Volunteers of the Year: Buddy Voit and Heidi Gantwerk

I’d now like to invite Buddy Voit and Heidi Gantwerk to join me at the podium. No one exemplifies the values of an outstanding volunteer better than Buddy and Heidi.  And in fact, Beth Israel really is the second home for both of you.  This may be the first time that two spouses of previous Volunteers of the Year are being named Volunteers of the Year! 

Buddy Voit
At Beth Israel, Buddy plays guitar and song leads at High Holy Day family services. He works with the clergy, organizes the logistical aspects and leads the music of the High Holy Day family services. Buddy joined the Chai Band when it was formed in 2003 and has been playing at Shabbat and Soul Food services, b’nai mitzvah and Beth Israel events ever since. Buddy accompanies the youth choir when they rehearse every Sunday morning. And he taught Confirmation class for us in the 1980s.

Buddy practiced as a CPA until 1992, was later the CFO of two healthcare companies, and is now a partner in Accretive Services of San Diego.

Buddy’s participation in Jewish life began at home where his parents were active in synagogue life and leadership. His mother, Gerry Voit, served on the URJ board for 25 years. As a child, Buddy spent summers as a camper and then song leader at URJ camps; as a teen Buddy held leadership positions; as an adult, he taught in religious schools, led trips to Israel and helped to form a Jewish day school. Buddy is on the board of Camp Mountain Chai.
Buddy is married to Diane, a third-generation member of Beth Israel and a Volunteer of the Year in 2005. Their daughter Emma sings in the teen choir. Buddy’s older son, Marshall, is the inaugural Jewish Life Fellow for the Union for Progressive Judaism in Melbourne, Australia. His younger son, Aaron, recently returned from volunteering with Jewish World Service in El Salvador.

We are very privileged to honor Buddy Voit as a Volunteer of the Year at Beth Israel.

Heidi Gantwerk
Heidi Gantwerk is a dedicated Beth Israel Board member and co-chair of our Strategic Vision initiative. Heidi often sings with the Chai Band, at Friday Night Chai musical Shabbat services, at Soul Food Shabbat, and at other Beth Israel musical events such as at Daytimers and many special concerts and cabarets. She is currently co-chairing the committee for the June 2 World of Jewish Music concert. Her husband, Andy Mayer, is the pianist for the Chai Band and a 2007 Volunteer of the Year.

Heidi is Vice President of Viewpoint Learning, a La Jolla-based firm that develops dialogues for business and public policy. Her career has focused on building bridges between communities. Heidi holds a B.A. in psychology from Yale University. She and Andy have three children, Isaac, Sebastian and Gabriel, all of whom are active in our music, youth and Religious School programs.
We are most grateful for your commitment to Beth Israel as a leader and for how you beautify our worship experiences through your inspiring singing. And since it happens to be your birthday today, please allow us to sing to you, Yom Huledet Same'ach.

Thank you to Heidi and Buddy, our Volunteers of the Year!

Annual Meeting Remarks by President Emily Jennewein

150th Reflections

A year ago, Beth Israel looked forward to celebrating 150 years of service to the Jewish community and to San Diego. It felt like we were embarking on a Golden Moment in Beth Israel’s history. And that is exactly what this year has been for our Temple! 

Beth Israel is flourishing today, as a historic institution with a community of people who join together under the name of Beth Israel to worship and pursue shared interests. As we have celebrated our anniversary, we have strengthened this inclusive community, and indeed built upon the many communities that make up our large, robust congregation. We have created opportunities for many congregants to re-bond with Beth Israel in meaningful ways.

Our 150th anniversary celebration could not have taken place without the extraordinary leadership of Mary Ann Scher, who has brought to life the entire 150th anniversary year. Mary Ann had a vision for celebrating with large, inclusive events and small, intimate, focused programs. And we’ve done all this to remarkable results.
 
Our spectacular Opening Event was a happy day for everyone.  We opened the Union-Tribune that very morning and discovered Beth Israel’s anniversary, history and influence on the City documented in a detailed, lengthy, front-page article. 1,000 Beth Israel members and community members attended the joyous occasion where we were toasted by the Mayor of San Diego and many other dignitaries. 

