What is a Committee?

By its nature, a synagogue is a community. To be most effective, a congregation must be inclusive and welcoming. An excellent way to do this is to have committees with specific roles, defined duties and important functions, answerable to the board of the synagogue. In addition to helping the synagogue do its work, a functioning committee structure provides a training ground for future synagogue leadership.

As defined by  Wikipedia it is: a committee is a type of small deliberative assembly that is usually intended to remain subordinate to another, larger deliberative assembly—which when organized so that action on committee requires a vote by all its entitled members, is called the "Committee of the Whole". Committees often serve several different functions:

What are these functions: Governance: Coordination: Research and recommendations: Project management:
A non-profit organization such as BSKI cannot function without its committee structure. The way in which the organization is set up it is dependent upon lay leadership, a volunteer Executive Board, a volunteer Board of Trustees and a large number of volunteer committee members. The hired staff in comparison to the number of actual members of the organization is extremely small, and without the volunteers we cannot exist.

At the Installation of Board Members and Officers I gave two Charges to the Congregation; the first charge was to the Board to become a working board. Join me and get the committees that were inactive up and running and to breathe life into the rest of the committees and reignite them and help get them moving again. The second charge was to the rest of the congregation to join behind the board and become part of those committees and not just leave it up to the board.

As of this writing, I am pleased to announce that your Board of Trustees is leading the way and doing their part and doing just as I have asked. We now need the rest of the congregation to step up and join the Board to see where you can be of service to your synagogue. We have many committees that you can serve on that can help build a stronger synagogue for our collective future. Some examples are: Chesed, High Holidays, Israel, Fund Raising, Education, Social Action, Membership, and Public Relations & Publicity. If you have a desire to get involved please contact me through the Synagogue Office and I will see to it that you are put in touch with the right people. Thank you in advance for your participation

B'Shalom

Ricky Kodner

Going to shul

Benjamin woke up one Saturday morning in a bad mood. When he came down to breakfast, he put on his yarmulke and sat across the table from his visiting sister, Sarah.

"I'm not going to shul today!" he said to Sarah emphatically.

"Yes you are." Sarah replied calmly.

"No I'm not . . . I don't think I really want to ever go again!" Benjamin said with obvious irritation. "The people down there don't like me, they ignore me sometimes . . . they don't appreciate me at all . . . and I won't go back."

"Yes, you will go today, and you will continue", said Sarah with confidence. And, I'll give you two reasons. Number one, you're 45 years old ... and Number two, you're the Rabbi!"