders. We also have created our own synagogue committee with knowledgeable congregants to guide our decisions and programming through the summer and beyond. We are all hopeful to have some limited, in-person, socially distanced outdoor services or programs this summer, and we will be guided by the experts on what is both allowed and safe.

Regardless of what form it takes, we will be welcoming Cantor Jennifer Boyle to TBT in early July as our new Cantor-Educator. Cantor Boyle will bring her energy and talent to the Bimah and to the Religious School. She already has “Zoomed” with the B’nei Mitzvah families to introduce herself and ensure continuity. The co-chairs of our search committee, Sue Groll and Loren Sterman, are now co-chairs of our transition committee. Working with our Education Co-chairs Peter Chorney and Deb Coe, they will ensure a seamless hand-off from Cantor Stanton to Cantor Boyle. Please also calendar Friday, June 12 at 7:15 p.m. for a live, Zoom Shabbat service where we will say good-bye to Cantor Stanton and celebrate all that he gave to this community in the last two years.

This column is also my good-bye column as TBT President. But I’m not really going anywhere. After three years as President, I am transitioning to Immediate Past President, so I will continue to serve on the Executive Committee and Board and look forward to working with your new President, Sarah Mervine, in the next couple of years. It has been an honor and pleasure to be TBT’s President, to meet so many more of you and really experience the love this congregation has for TBT. It has also been an honor and pleasure to work closely with the clergy, staff, and all of the lay leaders on TBT’s Board and committees. TBT has a bright future, and I look forward to seeing it all unfold.

As they say in Israel, l’hitraot. See you again soon.
Jeff Babbin

President's Column

Shalom.

May is normally a time to treasure the outdoors, when we enjoy the warm air and, on Memorial Day weekend, kick off summer fun. Instead, we’re in our own silos, our bunkers – our homes. We do get to treasure time with family, including children home from college (even if they would much prefer to still be there!). And there’s something spiritual about taking a daily long walk with a family member, emerging from our indoor lives for those brief moments of freedom and sunshine.

TBT also gives us those moments of connection to our community, even if it’s through our new means of connecting to the world – the internet and Zoom. Our weekly Shabbat services to view online, our interactive live Oneg gatherings and Torah Study group, weekly Mindfulness & Meditation, our renewed Religious School lessons, and the wonderful Passover Second Seder that over 50 TBT families attended have become part of the new rhythm of our lives.

Soon, our online experience will include the TBT Annual Meeting. Yes, like clockwork, virus or no virus, we will have our Annual Meeting, just not in the Social Hall. Through your computers, we can hear all about the wonderful things happening at TBT, celebrate our accomplishments, honor the Friesner Scholarship winner (and hear a report from last year’s winner), understand the TBT budget for the next year, and elect next year’s leaders who will help to continue to make TBT the beacon of Jewish life on the shoreline. Hope to “see” you all via Zoom on Thursday, May 14, from 7:00-8:30 p.m. The only thing we can’t give you is the pre-meeting nosh!

Although, that reminds me that TBT’s Helping Hands is still there for everyone who needs a person to talk to or assistance in shopping or other needs. Just reach out to the TBT Office.

- Jeff Babbin

President's Column - April 2020

Shalom.

I write to you at a time of great uncertainty in all of our lives, as they’ve been upended by a public health crisis unprecedented in our lifetimes. Our children are home from day care centers, grade schools, and colleges; our workplaces require remote work; and our local restaurants, theaters, and fitness centers are closed. I’m writing this column on March 18, but it’s impossible to predict what our lives will be like when you read this April Shofar column.

Although the synagogue building is physically closed to public access for now, rest assured that Temple Beth Tikvah remains open as your spiritual home on the shoreline. Our staff are ensuring all synagogue business is getting done; our clergy are ensuring you have access (even if remotely) to services and Torah study; our B’nai Mitzvah students are receiving their tutoring (again, remotely); and our religious school is actively pursuing strategies to engage your children remotely and continue their learning.

We are not alone. The umbrella organization for Reform synagogues, the URJ, is bringing the whole Reform Movement together via a series of videoconferences to provide resources and support to congregations throughout the country. And you – our congregants – are not alone. TBT is concerned with the health, safety, and welfare of every member of this community, and thanks to a dedicated group of volunteers, we are reaching out to every congregant to ensure they are well and if they have needs we can work to fulfill. If you have not yet been contacted, or if you need a helping hand, or just someone to talk to, don’t hesitate to let the TBT Office, the Rabbi or Cantor know. Rest assured that TBT will be there for you.

Let’s hope and pray for easier times in the months ahead. May your celebration of Passover be meaningful in whatever form it can take.

