TEMPLE BETH SHOLOM
Dedicated to making our Congregation a focal point of Jewish family and communal life for our members, through excellence in professional and lay leadership,
education, programming, and spirituality
Board of Directors
Wednesday, October 16, 2019 7:00pm
AGENDA
Blessing:
1. D’var Torah 7:00-7:10 2. Approval of Minutes 7:10-7:15
3. President Report 7:15-7:25
4. Board & Staff Reports 7:25-8:15
5. Closed Session 8:15
Temple Beth Sholom Board of Directors Meeting
October 16, 2019 TBS Board Room - in attendance Attendees: Mitch Cohen, Pres. Ruth Aptaker Brenda Beck David Feldberg Matthew Griffin Harvey Grossberg
Jack Holmes Mary Gonzalez Melanie Pollak Scott Singer Michelle Singleton Arnie Shugarman
Rabbi Heidi Cohen Ruth Irving Jodi Kaufman Tamara Levin
Absent: Bonnie Wenneberg Cantor David Reinwald 7:04- Rabbi Heidi - D’var Torah, blessings in the sukkah 7:17- Meeting Minutes approval - Mitch Cohen President’s Report - Mitch Cohen - Review of JLIFE reports an URJ Hotsheet overview. Rabbi Heidi suggested “Miller Curriculum” at B’nei Israel. - Shabbat Evening services. We need more board rep announcements - Thanks to Michelle Singleton on her work on the URJ Biennial attendance - Thanks to Scott and clergy on HHD services. Found shuttle services successful, great greeters, and no security incidents. Thank you to sisterhood for apples and honey and break-the-fast. - We need recycling bins on campus. Board and Staff Reports - Harvey on numbers. Q1 report. Nearly 100,000 less on dues this year than last year in Q1. Also nearly 25,000 less on school rentals due to loss of IHDS. Overview of line items against last year in Q1. In summary, Harvey feels we will balance out by the end of the year. Also discussed his membership analysis. - Sisterhood - Brenda Beck - Paid up membership brunch coming up. Just a reminder that the gift shop is open and to please contact them if you want to purchase anything. Holiday boutique November 24th in the social hall. - Brotherhood - Arnie - Sukkot dinner, thankful to the volunteers. Planning for the pancake breakfast on December 25th. Need to continue to work on calendaring issues. Thursday night football at Benji's. - Worship - Scott on HHD. Sukkot was a success. Looking forward to Simchat Torah. Reminder for the Jewish drama class. - Membership - Dave and Mary - Cupcake wars on November 9. Looking into a FWYC event. - Education - Matthew Griffin - New rooms are up and running, Jodi and Tamara are working together. Overview of HHD programming. Update of new rooms, and we need to do upgrades to get to the 2013 code to be able to increase occupancy. - Ruth Irving - keep an eye out for calendaring committee meeting. Closed Session at 8:20. Session adjourned at 8:56. Respectfully submitted, Ruth Aptaker, for Bonnie Wenneberg (TBS Secretary, who was absent)
Metrics:
● High Holy Day Youth program ● High Holy Day children’s activities table ● Worked with Sydell Walencewicz on the Anti-Semitism Network Yom Kippur breakout
session presentation and provided support during the session on Yom Kippur. ● Preparations for Adult Education classes: Brene Brown’s Jewish Words of Wisdom;
iEngage - Tribes of Israel ● Contacted several speakers for additional adult ed classes ● Coordinating Shabbaton with Rabbi Donnell and Wendy Bocarsky ● Confirmed presenters and locations for Culinary Arts programming including Colony
Wine Merchant as well as making connections with chocolatier and alchemists. ● Teacher meetings and school preparations including administrative work such as
copying, collecting supplies and room setups. ● Created homeless curriculum and plan to partner Religious School with Skyview
Elementary School with Sheila Silver and Carl Bendroff ● Scheduled my time in the preschool classrooms to teach about Simcha’s Torah (October
23rd) ● Coordinated October 20th Family Education day with Tamara and Stacey ● Taught 2 adult ed classes
○ Brene Brown’s Jewish Words of Wisdom ○ iEngage
● Adult Education Enrollments and Revenue: ○ Brene Brown’s Jewish Words of Wisdom: 16 enrolled ○ iEngage (17 enrolled $954 revenue) ○ Jewish Journeys (23 enrolled $1195 collected) ○ Pirkei Avot (16 enrolled $309 collected) ○ Jewish Drama (7 enrolled $140 collected)
Working On:
● Continue to teach iEngage, Brene Brown’s Jewish Words of Wisdom, Lunch and Learn) ● Work with Yanir on publicity for Culinary Arts Programming ● Work with Stacy Nagel and adult education committee ● Alissa Ackerman has agreed to chair the adult education committee ● Work with my technology madrichim to produce more videos, like the one we posted on
Facebook on Sunday.
