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It takes a village to raise a person. It also takes a village to sustain an institution. Temple Beth David not only survives, but thrives because of our village. This past week our village has been very busy in working towards opening our doors fully in the coming months. This week the fundraising, reopening, and ritual committees all met on different days. It is this dedication and passion of our village that truly has me excited for the months ahead.

The fundraising committee is planning a welcome back outdoor BBQ for August 28th prior to Friday night services. They are also working on bringing in a stand-up comic for us in October. 

The reopening committee has been working tirelessly on making sure we have policies in place that will ensure both our safety and will fulfill all of our needs for in person socializing. The latest policies statement is listed below. The most exciting news for me in regard to the reopening committee is about food (what can I say?). We are now allowed to bring bagels (individually wrapped) into the Temple for Torah study. So why not bring your coffee and bagel and come study some Torah with our great village on Saturday morning?

The ritual committee has begun to finalize our High Holiday plans. On Wednesday night we decided, that we will be holding two services on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. We came to this decision based on the overwhelming response of over 200 of our congregants to our survey. Thank you to all who responded.

High Holidays will be as they have in years past. Slichot, our annual evening of preparation, will be on the Saturday before Rosh Hashanah. We will meet at the Temple in person and as a group zoom in with the congregations in Orange, Southbury, and Hamden for a great speaker and service. This years speaker will be Rev. Steven Cousin’s who will give a talk entitled, “"Lessons for Us: Why An African American Minister Joined the CT ADL Board".

Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur will have A and B services as in the past, with groups A-L and M-Z switching between early and late morning services. One of those services will also allow for zoom participation for those who choose not to or cannot come in person. The times of the services have yet to be determined but more information will be coming out soon. Please let us know if you have any questions or wish to help out on any of these wonderful committees.

 A final thought. As we approach Tisha B’av this weekend, the holiday that commemorates the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem I am struck by a realization. What really caused the destruction of that institution so many years ago was selfishness. The individual looked out for themselves and not the village. I am grateful that we seem to have learned the lesson our ancestors did not. Thriving not only takes village, but it also requires it. This is a lesson I see played out at TBD over and over again. We have and continue to learn the lesson of Tisha B’av. If we do not take care of the village, we will lose it. Thank you all for being such wonderful stewards of our tradition and I look forward to seeing you all in person at our Temple soon.