A rabbi I know asks everyone during the Pessah seder, "What does freedom mean to you?" I would like to take this question to the next level and ask: "What are you doing with your freedom?"
I am happy to be able to report that so many people in our community are doing such wonderful things with their freedom. A renewed spirit of volunteerism has permeated our congregation. Many volunteers have spent countless hours of dedication and care for the betterment of us all and our dear community.
This helped make this year's Purim celebrations truly memorable. While displaying bold, engaging and committed leadership, Victor Levy as head of our fundraising committee appointed two talented event chairs that led to two very successful Purim events.
Oren Gabbay worked tirelessly and selflessly to pull off a huge Purim Poker tournament that raised well over $15000 for our youth activities.
Le Bal Masqué a organisé par Rachel Wolfe a contribué beaucoup à notre joie. On félicite cette bonne équipe!
Alain Abdoo, Tania Korin, and the Youth committee ensured that our youth also had a great Purim. They arranged for Mr. Music to help get our children and us into the Purim spirit before the Megillah reading. A lively Purim bash geared for children and a Purim play by les Scouts (EEIC) received rave reviews from many parents.
As you can also see from the Young Adult section of this edition of the Aleynu, Doron Sayegh and our young adult volunteers also deserve a lot of credit from the number and quality of recent events they organized.
Gladys Mooallem and Gigi Bitton deserve special mention for organizing the Women's Learning Group trip to Prague and Israel. We look forward to other similar trips in the future. The Women's Learning Group soon begins its new weekly series, once again combining Torah learning, Hebrew study, dance and lunch.
Finally, on a recent Shabbat I spoke about how during the twentieth century tzedaka boxes migrated from synagogues to people's homes. This has had many positive effects for now people can give tzedaka from the comforts of home. The synagogue however continues to be a primary locus where people in need seek assistance. Please consider making a contribution to the synagogue tzedaka fund so that we can help with the many requests we get.
We owe a lot to all of our volunteers. May G-d bless them all! May this coming Pessah inspire all of us in our mission to use our freedom wisely and well.
Hag Sameah!
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