Letter from the President – July Update

Posted on July 22, 2022

A letter from Board of Trustees President Jackie Loren

Hello friends:

I’ve talked to many congregants since becoming President and they have asked me to share more information about what’s happening around the Temple. I’m hoping to make a habit of sharing updates after each Board meeting, starting with the July 18th board meeting. Here’s some brief news about things going on, and suggestions of who to contact for more information.

Board of Trustees:

The new board has met three times, including at a hybrid Kallah in June, where new and old trustees got to know each other and started work on strategic initiatives. Generally, the summer is a quiet time for our congregation and our board, but we have great hopes that our hard work during the dog-days of summer will benefit our congregation as we move forward. We are looking forward to your involvement in future committees and task forces as we continue our work. On a side note, did you know that you can Board meetings are open to all congregants? Meeting dates are listed here. If you are interested in attending contact me at for a zoom link.

Building improvements:

We have spent the last several months continuing to improve and repair our physical space. Over the last year we refinished the moveable walls in the sanctuary, added gutters to the courtyard, improved our security systems, and completed necessary repairs to our sprinkler system. A small, dedicated task force has been hard at work studying appropriate replacement technology for our HVAC system, with the goal of reducing repair costs, improving comfort, improving air quality, and reducing our carbon footprint. Another set of volunteers is studying solar options. If you are interested in helping with either of these projects contact me and I’ll connect you with the right task force.

Worship:

Over the last year we have greatly improved our hybrid worship experience, by adding better cameras to broadcast services to remote participants, and a beautiful new screen in the Sanctuary to support visual tefillah. Over the last few weeks, we have been taking full advantage of our backyard canopy, offering services in the round outside. During June, we experimented with offering Minyan and Torah study in a hybrid format, welcoming congregants back to the Beit Midrash; we’ve learned a lot from that experiment and will use the next few weeks to decide how to make this work well moving forward. And, building on our experience from last year, High Holiday service planning is underway: expect schedule details in the next few weeks.

Community Gathering:

In June, we hosted several successful community gatherings, including our beautiful Adult B. Mitzvah celebration and TST families had a fun night out at the Jewish Heritage Celebration at the Fenway Park—and we WON! Looking forward this summer we have 2 potluck barbeques following Friday night services planned, including this Shabbat (July 22nd); please consider joining us. Registration is here.

Toddler to Teen:

Our ELC program switched to camp mode for the summer, and our youngest members are enjoying summer fun and learning. Click here for details about Yeladim programming on Friday nights and Wednesday mornings for families of young children to come together. Planning for next year’s education program is well underway!