A Message from the President

     On behalf of our Officers and Board of Directors, I wish you a Shana Tova, a year of health, happiness, and success. Another year has passed and we are about to enter a new one. 

     We have traveled far in the past year. We began walking through a shaded forest that progressively became less dense, and light began to filter down through the canopy above until we have now stepped into a brightly lit fresh green meadow. Take a long slow deep breath and drink of the freshness of the meadow. How wonderful and delightful it is to see the possibilities that stretch out before us. It is a new beginning filled with hope and possibilities that lay just beyond our fingertips for so long. Our
journey has been slow, and had its ups and downs, and missteps, but we have emerged a stronger more vibrant community. In the process of getting to this place much has been learned about ourselves as individuals and as a community. We have arrived at a place where we once again can thrive and grow as a Jewish community, and reach outward to the greater community.

     Our journey to find our new rabbi has ultimately been worth the long wait. It was b’shert (destined, intended) that Ahavas Achim’s path was to intersect with the path of our vibrant new rabbi, Avi Poupko, and by extension, his lovely wife, Carina, and their beautiful sons, Judah and Moses. We are blessed.

     Each year as the High Holidays draw near it becomes a special period for reflection, introspection and self-examination. The holidays provide a unique opportunity for us to make corrections, turn a new leaf (teshuva/return) and enter the door into the New Year with a fresh commitment to working at doing better than we did in the previous year. I ask you to consider how you might add to the richness of this bright new future as it unfolds in the New Year and beyond. I hope that you will be moved during this High Holiday season to renew your commitment to the success and vitality of our community. And if you are among those who are not yet members of our congregation, I hope that your High Holiday experience will be gratifying and worthy of making a commitment to be a part of our family, and become a member of Ahavas Achim (Brotherly Love/Loving Friends). By rededicating ourselves to this Jewish community or becoming a new member, we can be better role-models for our young people, and demonstrate through our actions the importance of maintaining a Jewish community, and its traditions, and creating memories  from generation to generation (L’dor vador).

     Paula and I warmly wish you, your loved ones, and friends a healthy, fruitful, and happy year.

L’Shana Tova,
Ron Pressler