Dear Partners,
With the beginning of the month of Elul, our thoughts begin to turn towards teshuva (repentance) and cheshbon hanefesh (self reflection). There is also a tremendous amount of work that is required in order to create a spiritual and meaningful High Holiday atmosphere for our community. I am very appreciative to all those who have volunteered to serve on committees that have been working hard in preparing our Shul for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
I would like to briefly address and explain one of the difficult deliberations that the High Holidays committee spent a significant amount of time on, and debated for hours until they finally came to agreement. The question was how much to charge for seats. Please be aware that the final decision was not a random one and that it was considered in the best interests of the community as a whole. Let me explain some of the basic issues that led us to reach our conclusion.
Essentially, this was a decision that was partly made much earlier, when the board set the prices for partnership dues. We looked at what other Synagogues in the area were charging, and made a conscious decision to reduce the dollar amount. (Some Synagogues in the area charge close to $2000). At the time we voted on this dues structure we were not fully aware of all the expenses and costs that we would be faced with in the year ahead. We also did this knowing that we may need to raise funds at various times throughout the year.
Being a new Minyan, there was really no precedent to follow. In researching what other Shuls do, we found that there are many Orthodox Shuls that include seats in membership dues, while there are many shuls that do not include High Holiday seats in membership dues. Looking at the Shul budget, it was clear that we would need to run a handful of fundraisers for the Shul at some point over the year. The board’s decision was made to make this the major fundraiser for the year. We also made this decision knowing that the shul has a policy, that if anyone has difficulty paying, we certainly do not want to turn them away, and welcome them to contact myself or Andy Kark (membership chairperson).
If you have thoughts or ideas related to these issues, and possible changes we should make next year, please let me know. It is important to us that we create a Shul culture where no rules are set in stone, and where we are constantly examining the way we do things to see if there is a better method. Everyone’s voice counts and your positive contribution will lead to a well organized and successful organization.
Thank you for your involvement and interest. With all the good things about to take place at our shul, I hope you are excited as I am about this upcoming year.
Sincerely,
Graeme Bean
President
