I want to thank Muriel for the kind words she installed me with this evening. When Ed asked me who I wanted to have install me tonight, I came up with two names. They were Muriel and Elaine Lipschutz. Elaine is on vacation with her family tonight, so she was unable to join Muriel. Why did I ask Muriel and Elaine? They are both past presidents of our congregation, but that was before Melissa and I joined the congregation 21 years ago. Both Muriel and Elaine have raised their families here at Vassar Temple, served in multiple leadership roles, and continue to be a vital part of our temple mispacha. They continue to support the congregation with their dedication, energy, and wisdom. To me, they are examples and role models of why it is important to be part of the Vassar Temple family.

Tonight I want to spend some time talking about mishpacha or family and the multiple aspects of family for me and all of us here at Vassar Temple. First, I'm privileged to have my parents here tonight. They are the reason that I am involved in temple leadership and the commitment Melissa and I have to Reform Judaism. I am a product of the reform movement. I grew up in a reform temple, celebrated my Bar Mitzvah, was confirmed, and completed post-confirmation. I have attended the Union camps both as a camper and on temple retreats. When I was a freshman in high school, my mother called another congregant who lived down the block. She asked her to have her daughter bring me to a youth group meeting. Edie Lipsky did that, and I then spent the next 4 years as a member of our temple youth group. I had the opportunity to gain leadership experience during that time by serving as treasurer and president. The NFTY youth movement gave me a new connection to my Judaism. I attended biennial, conferences, and ultimately had the opportunity to spend six weeks in Israel on a NFTY in Israel program. All of that is because my parents joined a congregation and made a commitment of being involved and active members. They still are today.

Melissa and I have made a commitment of our time and energy to this congregation. Our closest friends are members of the congregation and the greater Jewish community in the Hudson Valley. Our family has decided that it is important to support this congregation. This is not just Melissa and I, but rather our entire family. Together our family is part of the Vassar Temple family.

This congregation is a family and operates as a family. Our board of trustees is a working board. In addition to serving on the board, board members are asked to serve on at least one committee. Many serve on multiple committees or work on special projects. There are so many opportunities here for each of our members to get involved and make this congregation their congregation.

During the last year we have had a focus on Torah and our scrolls with our Eternal Torah-Restoring Vassar Temple's Scrolls program. Just a few months ago, many of us had an opportunity to fulfill the 613th commandment by helping to write a Sefer Torah. The program continues through the summer with the beginning of our “Holy Rollers” program on July 17th. Then in September on the 12th, we will host a lecture by the Honorable Albert Rosenblatt. Finally on the 26th, we will welcome our repaired scrolls back into the congregation with a Celebration of the Journey program. There will be more opportunities for anyone who did not get a chance to ink a letter in April. Please contact myself or Sandra Mamis to schedule a time to complete the 613th commandment.

Just a few weeks ago, we had our annual calendar meeting. This is where the temple leadership, committee chairs, and our temple auxiliaries get together to map out the calendar for the coming year. I am excited about the interesting and varied program we have ahead of us for the coming year. There are opportunities for our congregants and the community to participate in worship, educational, social action, and social programs throughout the year. Our entire temple calendar will be available at our web site. I encourage you to check their frequently for information on any upcoming events. A moment ago, I was kvelling about our wonderful Eternal Torah program. None of this would have been possible without so many of our members. As I said earlier, our board is a working board. This is really true for our entire congregation and is exemplified by all of the people who have been working on and continue to work on the Eternal Torah program. While there have been many people working on this program, the genesis and energy behind the program rest with two people-Sandra Mamis and Lou Lewis. Our congregation owes them a debt of gratitude for everything they have done and continue to do.

Although I was out of town on April 18th during the opening ceremonies for Eternal Torah, I have heard many stories about the energy that filled this building that day. Our challenge is how to continue and grow that energy. One place I'd like to see us grow our energy is with our youth programming. This includes both in our religious school and outside of it. During the last year, Rabbi Shoshana Hantmann joined us as our new religious school director. One of the new initiatives Rabbi Hantmann brought was the opportunity for our confirmation class to participate in the L'Taken Social Justice seminar sponsored by the URJ's religious action center in Washington DC. I had the opportunity to accompany the class. It was wonderful to see our young adults learning and questioning their values along with other young Jewish adults from around the country. Some of the students who attended the trip are here tonight. I encourage you to seek them out during the oneg this evening and ask them about their trip and what they learned from it. As I said earlier, my Judaism was strongly influenced by youth group, NFTY, and the entire Reform youth movement. I encourage each of you who have children or grandchildren to get them involved in a Jewish youth program. Rabbi Golomb will again be taking any interested parents and kids up to Great Barrington to visit the Union's two camps in the area. I have first hand experience on the wonderful program they offer and how they help our children connect to their Judaism.

We also saw increased energy in the congregation with other programming at temple this past year. We had a wonderful gourmet harvest dinner and entertainment this fall. During the winter we had our inaugural Vassar After Hours programs. In March, we had our first annual Purim Pasta Dinner sponsored by the Men's club and a revitalized Purim spiel. Each of these events started as an idea from a congregant. They decided to take the ball and run with it. As I said earlier, our board is a working board. In reality our congregation is a working congregation. Do you have an idea for a program? Is there a new exciting program you want to see at the temple? . Do you have a special talent or skill which you can apply here at the temple? It's easy. Just pick up the ball and run with it. The temple leadership is here to support you.

As we heard at the congregational meeting, our temple finances are surviving the current economic downturn. We will finish our current fiscal year with a balanced budget. Unfortunately we have achieved this through modest dues and fee increases and significant reduction in our expenses. The majority of our temple budget is comprised of non-discretionary spending. We can't decide to just reduce the line in the budget for the electric or oil bill. They have to be paid. We have cut funding for our committees and other programming. We should have more dollars in our budget available to our committees to plan exciting programs for the congregation and broader Jewish community. Tonight, I'm not going to ask you to dig deeper into your pockets. Rather, I am going to ask you to think about how we can increase our membership here at Vassar Temple. Each additional member who joins the congregation is a net income add. Our membership committee needs to be a committee of the whole. Tonight, I am “deputizing” each of you as a member of our membership committee. You don't need to come to any meetings, although you are welcome to. I need you to go out into the community and invite un-affiliated Jews to come see us here at Vassar Temple; feel the energy that we have here; and join us to help increase that energy. Over the next two years, the new officers, board members, and I will have many problems to consider and solve. Wouldn't it be great if one of the major problems we had to solve was where to put all the kids during religious school or how can we fit everyone in for High Holy Days due to the growth of our membership? Those are the kinds of problems I want to solve. Please join me in helping to create these problems by working on increasing our membership.

Melissa and I joined Vassar Temple the summer when we were married. We didn't know anyone here. We were sitting at Yom Kippur services and Bea Gross, of blessed memory, invited us to join her family and friends at her home for break fast. Once we have our new members, we must welcome them and help them become a part of our congregational life and family. We need to and we will start a formal mentoring program where we connect new members with existing members. Vassar Temple has always had a reputation for being friendly and welcoming. We can't take that reputation for granted. We need to live it every day we are here. Please, if there is someone you don't know, or someone who looks “lost”, please reach out to them, and welcome them to Vassar Temple.

I want to conclude by saying that I look forward to the next two years to lead this congregation. Together we'll have our ups and downs. Hopefully there will be more ups than downs, but I know we will get through the downs together as mispacha.

Shabbat Shalom,

Seth Erlebacher