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.

Closing Our Speakers Series with Rabbi David Ellenson, President of Hebrew Union College

by President Emily Jennewein

In the culmination of our 150th anniversary Speakers Series, Beth Israel warmly welcomed Dr. David Ellenson, President of Hebrew Union College, to Beth Israel on April 27.  Last time I had the pleasure of hearing Rabbi Ellenson speak was a moment I will personally treasure. It was just last May, when he blessed Rabbi/Cantor Arlene Bernstein as she was ordained a rabbi in Los Angeles.

In this year, when Beth Israel is scribing a new Torah, it is a great honor to mark our sesquicentennial anniversary, and conclude our Speakers Series, with a distinguished Torah scholar of our Movement, Rabbi Ellenson.

Beth Israel has hosted this series of seven compelling Speakers, each one a leader of our Reform Movement and of the Jewish intellectual world.  Throughout the Series we have looked back over the 150 years since our founding, and looked ahead to the bright future. Our speakers included  holocaust scholar Deborah Lipstadt, noted pulpit Rabbi David Wolpe, President of the Union for Reform Judaism, Rabbi Eric Yoffie, among other notables. Each has raised fundamental questions and issues that have enlightened, provoked and inspired us. I’m very proud that our Speakers Series has advanced Beth Israel’s historic mission as a convener of thought-leadership in San Diego.

We also are honoring Beth Israel’s commitment to adult and youth education.  The ALEINU leaders and educators who are joining our clergy in sitting on the bimah this evening include Susan Ulevitch is the chair of the evening, Jerry Sampson is the current chair of ALEINU, Audrey Levine is a member of our Youth Engagement Think Tank, which is re-envisioning the way families connect to educational programs. Ava Kurnow is our esteemed director of religious school education, Tammy Vener is our director of early childhood education and the national chair of  the Early Childhood Educators of Reform Judaism. And Bonnie Graff is our program director, who dedicates herself to excellence in adult education.

A donation has been made to Beth Israel’s Bill & George Burnett Library Fund in appreciation of the award-winning work of the ALEINU committee and of our Youth Engagement Think Tank.  It will be an honor to add books in your names to our Sophie and Arthur Brody Library.  In addition, all of our teachers are being honored this year with a dedication and opportunity to scribe in our 150th anniversary Torah.

Also, I’d like to thank Mary Ann Scher, whose extraordinary leadership has brought to life our entire 150th anniversary year, creating opportunities for many congregants to re-bond with Beth Israel in meaningful ways.

Beth Israel’s Thank You to Our Most Generous Donors Featured Reform Movement Head, Rabbi Eric Yoffie

By Emily Jennewein, President

Bud and Esther Fischer hosted Beth Israel's Thank You Event

This year’s event to thank Beth Israel’s Century Club, Dor L’Dor members and major donors was especially significant because our keynote speaker was the head of the Reform Movement, Rabbi Eric Yoffie, who retires in June after 16 years at the helm of our Movement.

Beth Israel was extremely privileged to host Rabbi Yoffie at the spectacular home of Esther and Bud Fischer, high on the bluff, above the Pacific Ocean. Cindy and Lorne Polger chaired the reception.

Emily and Chris Jennewein with Rabbi Eric Yoffie

Rabbi Yoffie, president of the Union for Reform Judaism, which represents 1.5 million Reform Jews in 900 synagogues across North America, said membership and participation in synagogues is fundamental to Judaism in America. He also thanked those in attendance for their steadfast support and involvement in the life of Beth Israel.


The reception was Beth Israel’s annual event to thank our Century Club members whose generosity makes it possible for Beth Israel to have open arms to all who want to be members, regardless of the ability to meet our dues. Beth Israel values inclusiveness and openness, and our Century Club members make it possible for us to live these values.



Rabbi Michael Berk with Cindy Polger, who chaired
the Thank You Event with her husband, Lorne.

We also honored the members of our Dor L'Dor Society, those who have left a legacy bequest to Beth Israel that will become part of our endowment. Those legacy gifts will forever benefit our synagogue and ensure the strength of the Reform Jewish community in San Diego.


