President's Message September 2019

Shalom Everyone,

For those who received the July newsletter online some of this message you may have already seen. But there are some updates so please read on. 

Regarding the invoices/billings sent from our new accounting/bookkeeping service, they are complete or almost complete with the first round. If the numbers you see do not match up with what you have paid in the past please call them and we will try to get everything corrected in short order. They are very friendly to work with and I am so excited with the results. Many of you made payments before the system was in place and for that we are grateful; your future invoices will show a credit for those payments so please bear with us during this transition.

As we move forward I just want to make you aware that the High Holidays are rapidly approaching. They begin with the Selichot service which will be on September 21^st, a Saturday night. The service will begin at 7:45 pm and will precede that with a dinner at 6:15 pm. See the attached flyer and make your reservations sooner than later. The light dinner will be delicious and the Rabbi will be accompanied by the choir for the service. It’s a great way to begin the holiday period that continues with erev Rosh Hashanah on the night of September 30^th. Yom Kippur starts with the Kol Nidre service on the evening of October 8^th. Yes, the holidays are quite late this year. Make it a point to join us for many of the services.

You should already have received letters from the ritual committee asking if you would like to have an aliyah or pesicha for the holidays (if you don’t know what these are call Rabbi Mark or Dan Rubinstein). You also should have received a letter pertaining to putting names of your deceased loved ones in our Yizkor book that is published for the Yizkor service on Yom Kippur day. Please respond according to the dates shown in the letters. Do it now so you are not up against deadlines.

Tickets for the services will be ready about the 1^st of September. At that time we will have volunteers in the office, primarily on Sunday mornings, to assist you with seat purchases/selection. If you need to come in at another time we will try to accommodate you. For any questions you should call the office and the virtual receptionist will either take a message or route the call to me. In any case: LEAVE A MESSAGE. You will be called back.

Sisterhood is putting together High Holidays greetings poster (see the attached flyer). If you would like your name included the cost is $18. The poster will be on the sign board in the synagogue foyer and also will be published in the newsletter. We hope many of you will wish your fellow congregants a wonderful new year this way. To participate either leave a message on the office phone or call Mona at (818) 983-8176.

There are a couple of other flyers in this version of the newsletter so please look at them. One is asking for volunteers to assist in preparing the synagogue for the holidays with all the myriad tasks involved. Contact Dan Rubinstein. Help us if you can. The second flyer is for a trip to Israel being scheduled for May 2020. It is a great trip and when you look at the itinerary you will notice tremendous amount of activities at a super price. Contact Ed Kasman right away to show your interest.

Other events are on our schedule such as: the Chanukah parody, Landmark Opera performances and hopefully a variety show and maybe even a casino trip. Who knows? We need feedback and participation.                                                 

Ron