Words from our Congregation President, Ricki Bauman
December, 2025
If you don’t know it, I am not paid by Beth Israel, even though as President, I function as an Executive Director or Chief Executive Officer. The only paid staff that we have is the Rabbi; of course, we do have contractors to clean the building, mow the lawn, cut trees, do electrical/plumbing/fire inspection. In the end, everyone on the Board of Directors and all of the committee members are all
volunteers — that is what makes Beth Israel a great place to be and to help out — but it also has its challenges — everyone is a volunteer!
The flip side of all of this is that no one is under contract, no one is paid, there are no real vacations, no sick time, no pension, no fringe benefits — except one. The one fringe benefit that cannot be quantified is not just altruism in motion –it is that we are doing sacred or holy work. It says in D’varim (Deuteronomy) 29, verses 9 & 10, “You are standing here, this day, all of you, in the presence
(face) of Adonai your God; your heads (chiefs), your tribes, your elders, and your judges (officers), all men of Israel. Your little ones, your wives and the stranger (alien) that draws near to your camps, from the cutter of trees (woodchopper) up to the drawer of water (water bearer)”-my translation. And that is the point — we all engage in the sacred work of Beth Israel.
We have renovated the lighting in the Sanctuary, the lobby and the offices and eliminated many electrical hazards that we didn’t know about but were found by the electricians. We significantly upgraded our sound system and we replaced the flooring in the Social Hall. Then came the death of our beloved Rabbi Carla; we held the synagogue together with lay leadership from April, 2024 through July and again from September, 2024 until July of 2025, when we hired Rabbi Phil. And right after the death of Rabbi Carla, we were dealt
another devastating blow– the collapse of the rear wall of the Sanctuary thanks to Hurricane Milton. Not only did we build back better than it was built in 1988, but we also repaired the interior water damage, painted the Sanctuary, and the entire exterior of the building that hadn’t been painted since 2001! We then replaced and upgraded all of our exterior lighting. For the first time in Beth Israel’s
history, we aggressively went after grants to fix the damage and $40,000 came our way! Our net cost was $1,000! Now, we are working to get $200,000 in FEMA and other grants to upgrade our security to modern standards.
How does it get done — not by waving a magic wand or osmosis — it is hard work, day after day. You have a leadership team that has an incredible track record; validate our hard work by voting for the nominated slate on December 21st at the Annual Congregational Meeting or send in your proxy to the Secretary. Watch for the mail.