Concerns:
● Participation - it’s always important for the congregation to see our board members at religious school and school events. If you would like a tour of the school, please let me know. I invite you to join us for our Simchat Torah Family Day this Sunday, October 20 at 10:45 in the sanctuary.
Budget Lines 19/20 Q1
18/19 Q1 Difference
Dues 333279 431950 -98671 Prior Year Dues 18112 10333 7779 Other 16964 9438 7526
Sr Staff Expe -
122189 -
143582 21393 Admin Expenses -41259 -43546 2287 Facilities Expenses -88981 -93718 4737 General Operating Expenses -57497 -51358 -6139 Religious Celebration/Program Income 14090 19425 -5335 Religious Celebration/Program Expenses -3365 -21650 18285 Events 39515 45680 -6165 School Rental 7900 44258 -36358 Facility Rental Expenses -12255 -6155 -6100 Congregational Appeal 5286 11253 -5967 Reservations Only 1026 2510 -1484 Annual Event (net) 0 11941 -11941 Miscellaneous (net) 212 722 -510 Congregational Learning Income 29697 33839 -4142 Congregational Learning Expense -35489 -32378 -3111 Camp Sholom Income 39952 48518 -8566 Camp Sholom Expenses -33636 -40042 6406 Youth Programming Income 394 199 195 Youth Programming Expenses 0 -507 507 Early Childhood Income 317210 306176 11034
Early Childhood Expenses -
170035 -
158618 -11417
Totals 258931 384688 -125757
Cantor’s Board Report: Oct., 2019
Working On: Teaching the following classes: Hebrew 5th/6th grade, Sunday School music Teen Kehillah: Israel curriculum for the entire year Training 2 b’nei mitzvah students (Matthew Blam and Chloe Solinger will become b’nei mitzvah over the next month) Administrative Oversight: I am currently overseeing the administrative work needed to keep the b’nei mitzvah services organized and running smoothly (this was formally work done by Marla Vaughter). Shabbat: Working with Scott to put together discussion questions for Sukkot film (Ushpizin) Selected new music for tefillah band for upcoming family service (Nov. 1) HHDs: We successfully completed them! I always put down notes and organize thoughts for the following year, so that we can pick up where we left off. Lifecycle: Regular check-ins with congregants currently hospitalized, homebound, or ill
Plans for Next Month: Working with Anaheim United Methodist Church to plan our 2nd Interfaith Thanksgiving service which will involve our choirs. Planning out future services and programming Planning out future classes Continuing planning and organizing of the Southern Experience trip Jewish Drama session #1: Tuesday, Nov. 19th (If I Forget) Planning for my sabbatical (both for my own planning and for all elements of oversight in my absence)
Michelle Singleton – Dir Social Justice Oct. 2019 – Board Report Metrics (how will we measure?)
Oct – Measurement still a question. Can we safely measure based on participation on involvement by the congregation? Does it need to be based on the number of people we reach out to?
Working On There are 4 parts (now) to the social Justice work to be aware of… Social Action (Direct Service)
- Decision made to participate in monthly dinners with Grandma’s house Social Awareness (Advocacy/Governance)
- Continue to review and find opportunities to work with RAC and their programs - Continuing to watch the 4 cities - Lost member of the SJ team
Social Literacy (Education) - Advocacy Training - Additional classes (suggestions?) and educational opportunities - Attending URJ Biennial, there is an SJ component
Social Mobilization (Collection – food drives etc.) - HH food drive still ongoing through end of the month
Top 3 concerns
- Getting larger TBS community involved - Keeping the larger community informed
Need Assistance
- Continued board participation in all planned activities (service, literacy and mobilization) throughout the year
Goals
- Social Action/Direct Service program started and sustained - TBS Community and board involvement in all Social Justice Activities - Remove the “stigma” of work
Rabbi Heidi Cohen October 2019 Board Report Metrics:
● Successful Selichot Program: ○ Brought in two published poets from the Orange County community who shared
their poetry as well as created prompts and encouraged everyone to write their own thoughts and poetry.
