Chevrei:
This has been a year of tremendous growth and change for our community. At year's end, I want to sit back for a moment and take stock of all that has happened at Adat Shalom and in the world.
There is one area of community life that has drawn the energy of several of our members and they deserve our thanks. This year, we embarked on a somewhat experimental approach to celebrating Shabbat in a monthly Friday evening service we called, Shabbat Slam. Beginning in October, each month we tried to create a service that would help us connect to our own tradition through new venues of music, study, movement. Experimenting in this way does not always feel safe -- it is not tried and true. Being perhaps the most traditionalist in our group of Shabbat Slam "practitioners", it took some doing by others to get me to open my mind a little. In addition to all that, I began the year with a serious vocal injury, from which I have fortunately recovered. However, that put a real dent in our plans -- not an easy way to begin something new. Everyone seemed to take the problem in stride (except me, of course!) So, here are my thank-you's:
Rabbi Sid, you provided the vision and drive to make this a reality in our community. You continually brought thoughtful and thought-provoking material for us to grapple with at these services, while helping to create a warm, open environment for us to "play" with our own liturgy.
Shelley Sadowsky, you were our balabosta for the year, our mother-hen and queen bee, making sure that all logistics, from large to small, were in place. And you made it look effortless! To Beth Handler, Susan Kron, and Amy Jaslow, the balabosta's "staff" -- you made our social hall and foyer into a welcoming place for our members and visitors
Michael Berney, you were our maestro of music, bringing your own ideas to the table while also working to integrate all the musicians, keep everyone on the same page. Many times over, you put your fingers to the keyboard and created just the right mood and tone for any number of liturgical settings.
Mark Haag, as bass player, you provided a musical backbone for our ensemble, a rhythmic context for our wandering melody lines. You brought a level of musicianship without showmanship that so enhanced our "product".
Peter Gillon (percussion), Jayme Epstein (violin) and Ben Bradlow (guitar), you all generously shared your talents during the course of the year, stretching yourselves outside of what was comfortable and adding some wonderful spice to our mix.
I know there were many others who worked to make this program happen for us this year - now we can sit back and incubate a little and get ready for another (grand) Slam!
Rav Todot,
(Cantor) Rachel