From TI President & Executive Director

As the days are getting longer and warmer, I am looking forward to being outside and being together with our Temple Israel community. Before we know it, we will be outside in the garden at TI for Shabbat services. Spring started with an incredible mixed presence Stepping Out Gala: Live from TI It’s Saturday Night! It was wonderful to be together to celebrate and thank you for helping make TI the special place it is. Thank you to our hosts, Daniella and Kevin Prussia, our clergy, Dan Deutsch, Shoshanna Goldberg, and all of the TI staff. Temple Israel continues to be busy: weekly Shabbat services, Torah study, Havdalah, education, enrichment, and spiritual offerings through the Center for Adult Jewish Learning,

Laurence Bailen and busy social justice initiatives through Tikkun Central. From our youngest Village friends and Religious

Board President School to our thriving Riverway community to an active 50s and 60s group and very strong TILLI (Temple Israel Lifelong Learning Initiative) program there is something for everyone to experience a sense of belonging. Your Temple Israel Lay leadership also has been busy. The Board of Trustees, among many activities, affirmed an updated REDI (Racial, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion) statement, nominated wonderful new leaders to the Board and Leadership Council, and affirmed the beginning stages of an exciting Inventing our Future project. Inventing our Future will lead to enhancements to our building to continue our forward momentum allowing us to grow our innovative education, prayer, and social justice initiatives. Our clergy and staff continue to amaze us with their resiliency during the ongoing pandemic. They continue to help us navigate and support us during our celebrations and during our challenging times. It is hard to believe that they are already starting to plan High Holy Days 5783! Thank you for all you do for making Temple Israel a remarkable community.

One of the things that I love about my work at Temple Israel is watching members of our community connect to each other, at Qabbalat Shabbat, one of our many programs on Zoom, or schmoozing outside as they wait for religious school pickup. Community is built in these small moments of meaning as people get to know each other, tell their stories, and build relationships. Our oldest child is currently in the 7th grade and I was recently able to participate in the Religious School’s Tikkun Olam Day. The 6th and 7th graders were focusing on the modern day refugee crisis and sharing immigration stories. Those seated at our table took turns sharing family stories of leaving other Dan Deutsch parts of the world in pursuit of freedom and opportunity. My family’s story is similar, and over the years I

Executive Director have shared it with our children many times, including on a trip to Ellis Island in 2019 when we found my grandfather’s name in the manifests. But there was something extraordinarily moving to hear my child tell the story to a group of their peers. I was so grateful to the Religious School for providing this opportunity for connection for parents and students, where we could share our stories and learn from each other.

I was able to experience another moment of connection and story sharing recently through a REDI conversation at TI. REDI is our racial equity, diversity, and inclusion work. Temple Israel has made this a priority over the last two years, hosting many small-group conversations to explore different perspectives on identity, belonging, and community. At this most recent REDI conversation, the diverse gathering of TI members shared stories and perspectives about identity and how to foster a more belonging community. It was refreshing to hear the different points of view and the overwhelming amount of support for the work that we are doing together. If you are interested in helping us with our REDI work, please reach out and let us know; we would be happy to bring you into our sacred work. I’m also proud to tell the story of the generosity of this community. Thank you to all who have contributed to our friends Annual Fund. Each year we rely on your community contributions to balance our operating budget. Each gift to our Friends Campaign allows us to better carry out our mission. I am so grateful to all of you. I hope that you can join us on June 9th for our Annual Gathering when we will thank all of our leaders who have helped to make this year another successful one for Temple Israel.