Words from our Temple President, Ricki Bauman
December 2024
As this column is for the year’s end, I think that it is appropriate to discuss this difficult year of 2024 with it’s many ups and downs. Early this year, we approved changes to our Bylaws that had not been modified since they were approved in 2015. With a major donation, we renovated our Sanctuary as we replaced the old brass fixtures and long fluorescent fixtures with new LED spot lighting, repaired and removed bad wiring, and installed new switches. We removed the old letter marquee and replaced it with a modern, moving LED sign. With other
donations, we bought and installed two new larger LED monitor screens next to the Ark to improve our viewing, and relocated the original monitor screens to the opposite wall for the service leaders. We also changed our liturgy lettering to improve congregants’ viewing. To complete the work, we patched and painted. In the Social Hall we replaced the stained carpet with modern laminate, making cleanups and cleaning a breeze.
In the midst of all of that, Rabbi Carla Freedman was sick and then took an extended leave in April. To our joy, she returned to the pulpit in August and returned to teach her classes via Zoom. But sadly, in September, she was out again and then passed away, making Beth Israel and our community a House of Mourning. A special thanks to our Chaplain Delyse Axinn for leading Rabbi Carla’s funeral service; that was an extremely difficult task.
Thanks to our Lay Leaders and Tech Team, particularly Delyse and Vice President Nina Malinak, we still maintained our Friday night services, Passover Seder, Sukkot, and Simchat Torah observances and Torah readings during Rabbi Carla’s absence. With the assistance of Cantor Murray Simon, we held our High Holy Day services for Rosh Hashanah with lay leadership.
Even though we were prepared for Yom Kippur, Hurricane Milton knocked out our power and caused our rear attic wall to literally fall off. When my wife, Diane, and I saw it, we ran in to save our Torah Scrolls and the Tech Team equipment — but all was good. Our volunteers, Jon Gamson, Rey Muñoz, and Walter Gormley sprang into
action and secured the attic from further damage. Walter and Jon actually did additional securing with furring strips to ensure that we would not have further damage if Hurricane Raphael had come our way. As of this writing, we are still waiting for our insurance company’s estimate of the value of the damage to our property. Since we were without power, we relied on our old friend Zoom and broadcasted from Nina’s home and from Cantor Simon’s home in Sarasota so that we would still be able to have our Yom Kippur observance. Sadly, many of our congregants did not have power or internet service during the service but watched it later.
We filed for the Federal non-profit status so that we could secure Federal Security Grants and our tax exempt 501(c)3 exemption was granted retroactive to March; we have always had a Florida state exemption. This Federal designation will enable us to secure a Small Business Administration Loan if we need it to repair the building. And last, but certainly not least, our application for an Interim Rabbi was received by the Central
Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR) on November 12th.
This was a very busy and difficult year. But we can look forward to 2025 — our 50th Anniversary!
L’shalom,
Ricki