PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

I am a person who prefers the printed word over the digital one. I still receive the New York Times at my doorstep seven days a week, and, although I do occasionally read a book on my iPad, there is nothing like the feel of a “real” book in my hands (I still recall the thrill I would get as a child when the teacher would bring in the box with “book club” orders). For my “day job,” I read legal briefs and voluminous evidentiary records, and perhaps one of the biggest inconveniences to me that resulted from the pandemic, although trivial in the greater scheme of things, is that I now only receive electronic copies of lawyers’ submissions to the court where I work. This means that I can no longer underline or highlight what I am reading, affix sticky tabs, or write things like “are you kidding me?” in the margins.

This is why I am so excited to re-introduce to you the Beth El Bulletin. Because putting together the Bulletin is an undertaking that requires a lot of staff time, I decided shortly after I began serving as Beth El’s President to put the Bulletin on pause, and to convene a small committee of members to review our overall communications strategy, and to consider specific questions about the Bulletin. Was it really necessary? Did congregants value it? Did it serve a role different in substance than our bi-weekly “Ride the El” and Shabbat Announcement e-mail communications? The answer to each of these questions was a resounding “yes.” The committee concluded that the Bulletin is a vehicle for information that simply cannot be communicated through our electronic newsletters. For example, you will find inside these pages a list of people who have generously donated to our various funds, and news from our Nursery and Religious Schools, to name but a few features.

More importantly, we learned from talking to some of our members that, when they see the Bulletin in their physical mailboxes, and hold it in their hands, it generates a real sense of connection to Beth El. In one place they can get a 360 degree view of everything happening in our community, including upcoming programming, important life-cycle events among our members, pictures of our adorable nursery school kids, a message from our clergy, and so much more. This is especially the case while the pandemic persists, as there remains a significant number of members who continue to limit their time out of the house and have not been in the building more than a handful of times in the past two years, if at all.

For now, we plan on putting the Bulletin out on a lessfrequent basis than in the past. You may also notice some changes to the content of the Bulletin. For example, we are no longer printing the calendar of events, since that is so easily accessible from our website (which, you will soon discover, is going through its own reimagining, and will always be up-todate in a way that the Bulletin cannot be). We have also gone ad-free, as the benefits of advertising revenue did not outweigh the administrative burden of coordinating with advertisers and the expense of printing the ads. I would like to take this space to profoundly thank those advertisers who supported the Bulletin over the years, especially those who are members of our community.

Finally, if you have any ideas for what you would like to see in the Bulletin, or you would like to get involved in its assembly, I encourage you to reach out to me by sending an email to rpatchen@bethelnr.org. I welcome your feedback, both positive and negative. For now, I hope you will enjoy perusing this latest edition of the Beth El Bulletin!