Good evening. My name is Alec Harris. And, honestly, I’m not used to speaking during this particular moment in the service. Thank you, Rabbi Weinberg, for your beautiful and thoughtful sermon. I assure you, I’m not giving a second sermon!
But as president of Sinai, it is a tremendous honor to welcome you here today—members, friends, and guests—and to wish all of you a happy and healthy New Year. It is so gratifying to be with all of you at the start of these High Holy Days.
In the Covid era, and during a time of rabbinic transition, I’m proud to say, “we’re here”. Sinai is here for you, and we are strong. I look forward to being together with all of you as we learn and explore, provide support for each other in challenging times, celebrate together in joyful times, and work together to make the world a better place.
As we start the New Year, I want to acknowledge that we have been through unprecedented times. The pandemic years have been challenging for all of us individually, and for our Sinai community, as we have struggled to adapt to a new “normal” and to be present for each other and to define our community in new ways.
In addition, we have been through a painful change in our rabbinic leadership. In the year ahead, we look forward to partnering with our rabbis and to preparing for a rabbinic search
this Spring. It is a time for us to define who we are and where we want to go as a community.
I first served as President fifteen years ago. But I’m honored to serve again because I love this congregation. Since becoming Sinai’s President in June, I’ve spoken with so many of you. Your commitment, care, and concern are defining attributes of our Sinai community and inspire me to do the hard work ahead of us.
Through all of the pain, uncertainty and disruption, we’ve learned so much about ourselves and one another. As lay leaders, all of us continue to strive to be humble, to listen with compassion, to learn from our mistakes. We strive to be better. I’m truly sorry for all of the pain our beloved Sinai community has felt this past year. I’m committed to involving all of you in charting our future path. I’m committed to being transparent as we move forward.
As President, my priority is to celebrate and build our community: Especially as we emerge from the pandemic, together with all of you, to rekindle the joy of building relationships in close proximity to one another. And as we embark on this new year, we wanted to create a more intimate experience for our community. For this reason, all of our High Holy Day services are here at Sinai, our home.
Our rabbinic team is top notch, with Interim Rabbi Weinberg, Rabbi Greene, and our Adjunct Rabbi Zinn.
I’m deeply appreciative to the Temple Staff, led by Jan Kaufman, for working hard to help make Sinai shine over these High Holy Days. Also, deepest thanks to the members of the Board of Trustees who are serving as ushers tonight and throughout the High Holy Days, and who dedicate untold hours to this amazing community.
Today, Sinai stands at 700 families. Our religious school and preschool have about 150 students.
Sinai remains strong because of our core religious and spiritual principles: our unshakable commitment to liberal/progressive Judaism, to Social Justice, to being actively inclusive, to fully supporting our interfaith families, to rigorous questioning and intellectual engagement, to maintaining a beautiful building in the heart of a great city, to our historic music tradition, and to a creative Religious School curriculum rooted in the foundational ideas of a great faith.
But it is ultimately all of us, together, who make Sinai the vibrant, welcoming, and warm community that we are.
The High Holy Days are but one part of the important ongoing work of our congregation. Our programs this year will be wide-ranging. We encourage you to read our weekly email
bulletin, visit our website, call our office…learn about all the offerings, and take advantage of the wonderful programs of one of the great Reform congregations in North America.
And we need to hear from you as we reengage and reconnect: On Sunday, November 6th, at 10 a.m. and again at 1 p.m., we will be hosting what we are calling “Sinai Community Conversations.” Through a series of these guided conversations, we seek to engage our entire Sinai family, to talk about expectations and responsibilities, about belonging and becoming. These conversations will help to shape the future of our great congregation. Please come and lend your voice on November 6th!
And I’m also proud to announce today the launch of our Sinai Foundation, founded to enhance the financial sustainability of our Sinai community. We know that historical financial models. for supporting our congregation are evolving, and that dues alone cannot sustain us.
Some might say times of transition are not the right moment to launch a Foundation. But I’m convinced that there has never been a more important time. Our goal is ambitious: to enable us to keep Sinai special, to assure its sound financial future, to allow us to thrive and enable us to weather uncertain times, and to lay the groundwork to assure that we can recruit and retain top rabbinic leadership. This is absolutely the right time to establish a
Foundation. We are grateful to Debbi and Harry Seigle, visionary donors and partners who have pledged a generous initial gift to establish the Foundation. Thank you! We have received a testamentary gift from longtime member Newt Minow and his daughters, a gift from the fourth generation Sinai family of Kate Kestnbaum, as well as from members of our Board of Trustees and past Presidents. Special thanks to our founding President of the Foundation Board, Marc Berman. In the coming weeks and months, you will have opportunities to learn more about and participate in this critical new pillar of our Sinai community.
It is a time of new beginnings, of looking forward, and of charting a path to our congregation’s future.
Yes, we’ve been through a lot, but together we are strong and resilient. We continue to be a community by, for, and about all of us, making a difference in the world and striving to be a beacon for what vibrant, progressive, Reform Jewish ideals can and should be.
This is an exciting time for Sinai, made greater by each and every one of you. Thank you for all you have done and will do over the coming year to make our Temple stronger, to grow and learn, and to explore new connections and friendships.
L’Shana Tova.
View Sinai’s 5783 Rosh HaShanah service sheet by clicking here.