From the President's Desk   

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The President’s message will resume in August.

On Wednesday, June 18, 2008, the Temple Israel community got together for its 88th Annual General Meeting (AGM). The purpose of the meeting was to present the 2008-2009 Budget, vote on the slate of nominated new members of the Board of Directors, and to present and vote on proposed changes in our by-laws. All three main topics were to be followed by a vote for approval and adoption.  Honest, informative and lively discussion preceded the votes.  Following the Financial Report and before the presentation of the slate of new board members and the proposed by-laws changes, was a one-hour Open Forum, where those in attendance were invited to raise new questions and comment on existing issues. 

This gathering of Temple members and staff provided the Rabbi, the Cantor and the Director of Congregational Learning the opportunity to address the community with a synopsis of the past year’s accomplishments, plans for the upcoming year and even personal thoughts about their relationship with the Temple Israel community. As always, their messages were thought-provoking and touching.  

The Financial Report discussion, scheduled for forty minutes, took an hour and a half.  The proposed budget had been sent to all members. In addition, copies of the budget were provided at the AGM.  A great deal of collaborative thought went into preparing the proposed budget so further engagement by the members at the AGM through questions and discussion was welcomed. As a result of several observations, the following changes to the budget were made: $9,000 projected as a donation from Women of Temple Israel was asked to be deleted from the earnings projections and the amount to be donated by the Temple Israel Foundation was reduced by $1000 from $16,000 to $15,000.  In addition, the fundraiser planned for December 24, 2008 was asked to be removed from the budget as there was a conflicting event planned for that evening. At the end of the discussion, a vote was taken and the budget was approved. 

The following new Board members were voted in: Eric Strimling, Jerry Rabinovitz, Betty Riback, Reva Kopel, Randy Friedman and Dan Kapler. 

In the final thirty minutes of the meeting, 27 proposed by-laws changes were discussed. Seventeen were approved, nine were rejected and one was stricken. Six proposed by-laws involving changes to Board committees were rejected. A by-law change to schedule the Annual General Meeting to the third week in June to enable the treasurer to present a completed year’s budget recap was approved.  Three other by-law changes were discussed and voted upon, including one approval that the Religious/Hebrew School modify its entry grade level and one rejection that would change  student consideration  language from “entitled” to “eligible”. 

The hour-long Open Forum inserted into the agenda was done so in response to questions and concerns raised about the future direction the Board of Directors is considering to address the financial struggles Temple Israel is facing. While the Board of Directors voted overwhelmingly to change the clergy model for Temple Israel, the intent was to discuss this openly with the entire community by conducting Town Hall meetings during the next few weeks. When it became apparent that there was a need for the discussion to begin immediately, time was provide at the AGM. There were passionate pleas made for and against changing the clergy model. The basic theme apparent from both sides was the desire to secure the future of Temple Israel with a financial, spiritual and social foundation.

Members are encouraged to take part in these upcoming Town Hall meetings and, more importantly, confirm your commitment to Temple Israel’s present and future!

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