And we thanked all our major donors to Beth Israel, including those who have made dedications as part of our 150th anniversary Torah Project. Our major donors’ generosity allows Beth Israel to assure the vitality of our synagogue this year and for the next 150 years.

Linda Goldberg and Bonnie Graff.

I’m proud to be able to report that every member of Beth Israel’s Board has made early, personal commitments to our fundraising initiatives. Our leadership takes very seriously the responsibility to strengthen our congregation, the historic center of Jewish life in San Diego. Our Board leaders continue the strong legacy established by a group of Jewish pioneers on the wild, remote coast of California, who created a community so successful that it has endured 150 years and seems still to get stronger.

Our visionary founders sought to establish Jewish connection then, and Beth Israel continues on that same quest now. Through the generosity of our members, we sustain a thriving, inclusive community where people find ways to connect to Judaism and to one another. The support of our donors ensures Beth Israel’s ability to do so effectively for generations to come. For that, I thank each of you who make Beth Israel a financial priority.

Sallye and Larry Krause with Jerry and Lee Levy.

George Scher with Jerry and Marge Katleman

Nadine Finkel and Gail Malkus.

Wishing Mazel Tov to Past President Barbara Haworth

By Emily Jennewein, President

I’d like to wish Mazel Tov to Past President Barbara Haworth and her husband Gordon, who have moved to Chicago, where Barbara has become Executive Director of the historic Anshe Emet Synagogue, a large Conservative, egalitarian synagogue. Beth Israel bid a fond farewell to the Haworths with a warm Shabbat blessing in late March.

As president from 2005-07, Barbara established a period of Shalom Bayit, peace in the house, when she presided over the engagement of Rabbi Michael Berk, renewed Beth Israel’s relationship with Rabbi/Cantor Arlene Bernstein and enhanced the high level of professionalism. Barbara presided over Beth Israel’s first long-range strategic plan and conceived of our leadership development institute which trains a pipeline of future lay leaders. To my knowledge, she is the first past president to leave our community and the first to leave for employment at a synagogue. I send the Haworths my very best wishes on behalf of the Beth Israel community.

Building Our Synagogue Is Their Greatest Mitzvah

By Emily Jennewein, President

There may be no higher mitzvah, nor anything more lasting in congregational Judaism, than building a synagogue. The devotion, humility and pride of those who helped with the vision, design and construction of Beth Israel's magnificent La Jolla campus was evident at a sold-out dinner and packed service on March 16.

Dan Epstein

Dan Epstein, co-chair of the Architect and Building Committee, said building Beth Israel was the most meaningful project of his long and varied career in construction. He recalled countless meetings and extended negotiations that, he concluded, were well worth the effort. He spoke about the hard work and selfless contributions of his co-chair, May Sebel, and many others including Bob Berton, who chaired the land acquisition committee, Melissa Garfield Bartell, who chaired the art committee, Helene Ziman, who chaired the interior design committee, Sally Wyte, who chaired the landscape committee, and Ted Mintz, who chaired the construction development committee. Epstein and his wife Phyllis were co-chairs of the evening to honor those who built the bricks and mortar of our congregation.

Douglas Austin

The campus’ architect, Douglas Austin of Austin Veum Robbins Partners, recalled the spirituality he felt in designing the campus to look like a small part of Jerusalem in San Diego. Though not Jewish, Austin visited Israel, read extensively about the history of the first and second temples in Jerusalem, and as the son of a minister, brought a learned background to the project.

Robert Price recounted how very meaningful it is to his family that members of his family have been involved in creating all three of Beth Israel’s synagogues. Along with Elliot Feuerstein and the late Stan Foster, Price helped raise the funds for the current campus. Price cited his work with Stuart Simmons, Beth Israel’s executive director emeritus, as the most gratifying of all his work on the project.

