President's Column - May 2017

Well, we’ve been talking about it long enough, but now it’s here, finally. Spring? Yes, that too, but I’m referring to our big 40th anniversary bash. A chance to pause from all our hard work in our "day jobs" and our hard work here at TBT, to just enjoy each other’s company. Catch up with old friends, make new friends, remind ourselves of one of the most important aspects of TBT - a place to just be together.

There will be many moments at the anniversary party to reflect on our origins as a community and our future, but I would just like to use this space to thank some people who were so critical in making this moment happen. First of all, our Programming Chair, Gary Damiano, who oversaw all of the event planning, from the food, to the flow, to the decorations. Also big Todah Rabbah to Suzy Frisch, Shaun Glazier, Jill Lesage, Judy Merriam, Bonnie Stoddard, all our silent auction contributors, and of course, Kim Romine and Bonnie Mahon, who as usual handle it all with grace and a smile.

I hope to see you ALL that weekend, leading off with our special Shabbat service that Friday, and then Saturday too. And if that wasn’t enough, I hope that you will ALSO join us Sunday, May 7th, at 9:30 AM, for our annual congregational meeting, during which time we will review important TBT business such as approving our budget, electing our next Board of Directors, and honoring our Kavod Award and Friesner scholarship recipients. We will, of course, have food (after all, it is a Jewish event), and if you would love to hear live Jewish music, stay for Tefilah afterwards and join our religious school students in some spirited prayer.

- Stu Weinzimer

President's Column - April 2017

As this issue of the Shofar reaches you, we have just completed the Book of Exodus in our Torah cycle and are starting the first parsha of Leviticus, Vayikra, meaning "And G-d called." As the Rabbi and Cantor can tell you, it seems as if every chapter in the Book of Leviticus starts with "And G-d spoke to Moses..." Indeed, there is a lot of speaking in Leviticus. In order to successfully forge and maintain a thriving community, there has to be a lot of talking.

I would like to thank all of you who came out to our Congregational Conversation to come talk with us about your vision of TBT. We learned so much about what TBT means to you, why you are here, and what your hopes and dreams are for the future. Our Mission-Vision committee is putting together the learnings from these conversations with the results of our Congregational Mission Survey, and over the next few weeks will be drafting a new Mission Statement for TBT, which, once approved by the Board, will be shared with the congregation at our annual meeting in May.

At our Conversation we also heard your ideas and opinions about our building, and how you think it should evolve to meet our needs in the coming generation. Preliminary work by our Building Committee has identified several key areas to focus our attention, and many of these same ideas were echoed by you at the Conversation. More importantly, you also gave us some additional points to consider in our planning. And most importantly, we are still at the beginning of this process; your continued input is not only welcomed it is essential.

As I said, to maintain a healthy community, there has to be a lot of talking. And even more listening. We are definitely listening to your thoughts, ideas, and opinions, as we continuously strive to grow together. I hope you will continue to be active and engaged, not only with your ideas, but also with your participation.

L’shalom,
Stu Weinzimer

President's Column - March 2017

I hope by now everyone reading this column is aware of our special Congregational Conversation 2017, which we will hold this Sunday, March 5th, in the Social Hall. The main purposes of this Conversation are to hear your thoughts and views on the present and the future of TBT, and to discuss how we are planning to get there with your help. We are capitalizing on this special moment in our synagogue’s history to take stock of our mission and our edifice and how they may need to be updated to continue to serve us.

While it may be easier to see why we need to update our building, it may be a little more challenging to consider why we may need to update our mission - aren’t we still Jews? Don’t we want to continue to pray, learn, and get together for activities? We’re not suddenly going to decide not to have services or religious school any longer, are we? Do we even need a mission statement?

I feel, of course, that yes, we do. Over the last forty years, even the last ten or twenty years, our lives have changed. And that pace of change is accelerating exponentially. A guiding statement should speak about our core values RIGHT now, the goals we share, and should help serve as a template for how we make our decisions about TBT. It should speak to our hearts about what moves us.

You may find our existing mission statement through our website at www.tbtshoreline.org. I believe it describes many of the things that we do at TBT and will continue to do at TBT; but I don’t think it really captures the real HEART of what makes TBT special, what binds us together as a community, why we continue to return. And personally, I believe it describes a one-way relationship: what TBT will "provide," as if there is a separation between TBT and our congregants. It may be a subtle shift in perspective, but I’d prefer to think about what we can create together, rather than what the synagogue will provide to me, and I think that slight re-interpretation has dramatic repercussions on how we engage here, whether we are passive recipients of TBT life, or active shapers of our community together.

