President's Message
The beauty of the High Holy Days, accompanied by the splendor of ancient sounds of the shofar and festival music that fill our hearts and homes, is still with us. We are commanded to seek forgiveness and to return to righteous living—the concept of teshuvah. Before the spirit of teshuvah leaves us for the colors of autumn and shorter days, we might ask ourselves how best to re-engage with our congregation.
The Torah describes various types of communities and what drives members of the community to assemble as they do. One model is a kehilah, which refers to a community of diverse people who come together for a common purpose. Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, of blessed memory, the late member of the British parliament and former chief rabbi of the Commonwealth said, “the beauty of a kehilah is that when it is driven by constructive purpose, it gathers together the distinct and separate contributions of many individuals, so that each can say, ‘I helped to make this’.”
CMI is blessed to have within our congregation a host of volunteers who together, exemplify members of a kehilah at its best. The range of opportunities to volunteer is as great as the extensive and diverse talents that our members possess. Whether your passion is social justice, community service, cooking, gardening, the environment, music, art or any combination of these, there are opportunities to pursue these interests with a team of others who share the excitement of doing good work for good purpose.
Our Brotherhood of Men and Women has a long history of planning activities that support our CMI community through performing the mitzvot of tzedakah through a combination of events, fellowship and good deeds. The Shabbat & Holiday Welcome Team of greeters try to ensure that all who attend worship services at our temple. The Board of Trustees and its Executive Committee, as well as the Temple Endowment Fund Committee are composed of volunteers who are elected by the congregation, however there are also several other important committees of volunteers that support the governance and administration of our congregation, and are vital to its success. We are always seeking members of the congregation to participate in committees such as Development, Finance, Membership, Nursery School, Nominating, Personnel, Religious Education and Ritual.
The need for volunteers is great, and opportunities to make a difference in the lives of our sacred community are as varied as your interests. Please consider joining a committee or becoming involved in activities of congregational life.
For more information or to volunteer, please contact our office at (203) 288-3877 or email us at shalom@cmihamden.org.
Make this your 5782 New Year’s resolution!
L’Shanah Tovah!