I have a confession to make – No, it’s not my love of board games (Risk and Monopoly are still great). Nor is it my fondness for black-and-white movies (William Powell and Myrna Loy in the Thin Man series!). Nor is it the fact that I was and remain a math geek (did you know that “Pi” day just recently passed?). No, my confession involves the architectural plans being developed by our Building Committee. I think they are quite simply remarkable.
The Sanctuary in the Garden concept is both elegant and unassuming, fitting well the form and beauty of our current structure. And it has substantial potential to transform much of our congregational life. We would gain a beautiful new sanctuary and a small chapel for alternative services, enhancing our ritual life. We would gain five new classrooms, allowing us to have a single session of religious school in the morning, enhancing the lives of our families with young children. We would gain a remodeled social space for our bar and bat mitzvahs, weddings, and other life-cycle events, enhancing our social opportunities. The possibilities are endless for how the new and remodeled space might help us enjoy congregational life. My sincere thanks goes to our Building Committee for the hard work and hours that this required!
Still, I share the concerns expressed by many about the financing of the project. We have always been a fairly conservative congregation − at least in terms of our finances. This has served us well, helping us to avoid many of the painful choices other congregations have had to recently make. And the Board plans to continue that tradition with respect to any plans that we might make regarding a renovation projectat Beth Tikvah.
The Finance Committee has been charged with examining the financing alternatives and making a recommendation for any project that the Board and congregation might consider. That includes reviewing not only the costs associated with the project being worked on by the Building Committee, but the congregation’s capacity for fundraising, the resources available to the congregation (i.e., in addition to the monies in our capital campaign fund), and investigating other alternatives that it believes may be appropriate regarding the scope of the project − e.g., doing the project in two or more phases or perhaps moderating the overall project to more closely fit the Committee’s view of our budget. Its purpose is not to prevent us from moving forward on any particular project. Rather, it’s to temper our natural enthusiasm and protect us from moving beyond our realistic financial abilities. That is, the Finance Committee will be fulfilling its role as our fiscal guardian and counselor − assisting us to move forward, but watching to make sure that it is done responsibly.
Last month, I mentioned that the Mishnah tells us that we relive the Exodus each year with our children during Passover to remind us that: “In each and every generation a man must see himself as if he came out of Egypt.” (Pesahim 10:5). It encourages us to treasure freedom − ours and that of future generations. The Board has taken that lesson to heart when reviewing the possibilities for a renovation project at Beth Tikvah.
I hope this finds you all well.
~ Greg Russell, President
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