Board Highlights

At December’s Board meeting, which was just after the Newtown, CT shootings, I announced the beginning of a process of reviewing our security practices and procedures.  I have begun that process, and at the January Board meeting I updated the Board on what’s been done, and what’s in the works.

Anne Stein, Carol Meyer, Gabe Ein (in his role as School Committee Chair) and I met with three representatives from the Lombard Police on January 7, 2013.  We toured the building with them, and they gave us a number of useful suggestions and ideas.  They were terrifically helpful and have encouraged us to continue to contact them with questions and for help.  They also told us about a workshop to discuss best practices for responding to violent intruders in public places such as houses of worship that the Lombard Police is co-sponsoring on February 11th.  A number of representatives from Etz Chaim plan to attend.

I have also convened an ad hoc Security Subcommittee which met for the first time this past Sunday.  I am chairing the committee, and representatives from the School Committee (Gabe Ein), the Facilities Committee (Doug Longman), and the Office Committee (Bert Cohn) have agreed to serve.  Carol Meyer is participating, and I have asked Jeff Gail to join us.  For those of you who don’t know Jeff, he is the Assistant Principal at Sandburg Middle School in Elmhurst and sits on the Security and Safety Committee for Elmhurst District 205, and brings this expertise to bear.

Some congregants may recall that there was an ad hoc security subcommittee that met in early 2011, and submitted a set of recommendations, many but not all of which were implemented.  The two most significant of those not yet implemented recommendations were (1) installing a security camera/buzzer/intercom system at the front door of the building and (2) improving our safety policies and procedures and implementing effective training for our staff, teachers, and volunteers around these procedures.   I see the initial task of this new Security Subcommittee as implementing these two recommendations, while at the same time taking another overarching look at both school and building security.  I will continue to update you in the coming months.

At our October Board meeting, our discussion topic was the Sunday morning Tumlar program.  In the culture of the Jewish resorts of the Catskills in the 1950s and 1960s (think of the movie Dirty Dancing for some context), an employee called the Tumlar had the job of social icebreaker.  The Tumlar was the person who would get people to participate in games and contests, introduce guests to each other and help them form friendships, and in general work on weaving a social fabric among the guests of the resort.  A number of years ago, Etz Chaim began a Sunday morning Tumlar program, with the idea of creating an opportunity for our members to meet, sit and chat, have a nosh, and get to know each other. 

Recently, we’ve gotten feedback from our members that the original purpose of our Tumlar program has gotten a bit lost, and that folks are a bit more focused on the bagels than on the conversation.  So, at the Board meeting, we brainstormed ways to improve our Tumlar program and to help our members meet each other.  We came up with many good ideas, and the Ways & Means Committee, which “runs” the Tumlar program, is now provided with a great springboard as they work to improve the program.

A number of our Board members volunteered to function as the Tumlar, the social director, on an occasional Sunday morning.  If you are a friendly, outgoing person, and you would enjoy spending a Sunday morning or two at synagogue being the Tumlar, meeting folks and introducing them to each other, please contact Janet Widmaier.  In any case, be sure and step into the synagogue on Sunday mornings and get to know someone new.  

This month’s board meeting, falling in the midst of the High Holidays, was very quick, and we focused on committee reports.  We learned that our committees are planning extensive and varied programming for this fall, and you will want to mark your calendars for these upcoming events. 

On October 21st, the Social Action Committee is sponsoring the “Empty Bowls” program from 1:00-3:00 PM, a fundraiser to support community organizations combating hunger.  That evening, the Lifelong Learning Committee (once again partnering with Beth Shalom and B’nai Israel  in the “Three Synagogue” collaboration) brings us Allan Gould, who will be speaking on Jewish Identity and Humor.  This program will take place at B’nai Israel in Aurora starting at 7:00 PM. 

We will also have several special opportunities to learn from our own Rabbis this fall.  On October 29th, Rabbi Cosnowsky will give the first of a series of classes, “The Faces of Judaism Illuminated", sponsored by the Lifelong Learning Committee.  Rabbi Cosnowsky will teach us about Reform Judaism, and subsequent classes in the series will teach us about Conservative, Orthodox, and Reconstructionist Judaism.  On November 17th, Rabbi Bob will teach a class on “The Jewish Way of Mourning.” 

Other opportunities this fall include a November 11th presentation on estate planning by our congregant  Larry Herman, co-sponsored by Lifelong Learning and the Connections Team, and a presentation by author Mary Glickman on December 2nd sponsored by Spertus, and featuring her book “One More River”.  In addition, the Social Action Committee will host the Social Action Shabbat on November 9th, and will sponsor a group of volunteers to pack food at Feed My Starving Children on November 18th.   

These are just a few of the events planned by our innovative and hardworking committees for this autumn.  Please plan to take advantage of these opportunities to learn, to help, and to spend time with members of our congregational family.       

At the August Board meeting, Mike Kayman, the chair of the Planned Giving Committee, made a motion to establish a separate Congregation Etz Chaim Foundation, to be set up as a 501(c)(3) not for profit corporation, as the vehicle for our planned giving initiative.  The Board approved this motion.  During  the discussion about the motion, Mike told us that the establishment of separate foundations of this nature is the procedure followed by many congregations who have planned giving programs.  Advantages of a separate foundation include: an improved perception among donors that their wishes will be carried out, a clear segregation of “long term” funds from operations, good checks and balances, the opportunity for matching funds from outside sources, and legal protection of the funds.  Mike also shared with the Board that the Planned Giving Committee has hosted several “town meeting” conversations with small groups of congregants to solicit ideas about implementation of the planned giving project, and that these meetings were tremendously useful to the committee.  We will be hearing a great deal more from the Planned Giving Committee in the coming months.