Also at the Opening Event, we introduced Julie Seltzer, the very moving scribe for our new Torah and discovered what an outstanding teacher she is. Hundreds of members have now participated in scribing our new Torah. If you have not yet dedicated a word or a portion, please know there is still time this summer to participate in this mitzvah. We look forward to introducing the 150th Anniversary Torah at Simchat Torah next October.

We also conducted a Speakers Series that re-established Beth Israel in its historic role as the central address and the center of thought-leadership in Jewish San Diego. We hosted seven renowned Jewish scholars in powerful, inspiring Shabbat evenings. And on those evenings we also honored our leaders, and our members who are leaders of the San Diego Jewish community.
Through the Three-Temple Tour we relived our magnificent history with meaningful events in each of our three temple locations.

And at every one of these special occasions, our worship experience was enriched by the beautiful music created by our Chai Band, adult and youth choirs -- all under the direction and inspiration of Rabbi/Cantor Arlene Bernstein.

Meanwhile, all year long, under the leadership of George Wise, the Men’s Club conducted Forum 150, which featured fascinating monthly speakers -- all members of the congregation -- including such notables as Ernest Rady, Dr. Jess Mandel and Peter Herman. 
 
Another highlight of this year that I’ve had the privilege to be intimately involved with is the development of our History Book – A Time to Remember, The First 150 Years, A History of Congregation Beth Israel in San Diego. The Book, which all members will receive, was written and researched by the Beth Israel History Project, led by Larry Krause, Stan Schwartz and George Wise. Work on the project continued throughout the year under the utmost care and guidance of Editor Liz Levine, with whom I have relished working closely. Anna Newton has served ably as Project Coordinator, Steve Gould assisted with photos and Karen Shein, the beautiful cover design.

And none of this 150th year celebration could have happened without the extraordinary dedication of our hard-working and ever-cheerful staff: Lesley Mills, Bonnie Graff, Lynn Sampson, Karen Shein, Heather Taylor-Williams, Terri Bignell, Anna Newton, Nick Reilly and indeed all staff members.

Strategic Vision

Turning to Beth Israel’s Strategic Vision, though the 150th was not a year in which we could work exclusively on advancing the Strategic Vision, our Vision work continues with the leadership of Board members Heidi Gantwerk and Mitch Siegler. And progress was achieved in several of the five Big Ideas: 

In the area of Youth, programming grows stronger and we know is appealing to the kids. Last week, when Laurie Black addressed Forum 150, she pointed out that all members of Rabbi Michael Satz’s confirmation class plan to continue in our High School program next year. As Laurie put it, ‘something must be going right at Beth Israel’ for all these 16-year-olds to want to be here. 

Also, the Think Tank for Family and Youth Engagement, established this year, is re-envisioning the way families connect to educational programs. Educators Tammy Vener and Ava Kurnow, Rabbi Satz and lay leaders Joellyn Zollman and Amy Lieberman are guiding this work. Tammy also brings honor to Beth Israel as the national chair of the Early Childhood Educators of Reform Judaism.
In the areas of Caring Community and Creating Connections, we established the Caring Community initiative defined by Rabbi Berk in his Yom Kippur sermon, and a Neighborhood Pilot program to build geographic connections among our members. Judi Schwartz and many lay leaders are working creatively on these endeavors including Kaylee Brogadir, Cynthia Fram, Nadine Finkel, Marge Schane, Audrey & Steve Levine and Sima & Joe Oppenheimer.

Progress also continues in the area of Lifelong Learning where Bonnie Graff, our program director, dedicates herself to excellence in adult education. 

And we had many wonderful musical events that advanced the area of Jewish Culture, Music and the Arts with one more concert still to look forward to on June 2.


Yom Kippur Worship

As we reflect on the year, let’s not forget one of the most unusual yet rewarding Yom Kippurs that certainly I have ever experienced. Just an hour and a half before we opened the doors to our worshipers on the holiest day of the year, the Civic Center Plaza was packed – shoulder to shoulder – with more than 1,000 protesters of all ages. Out of respect for Beth Israel’s Kol Nidre service, those protestors, from Occupy San Diego, volunteered to leave while we worshiped.
 
Then on Yom Kippur afternoon, we answered many members who have asked for years that we try to find a way to conduct HHD worship at our synagogue home. I’m happy to announce that next fall we will repeat Yom Kippur afternoon services at Beth Israel, while a Task Force headed by David Bark explores the possibility of bringing more HHD services back to our magnificent campus in 2013.

