During this year’s High Holy Days, I had the opportunity to speak at three of our community’s congregations. In my opening remarks, I introduced the notion that we are currently in the midst of a monumental shift in how Judaism is practiced and how Jews engage with their Judaism as was illustrated in the Pew Research Center’s survey of Jewish Americans in 2020, which was published in May. My talk focused on four distinct ideas, and it was published in my October JLife SGPV From Where I Sit column. 

 

I bring this up because next month, during our 27th Annual Meeting on Sunday, January 9, Dr. Steven Windmueller, one of the country’s preeminent experts and leading voices on Jews in America, and I will be in conversation about the challenges facing American Jewry today. While many of the challenges we will be discussing have been exacerbated due to COVID, some have been impacting Jewish life long before the pandemic. 

 

In addition to Dr. Windmueller’s and my conversation about the future of the Jewish community, our Annual Meeting will also feature the installation of our new board, including Julie Solberg as our next President, David Levy as Vice President, John Carlton as Chief Financial Officer, Julie Bank as Secretary and our newest board member Jeanine Mann. Plus, we will be thanking John Carlton for his 4 years as President and Marcia Alper for her long time serving on our board. Kol HaEmek will also perform and this year’s Kimberly Dawn Ellis Scholarship will be awarded to Sylvie Thompson. And Edie Taylor will be honored as Jewish Federation’s 2021 Volunteer of the Year.

 

You can register to attend, either in-person or virtually, by clicking here or by visiting www.jewishsgpv.org.

 

I hope you will join us on Sunday, January 9. 

 

 

One final note…. I hope that you saw the incredible opportunity I announced earlier this week. Any donation we receive between now and December 31 will be matched, dollar for dollar, up to $50,000. If you have not yet made a donation to support the impactful work the Jewish Federation does each day, please do so now. Not only will your gift double, but you will help us continue to strengthen and enhance Jewish life. And to those of you who have already given, please consider making one more gift. The more we raise, the more we can do…together…in 2022.