I would like to begin my presidency with a special thank you to Eta Kaplan. I was thrilled when you said it would be an honor to be the installing officer this year. I always admired your dedication as a member of this temple and I will be looking to you for advice this coming year. 

For the past four years, I have been the only person at Temple Beth Sholom – other than Rabbi Scolnic – with a reserved seat in the sanctuary.  To put my tenure, first as Ritual Vice President and then as President, into perspective, my three year old son, Benjamin, does not realize that his father is permitted to sit with him during services.  Zachary, who is eight, has only a fleeting recollection of the time when I sat with the rest of the family.

I had lunch the other day with an old friend I had never met before.  How can that be, you might ask?  The woman I had lunch with serves on the board of directors of Camp Ramah in New England and although we had never personally met, our common experiences and strong feelings about Jewish camping and Ramah, in particular, made it seem like we had.