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Presidents' Messages

Rosh Hashanah 2021/5782

Rachel Hayes

Shana tova,

“You have stayed long enough in this place, God said. Time to go forward. Turn your face to the future. Believe that you can cross this sea and survive.” A piece of text we heard last evening.

I was always a light packer for business travel. I had it down to a science. Toiletries pre-packed. One pair of shoes. Simple slacks, a few tops, the other basics and done. But it’s packing for a personal trip that...Read more...

Rosh Hashanah 2019/5780

Barry Tuber

Good yom tov. This is the second, and final, year that I have the honor and privilege of speaking with you on Rosh Hashanah, and honestly, this time feels very different than the first time. Last year my Presidency was just beginning, and I had a list of plans for what I hoped to accomplish, or at least pursue, with the Board and with you. But, as Rabbi Jaffe reminded me recently, men plan and God laughs, so while I am proud of the things we...Read more...

Rosh Hashanah 2018/5779

Barry Tuber

Good yom tov. It's pretty awe inspiring to be looking out over this crowd. I've been President for just a couple of months now. In some ways it seems much longer and in most ways it feels like I'm just getting started. I’m originally a Brooklyn boy, my wife Margie and I have been part of the congregation for almost 19 years, and my kids David and Naomi grew up here, and we were part of the small but mighty Belmont contingent, although...Read more...

Rosh Hashanah 2017/5778

Scott Galin

Shana Tova   I want to share a secret. I have some perfectionist tendencies. If you don’t believe me ask my family or the Temple’s Executive Committee. I try to hold back, but sometimes I just can’t help but over engineer. I consciously tell myself it is good enough, but my subconscious keeps working. Last year in my Rosh Hashanah speech, I compared Isaiah to a train ride with each train car representing a different aspect of...Read more...

Rosh Hashanah 2016/5777

Scott Galin

In my professional life, I have been in sales for a long time and one of my core tenets is that every business should be crystal clear on their value proposition. The same idea can be viewed from the customer side: why do I choose to do business with this product or service over others. When I became President of our congregation, I asked myself this same question, why do I choose Judaism? If I was as learned as our clergy or as many of you,...Read more...

Rosh Hashanah 2013/5774

Chuck Koplik

L’Shanah Tova!

One year ago I spoke to you about building the future of Temple Isaiah.  In modern Hebrew the word for future is עתיד ahteed but I learned in my class last year translating the book of Esther that in Biblical Hebrew ahteed instead means ”to ready for” or “to prepare for”.  I like combining those modern and ancient ideas.  So that to build the future we want for our congregation requires...Read more...

Rosh Hashanah 2012/5773

Chuck Koplik

L’Shanah Tova!

In the last few years, I have gone a little bit crazy over family genealogy. I am fascinated by my forebears who came to this country in the early to mid 1800s. And one of the most surprising things I learned about them was how many ended up helping to found synagogues – in cities from Cleveland to Quincy, Illinois, from Dallas to Little Rock, from New Haven to Syracuse. Being part of a synagogue and being actively...Read more...

ROSH HASHANAH 2009/5770

Margie Bogdanow

After I stood before you last year in my Freedberg jacket –made at the company my grandfather founded 75 years ago - I was struck by the number of people who came up to me to tell me that they never knew I was a Freedberg.

When Michael and I got married, I chose to take on Bogdanow – I couldn’t imagine hyphenating Freedberg and Bogdanow and believed that there would not have been room in those little boxes they give you for...Read more...

ROSH HASHANAH 2008/5769

Margie Bogdanow

If my parents were able to see me now….
If your parents were able to see you now….
Or your grandparents.
Or your great grandparents.

Mine would be very proud.
My mother would be a tad nervous, but my father would be jumping out of his skin with
excitement.
And, as a dermatologist he was protective of skin.

What about the Temple Isaiah parents?
And grandparents?
We are now approaching...Read more...

ROSH HASHANAH 2007/5768

Laura Gordon Fisher

L’shanah tovah!

As Jews, we are fortunate to have our own celebration of a New Year which is at once
joyous and solemn, reflective and forward looking, one that allows us to reconnect with
our heritage, with the community, and with ourselves.

We read last week and we read again on Yom Kippur of Moses’ covenant with Israel
before they entered the promised land. “I make this covenant, with its sanctions, not...Read more...

ROSH HASHANAH 2006/5767

Laura Gordon Fisher

Shanah tovah! Shabbat shalom!

These very special days in the Jewish calendar, the Days of Awe, cause us to reflect on where
we have been and how we go forward in our lives. They bring us together—regardless of
where we are coming from. In this changing world, a world in which there is so much
instability and uncertainty, a world in which there is growing anti-Semitism, and escalating
threats to Israel’s existence,...Read more...

ROSH HASHANAH 2005/5766

Robert Atkind

Perhaps the most often repeated word in the Torah and for sure in the prayer book is the word “blessed.” During these Days of Awe we will take stock of our blessings and our challenges both as individuals and as members of this community. Permit me to identify some of our blessings.

We are blessed by the addition of Rabbi Carey Brown and Cantor Robbie Solomon to our community. They have joined Rabbi Jaffe, one of the most beloved...Read more...

ROSH HASHANAH 2004/5765

Robert Atkind

As President of Temple Isaiah, one of my favorite roles is to sing the praises of the Temple; another is to give credit where credit is due. I recently corresponded with Rabbi Larry Kushner a former neighbor and a long-standing friend of our congregation, and when I reminded him where I was from, he remarked: “Temple Isaiah, one of the best shuls in Beantown.” As usual, Rabbi Kushner, famous for his wit and his wisdom, knows of what he...Read more...

Wed, December 4 2024 3 Kislev 5785