Financial Matters

Meanwhile, quietly, we’ve been hard at work on our endowment campaign, The Campaign for Beth Israel:

3 Past Presidents -- Jeff Silberman, Amy Corton and Ron Simon -- co-chair the campaign. The Campaign Cabinet benefits from the wisdom and intelligent direction of Dean Abelon, Meg Mandel, Mary Ann Scher, Mitch Siegler, Rabbi Berk, Lesley Mills and Emily Jennewein.

We could not be advancing this campaign without the active involvement of Rabbi Michael Berk and Rabbi Arlene Bernstein. When we talk with those who will and who are already financially defining this campaign, we hear that it is our congregants’ strong connections with our clergy that solidifies our members’ commitment to Beth Israel. We are very grateful for our Rabbis’ active participation in the campaign and do not take it for granted in the least!

I am very proud to be able to tell you that our Board made early, personal commitments to the Campaign. 100% of us committed pledges, just as we all contributed dedications to the Torah Project.
Our Development Committee has overseen the fundraising aspects of the Torah Project under the leadership of Vice President Meg Mandel and Torah Project Chair and Past President Jerry Goldberg.
 
For those of you who are members of our Century Club, our Dor L’Dor Society or are major annual givers, we held a special thank you evening at Bud & Esther Fischer’s spectacular home, high on the bluff, above the Pacific Ocean.

But, on a sad note, as Ron mentioned, we keenly felt the loss last month of Beth Israel’s Treasurer, Marty Klitzner, who was also a trusted advisor and board member.
I am most grateful to my good friend and counselor, and our Immediate Past President, Ron Simon, who stepped in throughout Marty’s illness this year to provide financial continuity and excellent leadership.

Of all the accomplishments of the past year, you should know I am extremely proud of our balanced budget. You’ve heard already from Ron Simon, that the Board in April approved a balanced budget for next fiscal year. Enormous credit goes to Lesley Mills and Finance Manager David Malone who worked tirelessly over the last several months to find ways to achieve a balanced budget without jeopardizing synagogue services. This was no small task, and required collaboration and careful balancing of priorities to find ways to increase income and control expenses.


Board Governance

I’d like to thank the Executive Committee members who regularly advise me, Rabbi Berk and Lesley Mills. In addition to Ron and Marty, those include Past Presidents Amy Corton and Jerry Goldberg, as well as 3 Vice Presidents Meg Mandel, Meryl Maneker and Mitch Siegler, and Sandy Feldman.
Our Board has been visible and accessible to the members of the congregation this year. We hear regularly from congregants by phone and via the board email address. We have communicated with monthly letters, the Board Briefing, and the Beth Israel Blog, and have benefited personally from attending the many events of the 150th year.
 
Right alongside me at most of these events and services has been my very supportive husband, Chris, who has not only participated with enthusiasm, but he’s listened to me deliver these speeches a few extra times at home. You’ll be happy to hear that Chris kindly removed what he called the “mind-numbing” parts of this speech before you had to be subjected to them.

I’m pleased to tell you that we will have strong leadership, continuity and stability among board members and officers next year.

In the board meeting that immediately follows this Annual Meeting, I am very pleased to be submitting two very capable and dedicated candidates for elections to new office. As treasurer, we will ask the board to elect Gary Hirschfeld, and as President Elect, we will be honored to submit the name of Meg Mandel. If elected, Gary and Meg would begin their terms immediately, and Meg will become our president one year from now.


Partnership

Lastly, let me reiterate that I feel privileged to be able to partner with an exceptional professional and clergy team who daily exhibit an ethic of hard work, caring and vision for Beth Israel.

This year, with great pleasure, we’ve promoted Rabbi Satz to Associate Rabbi and renewed our relationship for three more years.

It’s been a full year since Cantor Bernstein was ordained as a rabbi, a year in which Rabbi Bernstein continued to infuse our worship with beautiful music and offer her singular personal touch to pastoral care.

And I’d like to commend Rabbi Berk for his warm, inspiring leadership as our Senior Rabbi. For five years, Rabbi Berk has brought to Beth Israel his commitment to teamwork. He made it very clear from the beginning of his rabbinate here that he is all about partnering with lay leaders and senior staff to bring about change in a gradual, evolutionary manner.  This has been a very effective approach and he has gained our trust and the utmost respect of our congregation.
THANK YOU.