Rabbi Jonathan Stein

Past President and 150th Anniversary Chair Mary Ann Scher introduced former Rabbi Jonathan Stein, who addressed the congregation about the importance of participating in a Jewish community and recalled his own involvement with the planning and building of Beth Israel’s campus. Rabbi Michael Berk encouraged members to heed Rabbi Stein’s message to fully participate in the life of our Beth Israel community.
Stein, as the current president of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, previewed the forthcoming report on the future of Reform Judaism, which will envision a future that addresses the major challenges facing the Reform Movement: how technology changes the nature of community-building and affiliation, financial challenges, and the meaning of being a religious movement in a culture that is inherently anti-institutional.

Rabbi Stein cited his greatest legacy to Beth Israel as having brought Rabbi/Cantor Arlene Bernstein to our congregation. Rabbi Stein and his wife Susan last visited Beth Israel in 2008 when they helped us honor Rabbi/Cantor Bernstein for her 10 years of service.

The evening was the final stop on Three Temple Tour that enabled us to visit each of Beth Israel’s former homes, and to re-live many glorious memories. The first board meeting of the anniversary year was held in our original synagogue building, now a historic monument in Old Town. And we conducted an authentic, Classical Reform service from the 1940s in our second temple, where we lived out half of Beth Israel’s history. Stan Schwartz, Beth Israel’s temple archivist, was invited to sit on the bimah in recognition of his invaluable historical contributions throughout the planning and celebration of the 150th anniversary year.

Honoring Beth Israel's Commitment to Social Action

by Emily Jennewein, President

I'd like to thank Deb DeBow, chair of this evening’s Speakers Series event, and a longtime dedicated Board member of the congregation.

And I'd like to add my thanks to all the past chairs of our Social Action Committee – most of whom have stayed truly involved with social action over many years.  In your honor, the temple has made a donation to the Hunger Project and you’ll receive certificates this evening to commemorate those donations.

Beth Israel's Social Action Chairs present for the celebration are:

• Jerry Goldberg, chair from 1994-96
• Elaine Moser, 1999-2001
• Anita Hosenpud,  2001-04
• Bob Metz,  2001-03
• Judy Fisher, 2003-06
• Deb DeBow,  2006-11
• Seekey Cacciatore,  2009-11
• Stan Bliss, our current chair

I’d also like to recognize and thank Joan Kutner for founding and running the Hunger Project for most of its 25 years.

Beth Israel’s Social Action Committee dates to the mid-1960s when the congregation formed the Social Action Committee to apply Jewish ideals and ethics to modern life. Early social action programs included an initiative with Jewish Family Service, to help with Vietnamese Boat People Resettlement. 

A group of Beth Israel families helped prepare East County apartments for the refugees with basic furnishings, clothing and food, and then met with the refugees once they arrived to welcome them and help them acclimate to their new environment. 

And for years, Beth Israel held community Thanksgiving dinners for needy people in the Third & Laurel neighborhood.

The committee fell dormant for several years until Jerry Goldberg, who later became our president, revived the committee in 1994. Today the Social Action Committee operates with a comprehensive framework for social action that includes advocacy on social issues, education, opportunities for hands-on participation, and support for Israel.

This evening, we’re also honoring the Hunger Project as the congregation’s longest-standing mitzvah project. Since 1986 Beth Israel has partnered with St. Vincent de Paul to provide a nourishing hot brunch to 800 to 1,000 adults and children every Sunday morning. 

On the very first Sunday, our Hunger Project clients numbered 249 men and one woman.  The servers were our rabbis, members of the board of directors and their families.  Word quickly spread on the street about the quality and quantity of the food served and among the temple membership about the positive experience. 

The next Sunday morning we served 400 people. In 2005, Rabbi Saperstein’s Religious Action Center honored Beth Israel for the Hunger Project with the Irving J. Fain Social Action Award Honorable Mention.

Among the Social Action highlights of the past decade were two Walks for Darfur co-chaired by Judy Fisher and Ami Minteer.  Again Beth Israel led the way, reaching out to the entire San Diego community and raising awareness as well as $80,000 to $100,000 for relief aid to the region.

Beth Israel is very proud of the leaders of our Social Action initiatives over many years.