○ A number of people shared during the program. ○ Created a visual backdrop used at the entrance to High Holy Day services. ○ Selichot Services were the right tone for beginning our High Holy Day season
with lights dimmed, Havdalah, choir and changing of our mantles. ● Meaningful High Holy Day Services:
○ Attendance seemed on par for past years. ○ What really impressed me was the number of youth who attended services rather
than school. During the hakafah, I made a point to thank them all for being at services.
○ Organized and coordinated Four Yom Kippur Breakout Sessions. Anti-Semitism Network had 60+ participants. Joel Kotkin, 35 participants. Social Justice and understanding Homelessness 18 participants. Feldenkrais with Elinor Silverstein 5 participants.
● Creation and delivery of four sermons during Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. I’ve received favorable feedback since delivering the sermons.
● Sukkot evening program: ○ Great attendance and participation. Coordinated with our caterer and staff to
ensure a successful evening for all. ● Links of Blessings, Thoughts and Memories: there are hundreds of cards hanging in our
sukkah. ● Teaching:
○ 7th grade on Tuesdays ○ Jewish Journeys - 4000 years of Jewish History in 2 hours (yes, we did it!) ○ Meetings with Conversion students - giving them the opportunity to shake the
lulav and sit in the sukkah during our sessions. ○ Catholic Jewish Dialogue - taught about Sukkot and shared our TBS sukkah with
the group. ● Life Cycles:
○ Preparing for two upcoming weddings ○ Officiated for one unveiling ○ Officiated for one funeral
Working on:
● Teaching Preparations:
○ iEngage, Tribes of Israel. ○ Pirkei Avot session 2 of 3 ○ Jewish Journeys ○ 7th grade including preparing for upcoming retreat in November ○ Confirmation
● Shabbat with Rabbi Donnell and Wendy Bocarsky. Rabbi Donnell will be joining me on the bima and I am working with a new accompanist and new TBS member, Nancy Rosen.
● Community of Practice, Governance - working with Mitch Cohen, Scott Singer and Ruth Irving.
● Engaging our Social Justice group for our upcoming year of programming and events. ● Developing the Interfaith Thanksgiving Service with Anaheim United Methodist Church
and Temple Beth Emet, November 24 at Anaheim United Methodist Church. ● Work with Scott Singer and Cantor in developing our Shabbat schedule for the year.
Concerns:
● The professional staff and board can and should be working closer together. There are some communication issues in which we miss sharing important information. We have opportunities to brainstorm and create programming and opportunities at TBS and we are not taking the time to sit down and discuss these ideas together. I would like to see us work together in planning programming and congregational opportunities rather than working in silos.
● I am very well aware that there are those who continue to speak negatively about TBS, the staff and our programming. Unfortunately, of those who I know speaking this way, they are not participating or attending any of these programs. I would like to see the board be more active in attending programs and events and speaking to all participants and congregants, not just those who complain and do not attend. The squeaky wheel gets the grease and those who are satisfied do not speak up because they do not see the need to when they feel all is going well. Perspective is needed - there are many who are satisfied but it’s easy to dismiss their voices (and positive feedback letters shared with Mitch and other board members) and only listen to the constant negative naysayers. As I said on Kol Nidrei, we are not going to make everyone happy and I would argue that we have more who are happy with TBS than those squeaky wheels who are making the loudest noise but not representing the majority. We are a congregation of about 450 families, all voices should count.
Ruth Irving
Executive Director’s Report
October 16, 2019
Metrics/Working On
- High Holy Days: x Renewing members, assisting non-members and all HHD logistics x Worked with Clergy and Worship/Scott on Sukkot and Simchat Torah x Thank you to all of our volunteers!
- Welcoming new members (15 so far, this fiscal year) - Handling all facility rentals, requests and logistics - Met with our insurance and IT to look at costs for next year - Working with the fire department and Tamara, Harvey, Mitch, Danny, Len and Jack on
the school/temple items they have requested x Spoke with Berliner architect and fire inspectors regarding process and next steps
- Attended a Community Security Workshop
x Spoke with IT about additional cyber security measures to take
x Planning a member situational awareness workshop in January
- Participated in a webinar and meeting for the Community of Practice for Governance with Mitch, Scott and Rabbi Heidi
- Managing facility requests and issues - Working with the Open School on logistics
- Assisting members with Shulcloud and logging in
- Had our first Budget meeting where we went over last year’s final numbers
Next Month
- Updating and posting for our reception/+addt’l duties position - Calendar meeting for the 2020-21 year - Continued meetings with the budget committee - Updated policies and procedures review at the next board meeting - Working with Ruth A. on communication and our strategy
Concerns - We need to work on the Goal setting for both the board and the temple - It was lovely to see so many members at High Holy Days. How do we keep members
engaged and connect them to each other?