Treasurer's Report at Annual Meeting of the Congregation

Remarks delivered by Ron Simon, Acting Treasurer
At the Annual Meeting of the Congregation
May 23, 2012

Shalom!

It is with deep regret that I am delivering this Treasurer’s report to you.  Marty Klitzner, of blessed memory, who was our treasurer, passed away several weeks ago, and I am filling in, sadly, for him.  He was a wonderful leader at Congregation Beth Israel and many other Jewish organizations in San Diego, and a wonderful husband and father, and he is missed by all who came in contact with him and worked with him.

You have been given a handout that summarizes the results for the last three years, as well as information on our endowment and our balance sheet.  The comments which follow relate to the information in the handout.

We evaluate the operations of CBI through 4 separate entities – the largest is the Temple, which includes the clergy, the personnel who help to operate CBI, and all the overhead costs associated with it.  The other three entities are the Religious School, Early Childhood Education, and the Cemetery and Mausoleum Association.

On June 30, 2012, in 5 weeks, we will complete our 2011-2012 fiscal year, and the amounts shown in the handout for 2012 are estimates of the expected results for the year.  We are estimating that the cash loss will be approximately $230,000, an improvement from previous years, but still a poor result and one that we are not happy with.  Achieving even this result depends on a successful end to the Torah project campaign – which may stretch into the following fiscal year.  If that happens, then income we expected in 2012 may be realized in 2013, causing the loss in 2012 to be larger than expected and benefitting results for 2013.

If you look at the page titled “revenue and support”, you can see clearly that our largest source of revenue is dues – your contribution to the maintenance of our Temple.  The other major source of revenue is the educational fees – primarily the tuition for religious school and early childhood education.  In each of these two cases, you can see that results for the 2012 fiscal year are somewhat better than in previous years, but not by much.

Contributions were higher this year, due to the Torah project, and other sources of revenue were relatively constant.

As you can see, from the sheet titled “Operating expenses,” Education is our largest expense, with the other categories all representing relatively large and constant costs to our Temple. What characterizes all of our costs is the importance of personnel – we are a service organization, and the services we provide to our members come through the people employed by the Temple.  Thus, personnel costs represent about 2/3 of our total expenditures every year – a ratio that has been quite constant over time.  This factor has made it very difficult to deal with our deficit problem.

If you turn to the page marked “Summary of activities” you can see that we have made some progress this year.  While the loss for the Temple Operations has increased in 2011-2012, the loss at the Religious school has declined sharply, and early childhood education

is doing quite a bit better than in previous years.  Thus, our overall cash deficit is smaller.
Let’s take a quick look at the first page of the handout – which summarizes our endowment and other funds.  AS you can see, our endowment grew during the year to $6.1 million.  This was a result of contributions of $762,000 and gains of $104,000, offset by allocations to programs of about $220,000 and loans to the Temple to offset deficits of approximately $350,000.  Our policy, for the last 8 years, has been to direct 4% of our endowment, on a rolling 12 quarter basis, to operations.

  In addition, we have two other funds, the Capital improvement fund, which grows as new members make their capital improvement pledge, and is used for capital repairs and improvements.  This fund is currently at $234,000.  In addition, there is the Cemetery and Mausoleum fund – which consists of cash of about $110,000 and an inventory of approximately $1 million of burial plots and crypts to be used in the coming years, as needed.

Finally, let’s look at the balance sheet, which is the last page of the handout.  This shows what the Temple has, and owes, in dollars.  As you can see, our Temple is in excellent financial condition.  Total assets amount to $23.8 million, including investments of $6.6 million at March 31, while we had no debt, and only current liabilities of $266,000, which relate to ongoing operations of the Temple.

As we look forward to the next fiscal year, which begins on July 1, 2012 and will end on June 30, 2013, the budget approved by your board of directors does provide for a break-even cash flow.  In order to achieve this, a number of personnel changes are being made, although we do not expect them to significantly impact the services our members will receive.  Perhaps the most obvious, to most members, will be that there will be a receptionist only Tuesday through Thursday; and we will make other provisions to answer the door and phones on Monday and Friday, which are generally lighter days for visitors and phone calls.  Another factor which helped in producing a balanced budget was the agreement by all of our clergy to forego the raises that they were entitled to in their contracts.  We deeply appreciate this.  In producing a balanced budget, we have made certain assumptions, including additional success with our endowment campaign and a temporary 1% increase, to 5%, in the allocation of endowment income to operations – and we will be monitoring all aspects of our expenses and income in order to make every effort to achieve the balanced budget.