Jeff Babbin

President's Column - March 2020

Dear fellow congregants,

I am writing to update you on the search for a cantor and educator to succeed Cantor Stanton after he departs on June 30. I am pleased to report that our cantor-educator search committee is up and running, chaired by Sue Groll and Loren Sterman. The committee is busy sorting through our options and submitting applications.

Cantor Stanton (like Cantor Margolius before him) wore multiple hats as a cantor-educator in addressing the musical, spiritual, and educational needs of our congregation. As we look for a candidate to fill those big shoes, the committee is taking a flexible approach in hiring, consistent with TBT’s history. For those of you who have been part of our community for many years, you’ll recall our use of student cantors on weekends and High Holidays or, at other times, a part-time ordained cantor or non-ordained music director (cantorial soloist) – with a separate professional educator serving as our religious school director in a part-time capacity. We are open to a variety of permutations, taking into account the applications we receive and the needs of our congregation.

Consistent with the breadth of our needs, our search committee (overseen by Sue and Loren) reflects the breadth of our congregation, populated with congregants with both musical and educational interests and experiences, cutting across different generations, and involved with a variety of synagogue activities (choir, Torah Study, religious school, and others). I thank the following volunteers: Peter Chorney, Christine Dokko, Kate Glazer, Alan Meyers, Heide Mueller-Hatton, Walter Stutzman, Stu Weinzimer, and Sandy Whelan. Also, the Rabbi and President (yes, that’s me) sit on the committee.

We are excited to undertake this work. If you have ideas that you’d like to share with the committee, please email me at jbabbin@wiggin.com .

-Jeff Babbin

President's Column January 2020

Shalom.

Hanukkah came late, having just ended at sundown on December 30. I can remember one year getting to light Hanukkah candles even on New Year’s Eve. But it is a funny thing to say that the Jewish holidays are “early” or “late.” Yes, we talk about how the past High Holidays came late. But, of course, the Jewish holidays come on the same day every year—on the Hebrew calendar.

I bet that many of us have a preference whether holidays come early or late. Yes, we Jews have opinions about everything. Do you like when Rosh Hashanah comes right on the heels of Labor Day, or do you like to have most of September to prepare for them? What about Hanukkah? (Or “Chanukah” as TBT prefers to spell it—again, we all have opinions, even about spelling.) One year not long ago, the first night of Hanukkah was the Wednesday night before Thanksgiving. That was special because we got to celebrate with our out-of-state relatives who usually visit us for Thanksgiving but never get to celebrate Hanukkah with us. Yet, there are those who much prefer Hanukkah, like this past one, starting around Christmas, so shopping is in sync with what many Americans call the “holiday season.” Yet, that poses its own difficulties. We just had our annual TBT brisket and latkes Hanukkah dinner on Friday, December 20, two nights before the actual start of the holiday, because we knew that if we waited until Friday, December 27, many families would be away. That’s the problem—we celebrate our Jewish holidays on one calendar while living our school and work lives around a different calendar.

How do you react when Hanukkah is over by the first week of December and well-meaning friends and co-workers wish you Happy Holidays or even Happy Hanukkah at the “holiday party?” Just nod and say thanks, or say thanks but gently remind them your holiday is long over? And what about the TV stations that throughout December (regardless of when Hanukkah falls in the month) display a Christmas tree and Hanukkah menorah on their Seasons Greetings message to viewers? Personally, if they need to greet viewers and display the tree, I’d just as soon they not bother with the menorah. It feels strained and not real, even if well-meaning. Do they wish us a Happy Passover in the spring, with a logo of matzo or a Seder plate, as that’s a more important holiday in our religion? Well, that’s my opinion. Yours might be entirely different, which of course is fine.

I spent my elementary school years in a town and school with very few Jews. I distinctly remember in 5th grade when I and my friend Stan (who, incidentally, introduced me to my wife Marlene 19 years later) were asked to go explain Hanukkah to a class of 2nd graders. I suppose it was good to do so, although it also gave me the sense of being different, an outsider explaining my alien culture. You can imagine my shock when, one December soon after that, I happened to be in Great Neck, Long Island (yes, where Rabbi Offner grew up) and saw Hanukkah displays in all the store windows. I couldn’t believe such a place existed.

Oh, and speaking of early or late: It’s never the wrong time and never too late to contribute to the TBT Annual Fund. It supports our vibrant synagogue and makes it possible for TBT to open our doors to everyone in the shoreline Jewish community.

- Jeff Babbin

President's Column December 2019

Each year at this time, we ask that you extend your generosity to assure the continued wellbeing of Temple Beth Tikvah by making a donation to our Annual Fund.

TBT’s mission is to be a vibrant, inclusive Reform Jewish community. To fulfill that mission and include all area families seeking a Jewish home at TBT, we must come together to support our synagogue. The full cost of running TBT is approximately $2,900 per member household. The Annual Fund provides essential support for the day-today operations of our synagogue, critical resources to help offset further increases in our dues, and support for Jews who live in our area but who otherwise could not be a part of our family.