TREASURER'S REPORT Sep-19 19/20 YTD 19/20 Budget % Budget Sep-18 18/19 YTDBeginning Operating Balance 170,691
Department/Cost CenterGeneral Operating Income** 137,059 368,823 796,600 46% 105,388 451,721General Operating Expenses -105,391 -314,381 -1,247,740 25% -100,174 -332,203Facility Rental (net)*** 19,054 35,161 175,028 20% 44,457 83,782Religious School/Youth (net) 11,129 228 -42,234 -1% 1,692 1,153Early Childhood Center (net) 13,667 147,175 280,097 53% 21,116 147,559Fundraising (net) 5,274 6,368 46,000 14% 22,349 26,426Camp Sholom (net) 363 6,316 8,070 78% -165 8,476Religious Celebrations (net) 7,108 9,263 -4,320 -214% -7,686 -2,224
Net Profit/(Loss) 88,264 258,954 11,501 86,977 384,690
Ending Operating Balance 258,955
** Monthly General Operating Income> Dues - $124,786
*** Monthly Facility Rental> Rental Income - $23,575
Bank BalancesOperating - Pacific Premier 329,446Operating - Farmers & Merchants 897,868
Special Funds Balances > Operating Reserves 538,890 > Restricted Funds 126,785 > Other 259805Total 925,480
Fund for the Future 313,346
10/16/2019 Membership Board Report Metrics: By the end of the fiscal year, we want to grow membership by a net of 5% Working on:
● Create subcommittees under the following: ○ Communication ○ Membership
● Working on meeting and connecting with all prospective new members ○ November touch to all new prospective/new members – Invitation to coffee ○ Heidi taking new members to lunch
● Preschool Families ○ Increase involvement/communication ○ Events:
■ Magic show ■ PJ party with bounce houses, pizza – December
○ Update on Preschool families who have joined since free membership was offered
● Membership Events Suggested For 2019/2020 ○ Succulent Plant workshop ○ Cupcake wars – November 9th ○ Painting Class ○ Dad’s Night ○ Women & Wine ○ Pancake Breakfast ○ Guy’s Night Out ○ Senior Event
● Retention ○ Touching all new members once a month for the first two years of membership
■ November touch – invitation to coffee ○ Hosted Shabbat Dinners – i.e.-Board members, etc. ○ Stay Connected Program – Connect with members at least twice a year that
have been members longer than two years ● New Chavurah Program
○ Need Chavurah Coordinator ○ Put Families together to make connections with other families
● Past Members ○ Reaching out to all members who have either given notice or have not renewed
their membership.
Top 3 concerns: ● Current Climate of the congregation ● Loss of members due to climate ● Competition of other synagogues
TBS VP of Worship Board Report - 10/16/2019 Scott Singer Metrics:
x Excellent job by Rise Kirbo and Soni Sandberg with “Echoes of Elul” and “Matriarchs and Patriarchs.” Great turnout for both programs.
x Selichot: inspiring to listen to congregants share their poetry and their souls during the program and dinner; How much it meant to congregants when they were given the honor of changing the Torah Mantles at one of TBS most beautiful worship services. A wonderful evening.
x True community involvement with Erev Sukkot in the Sukkah and the BBQ. x Rosh Hashanah And Yom Kippur: smooth rollout, ease with parking and shuttles,
great turnout, learning and congregational involvement: - 2nd Day Rosh Hashanah at Huntington Beach. - Excellent sermons by Rabbi Cohen and Cantor Reinwald. - Wonderful music by the TBS Choir. - Well attended and interesting Yom Kippur Breakout Sessions. - Matthew Griffin holding “Tekiah Gadolah” for 28 seconds!!!
Working on:
x URJ GofP Governance with Rabbi Cohen, Ruth Irving and Mitch Cohen. x TBS Worship Calendar for 2019-2020. x Worship programming during Cantor Reinwald’s sabbatical. x Continued collaboration with VP of Education and Director of Congregational
Learning on our excellent adult education programs. x Monthly meetings with clergy and Director of Social Justice. x Continued congregational involvement with services and programming.
Top 3 concerns:
x Noticed gleeful and prideful joy and actions by congregants in hoping that TBS HHD worship services and programs will fail (which I’ve witnessed firsthand, as well as others).
x Continued communication lapses between TBS entities. x Value given to the continued negative feedback on TBS worship, education and
programming by congregants who haven’t even attended any of those associated programs they critique.
