I thought that it would be appropriate to talk about change in this Shofar edition. As I am writing, the weather and the entire landscape of Winnipeg is quickly changing from winter to spring. In a few days we will be busy changing our house over for Pesach. Entirely different sets of dishes, pots and pans will emerge from their resting places in the dark recesses of the house and our pantry will be filled with matzah.

 

Change is exciting, but also at times a little frightening, as well as a lot of work and adjustment. Last night we saw a very interesting film at Movie Night at the Synagogue, “A Price Above Rubies”, which was all about change, addressing the difficulty of change as well as the importance of being able to change.

 

We are currently experiencing a number of changes at Shaarey Zedek which will impact all of us in different ways. Our Funeral Director, Tybie Floom, has decided to make a significant change in her life and take a position in Edmonton as Executive Director at Beth Shalom Synagogue. Our Executive Chef, Shelley Martin, has decided to make a significant change her life and move to Kelowna with her husband. I don’t have to tell you how wonderful these senior members of our staff are and how much they will be missed. However, their loss at the same time has created a tremendous opportunity to implement an exciting change in the way we do business. We have created a new position of Life Cycle Director who will not only assume the responsibilities of the Funeral Director, but will also serve as an event director for other life cycle events such as Bar and Bat Mitzvahs. This will allow the chefs to do their job in the kitchen and ensure that there is someone else available to take care of all the other important details. We are thrilled to have Estelle Raber join us in this challenging new position. At the same time, Joel Lafond, who was previously our Sous Chef, takes over as Executive Chef, and Kelly Wing moves up to Sous Chef. We are so fortunate to have the depth of experience in the kitchen which should make the transition after Shelley’s departure seamless. We expect that we should be able to continue to meet and exceed everyone’s expectations.

 

We have also been working hard over the last year to finally implement the much needed modernization of our General By-Law. This will be presented to our membership at the annual meeting after having been considered and approved by the various committees, the Executive Committee and the Board. The proposed amendments, for the most part, reflect current practices and procedures which have developed over time because we know that organizational change is necessary in order to be responsive to the needs and best interests of the congregation. Please take the time to review the information when you receive it. I hope you will be able to support the changes as I think they are very important to keep us moving forward.

 

We are about to embark on a process of reexamining our values in order to review our Mission Statement and start planning for the future. We want to engage our members in the process as well as our Board and committees. This is an important task which needs to be done well in order to succeed, and you will be hearing more about it over the next several months. If you have a particular interest in being involved, please let the office know.

 

There are so many important issues that constantly challenge us. We talk about many of them often, but find that there are no easy answers, no easy fixes. How do we get more young people into the Synagogue? How do we get more people generally engaged in the spiritual life of the Synagogue? How can we respond to the needs of gay and lesbian members of our community? We need to open up and continue the dialogue. We need to continue making changes, large and small, to reach out and be more inclusive and welcoming. We need to make sure we provide a comfortable environment to our existing members as well as those considering synagogue affiliation. Yes, change is difficult, but it is necessary if we are to survive and thrive through this 21^st century. I look forward to your help and your understanding as we continue this ongoing process of self-examination and change.