As I have noted in my comments at previous annual meetings, greater revenue remains a key to improving the financial results for temple operations at CBI.   A key factor in the failure of revenue to grow sufficiently has been the effect of the recession on our income from membership dues.  Some people have resigned their membership, citing the economy as the reason; others who had financial problems have accepted the offer of CBI to continue their membership at a reduced cost level, in order that we don’t lose them as members, and they continue to benefit from the services that we offer. 

I am hopeful that the number of members will rise in the coming years, and if it does, it will go a long way toward helping us solve our deficit problem.  However, during the last few years, we have experienced declines in membership, so I am hopeful but not optimistic about the possibility for growth in membership in the coming years.  Thus the key to financial stability will be greater revenue from the endowment, and that means a larger endowment.  We are in the midst of an endowment campaign, and I hope that ultimately every family in the Temple will donate to that campaign.
If anyone has unanswered questions, please don’t hesitate to contact Lesley Mills, David Malone or I and we will get you an answer to your question.

Before closing, I’d like to publicly thank those who participated in the financial management of CBI – our treasurer, Marty Klitzner, of blessed memory, Lesley Mills, Executive Director, David Malone, Finance Manager and Barbara Thompson, bookkeeper.  I’d also like to thank the members of the Finance committee – David Bark, Amy Corton, Bob Filderman, Herb Hafter, Emily Jennewein, Jane Sagerman, Mitch Siegler and Jerry Sampson.  They all did a terrific job and our committee discussions led to some very useful suggestions.

Thank you.

Laurie Black spoke on Compassion and Community

Laurie Black's recent speech as part of Forum 150 was so inspiring and interesting. Laurie attracted an overflow crowd of attendees who were truly moved to hear her thoughts and share her experiences -- as was I!

Many came right up to Laurie afterward to say that they, too, have experienced one or another of the challenges she discussed, and how meaningful it was to them to be able to share out loud their experience with Laurie.

I hope you enjoy Laurie's marvelous speech:

Compassion and Community
Congregation Beth Israel Men’s Club
May 16, 2012

by Laurie Black

Thank you so much for your kind introduction. I feel at home here at Beth Israel. Amongst family tonight.   I had another introduction to tonight’s presentation…but after several of the pillar members of our Synagogue passed away this week, it became clear that I needed to address the loss in our community of Arthur Brody and Elene Solomon.

Surely no life on this earth goes untouched by tragedy. There is a dark cloud of brokenness that can hang over us like a storm, and we then know this world is not as it should be, not how we might want it to be. But as lay leaders here tonight, one of the important things we can all do is show gratitude towards one another and to the families in our community that experience loss and sadness.  Even more important will be to address the issue of the start of losing a generation at Congregation Beth Israel and how we will educate and help the next generation step up. My generation.  We have to continue to educate ourselves and our members, about compassion and community – furthermore; we need to address the givers/contributors of our community…many of whose names are on the wall outside the sanctuary. We need to tell their story - the families of Point Loma and Del Cerro and other Jewish neighborhood pockets from the 1940’s and 1950’s. Many of us here tonight are their children. They taught us about community and caring and compassion. Now we will begin to share our parents stories, our stories and teach the younger one’s how to carry on.

By building strong compassionate leaders, we will be able to address many of the needs our community has in a comprehensive and engaged way. Compassion is REQUIRED to meet many of the needs in our community. It's the very foundation of identifying needs and recognizing them as essential. Without holding compassion as a priority in our hearts, in our families, and in our communities…we are just individuals, a little lost and trying to find our own way home. Compassion very clearly shows us that we are all "in this" together - that one person's suffering might as well be our own.  Compassion is the true vehicle of us accepting responsibility - for ourselves and for each other. Albert Schweitzer said, “In everyone’s life, at sometime, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit.”