Whether you agree or disagree with my opinion, I am only one opinion. So please come and argue your views with me and with your fellow congregants, and we will supply the bagels and coffee to fuel the conversation.

L'Shalom,
Stu Weinzimer

President's Column - February 2017

As I write this column, I’m sitting in the back of an Uber in our nation’s Capitol, the brightly and dramatically illuminated Jefferson and Lincoln Memorials proclaiming both the optimism and the gravity of the American Experiment. In two days, this now peaceful locale will be overrun by swarms of people: a new leader will be inaugurated, amidst cheers and protests, and our country will move forward, hopefully remaining anchored to the ideals and principles that made us great. With every new administration, we have the opportunity, as a nation, to imagine new goals and aspirations, to reinterpret our founding principles in a way that speaks to our core values. We act as we believe; it is up to us as a nation to determine how that will look.

So too, do we find ourselves at TBT, poised on the threshold of something new. The recognition of our 40th anniversary is admittedly somewhat imposed; why not 36? Why not 50? But there is a wonderful Biblical significance to the number 40: the number of days of the Flood, the number of years of our Wandering, among many other examples. Forty represents a generation, a "trial" period. We at TBT have not only survived our trial period in the wilderness of the Shoreline, but have thrived. Our core value of serving as an outpost of Jewish life on the Shoreline has enabled us to grow a vibrant community, thanks to the hard work of a generation of engaged, committed congregants.

Next month, on Sunday, March 5th, I invite you to join us in a special Congregational conversation, as we gather to determine the path of our next 40 years. We will have the chance to re-imagine and restate our Mission and Vision for TBT, reiterate our core values, wrestle with new dreams and aspirations, imagine what our home may look like, and recommit to this Experiment begun over 40 years ago while continually moving forward.

Let us act as we believe.

L’shalom,
Stu Weinzimer

President's Column - January 2017

This time of year I always find myself thinking about resolutions for the coming year (as do we all), and the fact that we often separate our spiritual resolutions made during the Jewish New Year from the secular resolutions made in January. Looking back, I see that I wrote about this last January, but it’s worth revisiting.

I was speaking recently to a TBT congregant about the challenge of leading a spiritually meaningful life while trying to juggle the seemingly insurmountable tasks required of our secular work day. This might be a little easier for those of us in fields such as medicine, nursing, or teaching, but what for people whose daily lives are more removed from the service of others? Is there a spiritually satisfying way of getting through your email? Of making up a budget? Of carpooling?

Our answer, obviously enough, can be found in our liturgical tradition, in the practice of gratitude. Our tradition teaches us to be thankful for just about everything: the light of day, the gift of waking up to a new day, the miracle of our bodies, the food we eat, not to mention the loved ones in our lives and our many personal comforts. While it may initially seem trite if you are not used to approaching gratitude in this way, it can be very grounding and orienting. I urge you to give it a try. Here’s a tip - I do it when I’m sitting in traffice; I find it turns a personally frustrating experience into an opportunity for reflection.

This year, instead of groaning about waking up early, I’m going to try to be more thankful for the gift of two legs to run with, the gift of hearing as I pop my iPod headphones into my ears, and the gift of yet another year to try (hopefully more successfully this year), to exercise. If I don’t get in better shape physically, at least I will get into better shape spiritually!

Happy New Year, and L’shalom,
Stu Weinzimer, President

President's Column - December 2016

As winter approaches, we all have a tendency to "hunker down." Perhaps it is some vestigial behavior arising from an ancient and primitive time; as food became scarce, and the hours of daylight diminished, there was a good reason to stay inside, out of harm’s way. Or perhaps it is a more adaptive response to the vicissitudes of Shoreline weather: our beautiful, crisp, golden days of late giving way to cold, wet, wind, and slush.

No coincidence, then that our main winter holiday, Chanukah, is a celebration of light. Not just actual, physical light, but also spiritual light. It takes light to beat back the fear of the dark, and it also takes light to bring people together, whether it is in work of rededicating the Temple, our rejuvenating our synagogue, or in the weekly rhythms of prayer, study, and community. There is an underlying fundamental relationship between light and gathering. Not just moths, but we too are drawn to a flame.

There are many opportunities to gather in the light here at TBT, even in the dark of winter. For those of you who do not have to navigate the "December dilemma," and will be in town on Friday, December 30th, we will have a fun 7th Night of Chanukah here at TBT, at which time we will gather and light our Shabbat and Chanukah candles. But we also have many other ways to gather together and bring light to each other - worshipping together on Shabbat and sharing the light of our Shabbat candles; performing acts of social justice and being ethical lights to our community and world; and learning together, illuminating the texts and narratives of our Jewish tradition.

