A tapestry is, according to Oxford Dictionaries, “a piece of thick textile fabric with pictures or designs that are formed by weaving many different colored weft threads together, or by embroidering on canvas by hand, and are then used as a wall hanging or furniture covering”. All of these different colored threads are joined together to make a beautiful pictorial design. This is similar to how our board is constructed; supporting the needs of our beautiful SOI community. Our SOI Board, filled by very diverse people, are woven together to form a cohesive unit working towards creating a great shul for all.
Chemmie Sokolic started our meeting with a very brief d’var torah about Parsha Yitro. Along with the 10 commandments we are also presented with an over-worked Moshe, who, through the help and suggestions of his father-in-law, learns to delegate and manage his people more efficiently, placing competent people at the helm of smaller factions, similar to how the SOI Board is run; Which leads us to our January committee reports.
The Resolution for SOI to start construction on our front entrance was passed by the Cherry Hill Planning Board Tuesday night allowing us to move forward with the renovations.
The COVID Task Force is continuing to recommend masks for all of Shabbat and all indoor activities/events. Outdoor kiddush continues to be recommended when weather permits. When kiddush is set up indoors, we encourage social distancing and mask wearing when approaching tables with food, and when near others, and spreading out as much as possible when masks are off for eating. The HEPA filters, recently purchased, will be running for all indoor kiddushes and programs in the social hall.
The Chesed Committee is looking towards the future for matanot l'evyonim and a maot chittim campaign.
Weekday vibrant Torah Learnings, lead by Rabbi Davies, have gotten off to a great start. We had about 40 people attending the first Wednesday night Ten Paths to G-d class and 30 people for the Monday night Chumash class. We are looking into adding a few other classes in the near future - Rabbi Ian Shaffer and Chazzan Moshe Moskowitz have offered to teach courses in Navi and Tefillah respectively. This is all in additional to daily Divrei Torah at minyan times, Shabbat Drashot and Shiurim, and Jeff Schwartz's Sunday evening Gemara Shiur.
The second Executive Management Retreat started discussing the management and communication structure at SOI - specifically the core functions and committees, and focused on the kitchen/kiddush requirements.
Since the last meeting, Fundraising initiated a Learning Dedication program with daily and weekly sponsorship opportunities as well as sponsorships for an entire series. You can find details and the ability to sponsor at https://www.soicherryhill.org/form/learning. We also have a "Proud of SOI" document to share showing some of the highlights that make SOI a wonderful shul to take pride in.
The MCAT Committee made final edits to documents for advertisements and started discussing refreshing the Newslink (including both hard copy and electronic versions).
The Membership Committee has been reaching out to members regarding dues/ balances. We welcome Rabbi Hirsh and Talia Hollander, Ari and Jillian Daniels, Moshe Rozental and Evan Fishman as our newest SOI members!
The Personnel Committee is continuing with rabbinic onboarding sessions after a brief hiatus and is also discussing parameters surrounding the banquet manager position.
The Programming Committee has several upcoming events: Moroccan Cooking Demonstration and Kitchen Shower on February 26th and a Family Glow Havdallah on January 29th. The 50 Mile Challenge is ongoing through May with prizes awarded. Even though you can’t actually log your miles on Shabbat, they do count toward your 50 miles (including your walk to and from Shul).
The outdoor minyan moved indoors and is now the 8AM Minyan, requiring social distanced seating, HEPA filters in the room, and masks for everyone including the shaliach tzibur and ba'al koreh.
Mishloach Manot committee is working hard on taste testing various products and putting together a beautiful and delicious, special Jubilee Mishloach Manot package. They will be needing volunteers to help package the gifts, deliver, and update the database.
Volunteer greeter staffing continues to be a major challenge for the Security Committee. Please volunteer 1/2 hour/month to help keep SOI safe. New cameras, a larger monitor in the office, door alarms and other items purchased through our security grant should be installed within the next couple of weeks. Planning and discussions are underway for upcoming grant proposals.
The Welcome Committee welcomed Chaim and Alisa Fox who moved to Cherry Hill with their twin 4 year old daughters and helped make their transition here easier with getting them connected to SOI communications and providing meals as they were getting settled.
There were great, well-attended, Tu B’Shevat Youth Programs and the first, monthly, Donuts and Discussion for Middle Schoolers. Middle School Ice Skating is coming up on January 22.
It was a very productive meeting with great plans for the future of SOI. If you are interested in weaving into the tapestry of SOI please reach out to me.
Shabbat Shalom,
Donna Moskowitz
SOI President
president@soicherryhill.org
