President HHD Remarks 2024-5785

JAY L. KOOPER

TEMPLE B’NAI ABRAHAM

REMARKS FOR ROSH HASHANAH 5785/2024

Shana Tovah!

For many of us, each Rosh Hashanah marks a time to both welcome in a New Year and reflect on the year that is now ending. On rare occasions, a year is defined by a seminal event. For the year now ending, we had such an event; the attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

A few short weeks before that horrific day, I delivered my first Rosh Hashanah remarks to you as Temple President. In those remarks, you may recall that I spoke on the theme of Building Community and Connectedness.  Little did I know then how much and how early this vision would be put to the test. But it was a test that I am proud to say this Congregation not only met head-on, but also passed with flying colors.

Let’s start with our clergy. Rabbi Vaisberg, Cantor Fox and Rabbi Edwards, you were there for us and for Israel right from the start. Rabbi Vaisberg, you led two Temple missions to Israel since last October to enable our Congregation, through our volunteer work and our presence, to demonstrate to our Israeli brothers and sisters that we stood with them, and that they mattered. Cantor Fox, you without hesitation joined the first clergy delegation from our community to travel to Israel in the weeks immediately following October 7 to bear witness to the immediate aftermath of the attacks and share with us the news from the ground. Rabbi Edwards, your words, your compassion and your being here for all of us provided comfort to this Congregation in our struggle to make sense of the senseless. To the three of you, we give thanks for being our guiding lights in the face of such darkness.

To our educators, you had the difficult task of navigating the aftermath of the horror of October 7 while at the same time managing the most profound transformation of the Temple’s education programs in over 50 years. Melissa Weiner, your title of Director of Jewish Learning does not begin to cover it all when it comes to your contributions to our Temple. Your innovation, creativity and leadership is nothing short of breathtaking. As the creative force behind our long-established Jewish Learning Program and our JPlay After Care program now in its second year, you have brought substantive and fun learning experiences to our students, and the community has responded with enrollment well past our benchmark targets.

And as if that were not enough, Melissa, you and your entire team are now the creative force behind the Temple’s most ambitious education project to date – the launch in 2025 of JStart, our new pre-school program for children ages newborn through 5, and its companion summer program, JSummer, next summer. Debbie Aronson Ziering, you took on the challenge of integrating our new Universal Pre-Kindergarten program for our West Orange students while transitioning to a new role as Director of Early Childhood Education. Through your guidance and special touch we have new West Orange families now fully engaged in Temple life. I am sure you can all tell by now how excited I am by our education programs and what is to come in the new year. To our entire faculty, yasher koach and thank you!

To our maintenance staff, led by Tracey Bent. Much has been asked of you all year round and you have responded with your hard work and magnificent performance in keeping our buildings and grounds not only safe and operational, but beautiful and the envy of our greater community. With the rise of all of these incredible education programs that I just discussed, you created within a single summer a new, warm, vibrant and beautiful lower level for them. On this day of reflection it is certainly appropriate to thank you, but it is equally appropriate to thank you every day for all that you do because what you and your team do on a daily basis is nothing short of remarkable.

To our administrative department led by Executive Director Mara Suskauer, you have met the challenge of managing a year of change across so many facets of Temple life with efficiency, professionalism and grace. Where Congregants expressed needs or concerns, however significant or routine, you have responded. Where decisive action needed to be taken, you engaged and delivered. Mara, our Temple cannot function without your leadership and tackling of every problem that comes across your desk; and because of your leadership this Temple does just that. Thank you and thank you entire administrative team for all you have done this past year.

So now I come to our volunteers. Thank you all for your leadership and hard work during this challenging year now ending. To our Officers and the Board of Trustees, I have asked a lot of you in working through difficult issues and thinking through complicated problems. You have done so fearlessly and honestly keeping the Temple’s best interests at heart. And to all of our Committee Chairs and their members thank you, too. The work you put in is immense; but know that it is not unseen or unappreciated. I see you and appreciate you and so does the entire Congregation and Temple Staff. We are all very grateful. Thank you!

Finally, I come to all of you, the Congregation. In the face of tragedy and horror on October 7, you supported one another. In the days after October 7 all the way up to today, you actively participated in Temple life, you engaged, and you made the conscious decision to accept others who had different perspectives regardless of their background, life experience or politics. In a period of immense change that can at times be scary, you lovingly and unconditionally welcomed our JPlay and Universal Pre-Kindergarten families into our broader Temple family. And I know you are going to give the same loving, warm and caring welcome to our JStart and JSummer families in the year to come.

Through your acts of philanthropy great and small, whether travelling on a mission to Israel, packing supplies for the missions to Israel, assisting those in need through social action and caring for our infirm members of our community, or generous donations from those who were in a fortunate position to do so that have enhanced our education programs and produced a beautiful outdoor patio, a new state-of-the-art education space in the lower level, and our refurbished and revitalized Upper Lounge; you all showed up and you all stepped up. I am awed by your selflessness. I am proud and humbled to serve as the elected leader of a community with such special people. I can never thank all of you enough for all you do.

So, on this Rosh Hashanah, I can report to you that, ready or not, Temple B’nai Abraham rose to the challenge of building connectedness and community in the face of unforeseeable tragedy and significant but necessary change. Today, the Temple is teeming with life and activity not seen at a level since long before the COVID-19 pandemic. One can be tempted to think that maybe we have reached the Promised Land; well, not yet. As much progress as we have made, we still have challenges ahead. These challenges are serious, they are unprecedented and they are ones that even for all of our great engagement this past year will require us to dig even deeper to confront and overcome them. This is what I will discuss with you in more detail on Yom Kippur.

But for now, from my entire family to your family, I wish all of you a happy, healthy, prosperous and sweet New Year. May we all only know simchas.

L’Shana Tovah!