My wish and hope for you, as we come to the end of our secular year, and prepare for the next, is that you come out and join us for all that we can bring to each other; for whatever our building surrounds and our activities promote, we are, after all, a holy community, bringing each other into our light.

L'Shalom,
Stu Weinzimer

President's Column - November 2016

I’m sitting in my sukkah this morning, thinking about a lot of things - the beauty of our natural world, the passing of the seasons, the fragility of life, and mostly about gratitude: gratitude for living in a place with such abundance, gratitude for my health and the health of my loved ones, and gratitude for all of you at TBT who made these past High Holy Days so special, who enabled me to "step out of time" and really focus on the work of teshuvah.

Gratitude for the Rabbi, who led us so thoughtfully through our prayer and challenged us so eloquently with her words; gratitude for the Cantor, who led us so beautifully in song, who transported us to places with music and the spaces in between the music; gratitude for our choir, Walter Stutzman our accompanist, Josh Stern our cellist, Patti Smith-Romanski and Chad Hardin, for their beautiful rendition of our Kol Nidrei; gratitude for Jason Gaines, who educated us and revealed to us startling new ways to think about the Torah; gratitude for our beautiful flower arrangement, lovingly donated by members of our congregation; and gratitude for all the readers, chanters, Torah holders and dressers, who in your participation, remind us that teshuvah is indeed a communal act.

I am especially grateful for a number of people who were perhaps less visible to you, but were vital to the successful conduct of our High Holy Day worship, who behind the scenes, or downstairs with the kids, or outside in the parking lot, ensured our safety, comfort, and peace of mind: Douglas Agranov, our lead usher, and his crew - Al Goldberg, Jonathan Levine, and Dick Whelan; our "on-call" medical team, Drs. Dan Greif, Dan Jacoby, John Foggle, and Lynda Rosenfeld, who were ready to provide valuable assistance as needed; Jason Gaines, Suzy Frisch, and Kate Rothstein, who with Karen Goldberg and Stephanie Condoluci (our youth group advisor) and a small batallion of Salty BBYO kids, kept our young ones engaged during our Parallel Youth Services; and Ted Langevin and his crew of parking ushers, including Joel Galvin, Ken Rosenberg, Josh Copel, David Harding, Mark Bluemling, Jack Srebnik, David Sokoloff, John Lesage, Scott Casper, Bill Lee, Phil Goldberg, Walter Spigelman, and David Kaplan, and representatives from the Madison Police Department, who kept us all moving but not colliding; and for the Pauls, Beckmans, Baggishes, Grebels, Zollshans, and Meyers, who ended our fast with an amazing array of yummy Yom Kippur comfort food.

And finally, our absolutely indispensable and dedicated TBT team - Kim Romine, Bonnie Mahon, Len Dwarica, and Dyanna Green, who work so diligently every day to do whatever has to be done whenever it has to be done, with enthusiasm, competence, and grace. You truly enrich our home with your commitment to us.

B’shalom,
Stu Weinzimer

President's Column - October 2016

We are right in it now. As this column reaches you we will probably already have spent the evening together for Erev Rosh HaShanah, and perhaps the morning as well. I wonder if Rosh HaShanah calls to mind for you what it always does for me: the great duality of our calendar. On the one hand, the circle of the year: the seasons change, and we roll around to begin the cycle again. But on the other hand, the linearity of time; we are writing our own history, both individually and collectively, and while each year reassures with the opportunity for a "fresh start," it also reminds us, warns us, that time is passing, and with it, opportunities.

It seems a fitting time for me to reflect on our accomplishments this past year as a community, and our ongoing challenges. There were joyous and hopeful times: we welcomed new families, celebrated life cycle events, prayed, and learned together. We helped a Syrian family negotiate an arduous move to a new home on the Shoreline. Our amazing clergy and staff have led us, supported us, and cared for us. Our Board has wrestled with and agreed on, policies and procedures designed to foster inclusiveness, safeguard our financial future, and live the principles of Reform Judaism in all our interactions. But we have also missed opportunities as well: failed to connect with some in our community who continue to feel alone, isolated, unwelcome, or uninvited. We have missed opportunities to grow, either spiritually, ethically, or interpersonally. We have had wonderful ideas but have not always delivered on them.

TBT is, as we all are, a "work in progress." While we can’t roll back the time we have lost, we can use the opportunity presented by the New Year to commit to our goals of making TBT a place where you feel connected, engaged, sometimes challenged, and always welcomed. With your help, we will continue this work together.

L’Shanah Tovah Tikateivu - May you and your loved ones be written in the Book of Life for a good New Year.

Stu Weinzimer