How can we teach our children about the concept of compassion in our community? Here is one brief example from my own family.  About 15 years ago, my husband Bob Lawrence and I were with our four children at Coco’s Restaurant. As we departed Coco’s, there was a man who stood at the outside of the restaurant and begged for money. In front of the children, Bob told the man, “I will not give you money, but I will buy you a meal.” And so indeed, Bob went back into Coco’s, sat the tethered man down at the counter, the man ordered and Bob paid for the meal. “Bless you! Thank you!” exclaimed the man. Our adult children still talk about this encounter with a homeless man did for their sense of obligation and compassion in their community.

Feeding others is a classically human way of bonding; it likely has its roots in that the most basic of interactions, the mother feeding the child.  A few years back at a mediation retreat in Massachusetts, washing pots and pans in the kitchen, out came the manager of the retreat center, and he had something wrapped in aluminum foil. “This is for your good work.”  It was this really big piece of cheesecake with glaze and nuts – at the retreat, an extra piece of bread and tea were a big deal. I broke it into four pieces, kept one, put three pieces in the bowls of the other yogis I felt connected with. At teatime, I watched and saw each person’s mouth drop. And then one person took her piece and broke it into another bowl to give away. The interesting thing is that I still feel very connected with the five other people through that sharing.

Stephen Post the author of Why Good Things Happen to Good People: How to Live a Longer, Healthier, Happier Life by the Single Act of Giving defines self-giving love as “compassionate care for others that is unconditional; it is not dependent on reciprocation. Compassion doesn’t only strengthen social bonds and make us feel good  - it can also measurably impact your health, both physical and mental.”  Writer Cami Walker experienced this first hand. In her early thirties, newly married and working a high-powered advertising job, Walker was stricken with Multiple Sclerosis (MS.) She lost the use of her hands, the vision in one eye; the fatigue and numbness that come with the incurable neurological disease debilitated her. Within two years, she had quit her job, developed an addiction to prescription drugs, and become completely dependent upon her husband. One night in a state of depression she called her friend,  a South African medicine woman who draws from the Dagara African tradition and has also been a pioneer in integrative medicine in San Francisco. Creazzo prescribed a ritual, “Give away 29 gifts in 29 days.” Walker was resistant. “I couldn’t even get out of bed so how was I going to give something to someone every day?” And Creazzo said, “It does not have to be material. It can be that you say something nice.” 

On day one, Walker decided to give the gift of time and attention to a friend who was in a more advanced stage of MS. Her friend was ecstatic to hear from her and they made a plan to get together. “When I hung up the phone, I felt lighter and I was smiling. And then I thought ok it does feel good to give. I gave my gift and then out of the blue I got this call to do a consulting project. And I took myself out to breakfast and there was a guy who just anonymously paid for my breakfast that day!”

“If you knew the power of generosity, you would not let a single meal go by without sharing it,” the Buddha said. Giving was advocated by Buddha because it acknowledges the interdependence we have for each other. When we give without pretense we have then been moved and are awakened to the natural gladness that comes when the heart opens. Everyone here tonight has felt the high that comes from giving, a sort of “natural gladness.”  Recent science suggests there is a biological basis for it. In 2006, neuroscientist Jorge Moll and a team of NIH researchers gave subjects some money and a list of causes to which they might contribute. They found that the mere thought of giving money to charity activitates the primitive part of the brain associated with the pleasures and having sex. Functional MRI’s indicated that donating money stimulates the mesolimbic pathway, the reward center in the brain, which is responsible for dopamine-mediated euphoria.

A year later, a study by Ariel Knafo and other researchers from the psychology department at Hebrew University in Jerusalem discovered evidence for a genetic predisposition toward giving. Participants in a staged game were given money and told they could give all, part or none to an unidentified player. The subjects DNA samples were analyzed and compared against their reactions. Those who had certain variants of a gene call “AVPR1a” gave an average of nearly 50% more money than those not displaying that variant. AVPR1a facilitates the production of a receptor that enables the social-bonding hormone arginine vaspressin to act on brain cells. “The experiment provided the first evidence, to my knowledge, for a relationship between DNA variability and real human altruism,” wrote Knafo.

The Torah orders, “If there is a needy person among you, don’t harden your heart; don’t shut your hand against your needy kin. For there will never cease to be people with need in your land, which is why I command you to open up your heart to the poor and to the needy kin in your land.”

For about 30 years, most of us in the Western World have been having a party. We have been encouraged to be self-sufficient and independent, to become successful and rich, to search for true happiness and find the “real us.”  We have been encouraged to buy our own homes, invest in shares, become entrepreneurs, travel the world, and borrow as much money as we liked to consume “things” that, upon reflection we didn’t really need or use. We have been cleverly and ruthlessly advertised and marketed to buy a lifestyle rather than, get a real life. We thought we had it all.

