June 2018: From TBS President Josh Weissman

I may look familiar to you, even if we haven’t yet met. Over the past few years, Brian Lakin and I have been mistaken for one another countless times, and I can’t think of a better guy to be confused with. Brian – thank you for your dedicated service and leadership as President. It was an honor to be on your Board.

Tonight, we have a new Board. I can’t say what methods of persuasion were used to get you all here – but to the incoming Officers, Directors and
Trustees, thank you for your commitment to TBS and for saying “yes” when Shira asked. Shira – thank you for your tireless efforts as Chair of the Nominating Committee. I know that it was not easy, but at no time did I doubt that you would assemble a fantastic Board.

As there are those who don’t know me well or at all, let me say a little bit about myself. My family came to TBS about 11 years ago, when my daughter, Emily, started at K’tanim. She was immediately comfortable here. When Hailey started K’tanim, we joined Temple Beth Sholom. While Jen found several things to become involved in right away, it took me a little while to figure it out. When the kids started Hebrew School, I knew it was time. So, that Fall, about 9½ years ago, I dropped the kids off Sunday morning and found an entry-level roofing job. It was the Sukkah roof so there wasn’t an exact science to it and not only did it not matter if the roof leaked, it was how they wanted it. Plus, they were willing to pay me in
cider and munchkins…how bad could it possibly be? Along with a couple other guys, in less than an hour, we had done the roof to the ultimate praise – “it’ll do”.

About 2 years after that, I was offered an opportunity to work on another roofing project…but this time the goal was to get a roof that did not leak. Luckily, we hired someone to do the work, which was good, since I only know how to work with pine branches. Shortly after that, they elevated me from Sukkah roofer to House VP, and the rest is history.

Since the call came asking me to be President-elect, I’ve thought a lot about 3 things: 1) what a wonderful community TBS is; 2) what I could bring to the TBS community as President; and 3) whether I would need to brush up on my Words With Friends skills to keep up with the Rabbi.

As President, I want to see more members of our community become involved to help make our synagogue a place they want to be not only on holidays, but also on Shabbat and regular old weekdays. TBS has opportunities to offer all of its members, and all members have interests to benefit and improve TBS. Whether your interests lie in technology or education, social action or social media, I encourage everyone to please reach out to me or to any Board member. I want to hear from you so that – together – we can continue to make TBS a strong and caring community.

Josh Weissman
TBS President