Announcements
Dear friends,
Over twenty years ago the Brevard Jewish Community was born. We had no mission statement. We had no vision statement. When Shelley and I got this ball rolling, we just wanted to meet with landsmen and share a bit of yiddishkeit.
There was one more thing: we made a commitment to always be available to anyone needing to say Kaddish.
Imagine that! How modest we were! How amazing it is that we have become so much more! Torah studies, Chevra support, weekly Sabbath services, zoom hybrid services, Holy Day services, community Seders, relations with the broader community, etc., etc., etc.
Many of the faces we have loved over the years now live only in our hearts and memories. No one can replace those we have lost. We must keep them alive in our practices and share them with our newest family members.
We now have new faces, new experiences to share, and a need to embrace the changes that we will share, marrying the past with present.
Our new BJC needs to revisit our past practices. We need a new set of by laws. We need to reinvigorate our community outreach. (Thank you Henry snd Barbara!). We need to study what we do to seek out Jews in our community who haven’t found us yet. We even need to examine how we use money to support our programs. Nor should we forget how successful our past practices, in that regard, have been.
My caution to one and all is this. Let us never forget that at the end of the day all must be heard, ideas respected, and above all, we must keep the doors open to anyone: friends or strangers, to share Kaddish and prayers for healing.
I love our little community. I love the possibilities. I wonder, what is next?
Norm
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The BJC board met June 26 and voted to establish a working group headed by Justin and Sandy that will consider financial and logistical issues and will write a draft of a new BJC set of bylaws. Once the draft is completed it will be submitted to the board, hopefully by the fall, where it will be carefully examined and perfected. Once that process is done and the final product is approved by the board, the new set of bylaws will be submitted to the entire membership for approval.
We have not had a new set of bylaws for many years. Consequently, this is a very exciting opportunity. Our bylaws will spell out both the mission of the Brevard Jewish Community including its mission, its values, its objectives and its procedures for achieving its goals. This includes the duties of officers, election procedures, the role of the board, the meaning of membership, issues of finance, and any other concerns that the working group and then the board deems fit. I am certain our entire membership looks forward to this new charter which will help guide us in future years.
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The ritual committee had its first meeting May 1st and is talking about ways to enhance services. It is chaired by Norm, who invites your suggestions. The members of the committee are Norm, Justin Levitov, Henry Felt, Vance Reese, Harvey Federman, Howard Rock, Andrea Brass and Marilyn Laken.
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Our Vice President Henry Felt and our Treasurer Andrea Brass have agreed to be point people for those who want to become involved in community efforts towards social justice. Please contact them if you wish to be involved.