Thanks to your generosity in 5779 (last year), over one-third of our member households contributed over $75,000 with donations ranging from $10,000 to $18. If we increase our participation to even one-half of our member households, the synagogue and the shoreline Jewish community will greatly benefit from your generosity. Please join me in that effort.

Every contribution makes a difference to the financial health of our synagogue.

Please make your contribution to the 5780 TBT Annual Fund in an amount that is both meaningful and possible for you; every gift matters, regardless of size. The Torah reminds us each to give according to our ability. If you can, please consider a donation whether it is $18, $118, $1,800 or more. If you can afford more, please make as generous a donation as is possible for you. A form is enclosed in this Shofar for your convenience. You can also make your donation online at www.tbtshoreline.org.

Remember: All donations to the Annual Fund are tax deductible. Your generosity makes a difference!

Thank you for your dedication to our TBT community and for your gift to the Annual Fund. On behalf of our Board of Directors, myself, and my family, we wish you a sweet, healthy, and productive new year.

G’mar Tov.
Jeff Babbin

President's Column November 2019

Reprint of the President's Talk from the Kol Nidre Service:

Shana Tova.
This is my third year speaking to you on the High Holidays as TBT’s President. I’ve had to think — what fresh ideas can I come up with that aren’t a repeat of previous years? But then I remembered that this is Kol Nidre. We repeat the same prayer three times in one night. And, of course, we repeat the same prayers every year on the High Holidays. We Jews revel in tradition and repetition. It gives us comfort, renews us, and inspires us to do better, each and every year. It is what binds us together as a community, here at TBT and with Jews around the world.

Your membership at TBT, also renewed every year, is another tradition that binds us together. I cannot repeat enough how grateful I am for your continued membership. Membership is the backbone of our synagogue. It’s what keeps us upright and sustains us. Whether you’re at TBT every week or just once a year, your membership is an expression of commitment to TBT’s mission, to everything we do to maintain a Jewish presence on the shoreline. That includes being ambassadors to the greater community; actively participating in interfaith cooperation; and promoting social justice. It’s about maintaining the roof over our own heads here at 196 Durham Road but also about helping others, as with our participation in Raise the Roof, the shoreline’s affiliate of Habitat for Humanity, building homes for families in need and creating goodwill in the greater community. What we do here is thanks to your membership and your support.

Sometimes, sitting in the sanctuary, I’ll see a prayer in our Siddur that reminds me of TBT’s mission. One prayer reads: “Have we not all one Parent? Did not one God create us? This is the call from Sinai: There shall be one law, for the citizen and the stranger in your midst.”

A second prayer says, “I have asked of God to dwell in God’s House …, and to gaze in delight at God’s Temple.” Well, I do gaze in delight at this temple, the building, and all we do in it.

Now, here’s a third saying, but I didn’t find it in the prayer book. This was written by the wise sage, Mick Jagger. Mick sang: “You can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, well, you might find you get what you need.”

Because it’s not in the prayer book, I can take issue with that statement. I think we can do better. If we come together as a community at TBT, we can get both what we need and what we want. As we proceed with our renovation project, we will have comfortable, safe, accessible, and well-maintained facilities for years to come. And we can go beyond that. We can have a Jewish home that invites and welcomes all of us to worship, study, and celebrate together. An inspiring, sun-lit sanctuary. A vibrant social hall with a covered outdoor veranda that connects us to the beauty of our surroundings.

I am hoping to see many of you at the special event we are holding at TBT the evening of Saturday, November 9. We have mailed invitations to bring all of the adults in the TBT community together to learn about and celebrate our future while continuing the traditions of our past. We will gather at 6:00 p.m. to hear about our capital campaign, entitled “Building Community.” We will talk about the campaign’s success to date and how each and every one of us can build on that success over the next year. We will unveil the final designs for enhancing our beautiful home. And once the talking is over, we will celebrate with a delightful Kosher Chinese dinner and festive music. This will be a memorable night to start a memorable next phase of TBT’s life serving the Jewish shoreline community.

So many of you have already joined us on this campaign journey by serving on committees and attending congregational meetings to plan for our future. November 9th will be a time to bring all of us together in one place, at one time, to acknowledge our accomplishments and learn of the tasks ahead.

Louis Brandeis, the first Jewish Supreme Court Justice, once said, “Most of the things worth doing in the world were declared impossible before they were done.” With your help and participation, we will reach our goals and, one day, look back with satisfaction and pride for what we have accomplished.

On behalf of our Board of Directors, myself, and my family, we wish you a sweet, healthy, and productive new year.
G’mar Tov.
Jeff Babbin