Kol Nidre Appeal 2003 One Rosh Hashanah morning, the Rabbi ...

our new building- The Carol and Paul Miller Education Center. What a Z’Chut- what a
privilege it will be to see our nursery school, Hebrew school, pre-teens and teenagers
enjoying the benefits of this magnificent, state-of-the art edifice. Sign up your children
and grandchildren for our programs, so that they too can experience their home within a
home.
My friends, of course, it takes a lot to keep all of this going. After all, all homes, no
matter where, need maintenance and upkeep and repair and TLC.
I have sent to all of you a Kol Nidre Appeal letter along with a response card. If you
want to have programs like the Learning Institute, if you want us to continue to offer
what we have always been able to offer…if you want your children and grandchildren to
one day be able to say- “I remember Kol Nidre at Temple Beth Shalom in Livingston
New Jersey”- the same way we remember our Brooklyns and Newarks and Lower East
Sides and Zichron Yaakovs and Teherans and wherever we are from- if you want them
to have those kind of warm and rich memories… then please, oh please, return those
cards. Bring them to the receptacle available right here at the Temple or return them by
mail. And please remember- the Kol Nidre Appeal Cards this year offer you the option
to either make a traditional monetary donation, or to donate your time and services. WE
NEED BOTH. We need financial support and we need volunteers.
You know, making an appeal and asking for donations is, to quote Tevye the Milkman, a
tradition. And it’s a Biblical one, at that.
Don’t believe it? Well, as Casey Stengel, Zichrono L’Vracha, of blessed memory, used
to say “you could look it up.” (and I am sure that is the first time the words Casey Stengel
and Zichrono L’Vracha have ever been used in the same sentence).
In this case, you could look it up right in the Torah. When Moses had to build the
Mishkan, the Holy Tabernacle, in the desert, he made a direct appeal to the Children of
Israel to contribute their jewelry and precious metal and riches to build it. His appeal was
so successful, and the people responded with so many goods and services, that Moses had
to eventually say, in Exodus, Chapter 36 verse 6:
- -
Hey people, Stop- don’t give any more, we have enough.
Chevrai- my friends- the Executive Committee of Temple Beth Shalom has standing
instructions to invoke the Insanity Clause of the Temple Constitution and remove me
from office if they ever hear me utter the phrase “Stop- don’t give any more, we have
enough.”
I wish there was enough, but unfortunately there isn’t- not enough time, not enough
manpower, not enough money, if we are to continue to grow and expand and do. Please
give generously, return your pledge cards and answer the calls when we follow up with