Executive Director

The High Holy Days have come and gone, and from an internal staff standpoint, we get to exhale, albeit very briefly, as we continue to move forward with yet another full programmatic/school year. There is no "I" in TEAM, which is...Read more...

It’s still summer, right? Well, technically, it is at least for another 17 days. But Labor Day has come and gone, and so has the “real” summer, just like that, in the blink of an eye like it always does, and the next school/programmatic year begins. While things do get quieter here in the summer, we remain very busy preparing for the coming year, and thankfully, the High Holy Days are later this year, giving the staff a little extra...Read more...

Thank you to everyone who was able to attend the Annual Meeting last night, both in person and via livestream. And thank you, Warren and Becky Levy, for sponsoring the event. For those of you who were unable to attend or view the livestream, below are my comments for the staff years of service awards. 

I never imagined that one day I would be the executive director of a synagogue. It is not like I told...Read more...

Hag Pesah Sameah! I hope everyone is having a meaningful Passover. Just a reminder about the Basic Life Support and Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) Training that we will be hosting on Sunday, May 5 from 10am to 2pm. There is no cost to attend, but space is very limited (3 spots remaining as of this writing) and registration is required to attend. Please email michelles@tbsonline.org to register.

Below are excerpts of my report to...Read more...

Thank you to everyone who attended our Stop-the-Bleed Training last week.  Those who attended included staff as well as congregants. The purpose of the training was to prepare the attendees to recognize and act quickly and effectively to control bleeding. We now have several Stop-the-Bleed kits in various areas of the building, including the sanctuary, the education office, the front desk, and the security desk, with staff...Read more...

Please continue to show up for Israel, and please continue to show up for TBS. 

Golda Meir had a famous quote: “There are those who love you, and there are those who love you and show up.”

Not sure what’s more inspiring, the number of volunteers I recently worked with at the Hatzerim army base who showed up to help the IDF, the numerous countries that they represent, or the number of volunteers who aren’t Jewish...Read more...

I never would have thought that less than two months after volunteering for the IDF this past summer I would be signing up to go back. But that’s what I did on October 7. Why? The atrocities of the massacre were so horrific, so barbaric, and so numerous, that I knew the response would be severe and volunteers would be needed. I was placed on a waitlist because the situation was too chaotic, there was not enough space and beds for the...Read more...

After my father passed away in 1977, my mom and I had a tradition of attending Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur services (almost) every year together at our synagogue in Cedarhurst, Long Island until she entered a nursing home in 2011. One year the Rabbi gave a sermon on the difference between doing well and doing good, meaning that it’s great for you to do well financially, but make sure that you are also doing good for society. That always...Read more...

And just like that the summer is (almost) over. Always goes too fast. We are hard at work preparing for the High Holy Days and the programmatic year. 

Please remember to submit your school registration forms and membership renewal forms with your High Holy Day seating/livestream requests ASAP if you have not done so already. 

High Holy Day packets, which will include your tickets, will be available for pickup in...Read more...

I am currently volunteering for the IDF for two weeks on an army base in the central district of Israel near a town called Petah Tikvah, its name meaning Door of Hope. Every morning, before we begin our workday, we meet in a common area of the base...Read more...

Thank you to everyone who attended the Annual Meeting last night either in-person or via the livestream. Below are excerpts of my report, and pre-recorded videos from myself, our Treasurer, Marc Oppen, and the Presidents of Hazak, Alvin Stern, Men’s Club, Mike Perlow, and Sisterhood, Sherrie Cohen, can be viewed here https://www.tbsonline.org/annualmeeting

Thank you to all of you who are here this evening, and to those of you who...Read more...

This coming Tuesday, May 16, at 6:45pm we will be conducting a congregational security drill on responding to an active shooter event. It is very important to have a plan in place for worst case scenarios, and to conduct drills to practice those plans. We recently conducted Run/Hide/Fight active shooter drills with faculty, staff, and clergy, and it is time once again to practice these drills with the congregation at large. So, whether you...Read more...

I hope everyone had a nice and meaningful Pesah and enjoyed your time with family and friends. And hopefully you enjoyed some downtime as well (I did). Below are excerpts of my report at the Board of Directors meeting last night: 

At our Board meeting last month I reported that I received notice from FEMA of confirmation that a payment of 78k had been approved for reimbursement of PPE expenses incurred in fiscal years 2020...Read more...

It was 3 years ago this past Monday that we shut down the building for what we thought would only be a two-week closure. Little did we know that we would be closed for several months and things would never really be the same. The world is now a different place and a lot has changed for TBS in many ways, including how we gather, how we communicate, how we engage, and how we keep our community safe. These are some of the areas...Read more...

Six weeks ago I wrote about our current strategic planning process to make our community even stronger and better poised to meet the evolving needs of all our members during the next 3- 5 years. Many in the congregation have already been involved in discussions with us, but we would like to open this process up to those of you who have not yet had the opportunity to make your voices heard and contribute to this important work.

As part...Read more...