 I thought that I had it all. June 12, 2008 I stood in front of the mirror on my 50th birthday and was relieved that I survived a half a century of tragedies, joys, four children, mother in laws, 4 of them, stretch marks, mortgages…and a joyous loving marriage of over 27 years. Four days later, my beloved brother Brian was killed on Father’s Day in a car accident.  He had survived mental illness for over 20 years, went back to college, got a degree, married and was working at Alpine Residential Home as a counselor when he was killed. And then 4 months later my grandfather fell and died during the midst of my mom being treated for her cancer that had gone yet again into the liver…and my dad was in the middle stages of frontal lobe dementia…and then my beloved husband Bob Lawrence was diagnosed with Stage IV Malignant Metastatic Melanoma given 2 weeks to 2 months to live. This is when I really began to understand and learn about compassion and community, our community.

I was unable to bring the box of letters and cards that Bob and I received from Brian’s death and Bob’s illness. Hundreds and hundreds of letters, notes, donations, meals, books, videos, healing tapes, more meals, more letters, calls, emails…at one point during the last 3 years I thought there was wayyyyyyy too much technology to communicate… Bob and I were literally unable to get back to people who contacted us to send love and wishes of hope.

This is an important point. Human beings are keenly attuned to each other. When one practices compassion toward the self and internalizes compassion — that is, becomes compassionate at their core — others witness their unique presence and, at some level, recognize the embodiment of compassion. This can have a profound impact on others. When one accepts oneself compassionately as they are, being compassionate to others comes naturally and effortlessly. One of the central characteristics about compassionate action is that it requires that you give something of yourself, that you do not stand apart from the object of your compassion.

Indeed, I believe it is time to change the world, for every one of us wakes up and decides that we, as individuals and in groups, can tackle the challenges our community faces. We can all become leaders and authors of change by living more generous, proactive lives, by inspiring each other and setting an example for our friends and our children.

Tonight, most of us know in our hearts that it is good to be compassionate. Each one of us feels far better about ourselves when we can help other people, and we are touched when other people are compassionate and generous to us. Clearly, the challenge for all of us is to find a way to lead a more compassionate life in the real world.

But we can start here at Beth Israel. Now is the time for all of us to be more compassionate and generous, to recapture some of the practical simplicity of the ways we used to live when we depended upon one another. It is time to set out to build upon Rabbi Berk’s caring community and take the next steps toward a more compassionate, caring and generous life. This is not about money, although giving money to a good cause or even a person – quietly and without ceremony – can be an important element in a life worth living. Giving compassionately of ourselves is a great act of generosity.

Compassion involves paying attention to the plight of the poor and learning how we can help them. The Hunger Project is a great example of how we do this at Beth Israel. Our community is overflowing with people whose everyday lives do indeed involve an enormous amount of love and care for others, people who do their jobs but are also generous and compassionate with their lives. We need to cheer these members of our community on, celebrate their works and create many more participants whose daily work includes a generosity of spirit that we can admire and applaud.

This all being said, I know there is HOPE. We live in an exciting age in which ideas, campaigns and movements can spread to millions of people instantly through the Internet and social networking sites. All of us as individuals, families, Temples, schools, businesses, politicians, journalists, faith leaders – young or old – can use these outlets to spread the power of generosity, compassion and living a more generous lives.

From Rabbi Levi Isaac Horowitz:
“Once upon a time there was a king who wanted to give a treat to the workers in his diamond mine. He told them that for three hours only they could keep for themselves all the diamonds they could pluck from the ground. Some got so excited that, as soon as they found a stone, they would polish it and fantasize what they would do with it once the three hours were over. Other just tried to collect as many diamonds as possible, leaving the polishing and the fantasizing to later. Needless to say, these collected much more than the others. “Why?” asks the rebbe, and answers: “Because they used their time for what was meant to be.”

Our challenge is to use the time we have now to live gratefully and responsibility, knowing that how we choose to live shapes our soul. Each of us has a unique inner potential that we are able to discover and share with others. The ability to accept death as a part of life provides comfort and the awareness that each day is precious. Our challenge is to make the very best of every day in this life.