Reprint of the President's Talk from the Kol Nidre Service:
Shana Tova.
This is my third year speaking to you on the High Holidays as TBT’s President. I’ve had to think — what fresh ideas can I come up with that aren’t a repeat of previous years? But then I remembered that this is Kol Nidre. We repeat the same prayer three times in one night. And, of course, we repeat the same prayers every year on the High Holidays. We Jews revel in tradition and repetition. It gives us comfort, renews us, and inspires us to do better, each and every year. It is what binds us together as a community, here at TBT and with Jews around the world.
Your membership at TBT, also renewed every year, is another tradition that binds us together. I cannot repeat enough how grateful I am for your continued membership. Membership is the backbone of our synagogue. It’s what keeps us upright and sustains us. Whether you’re at TBT every week or just once a year, your membership is an expression of commitment to TBT’s mission, to everything we do to maintain a Jewish presence on the shoreline. That includes being ambassadors to the greater community; actively participating in interfaith cooperation; and promoting social justice. It’s about maintaining the roof over our own heads here at 196 Durham Road but also about helping others, as with our participation in Raise the Roof, the shoreline’s affiliate of Habitat for Humanity, building homes for families in need and creating goodwill in the greater community. What we do here is thanks to your membership and your support.
Sometimes, sitting in the sanctuary, I’ll see a prayer in our Siddur that reminds me of TBT’s mission. One prayer reads: “Have we not all one Parent? Did not one God create us? This is the call from Sinai: There shall be one law, for the citizen and the stranger in your midst.”
A second prayer says, “I have asked of God to dwell in God’s House …, and to gaze in delight at God’s Temple.” Well, I do gaze in delight at this temple, the building, and all we do in it.
Now, here’s a third saying, but I didn’t find it in the prayer book. This was written by the wise sage, Mick Jagger. Mick sang: “You can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, well, you might find you get what you need.”
Because it’s not in the prayer book, I can take issue with that statement. I think we can do better. If we come together as a community at TBT, we can get both what we need and what we want. As we proceed with our renovation project, we will have comfortable, safe, accessible, and well-maintained facilities for years to come. And we can go beyond that. We can have a Jewish home that invites and welcomes all of us to worship, study, and celebrate together. An inspiring, sun-lit sanctuary. A vibrant social hall with a covered outdoor veranda that connects us to the beauty of our surroundings.
I am hoping to see many of you at the special event we are holding at TBT the evening of Saturday, November 9. We have mailed invitations to bring all of the adults in the TBT community together to learn about and celebrate our future while continuing the traditions of our past. We will gather at 6:00 p.m. to hear about our capital campaign, entitled “Building Community.” We will talk about the campaign’s success to date and how each and every one of us can build on that success over the next year. We will unveil the final designs for enhancing our beautiful home. And once the talking is over, we will celebrate with a delightful Kosher Chinese dinner and festive music. This will be a memorable night to start a memorable next phase of TBT’s life serving the Jewish shoreline community.
So many of you have already joined us on this campaign journey by serving on committees and attending congregational meetings to plan for our future. November 9th will be a time to bring all of us together in one place, at one time, to acknowledge our accomplishments and learn of the tasks ahead.
Louis Brandeis, the first Jewish Supreme Court Justice, once said, “Most of the things worth doing in the world were declared impossible before they were done.” With your help and participation, we will reach our goals and, one day, look back with satisfaction and pride for what we have accomplished.
On behalf of our Board of Directors, myself, and my family, we wish you a sweet, healthy, and productive new year.
G’mar Tov.
Jeff Babbin