Dear BRS West Family
This coming Shabbos we are entering into Sefer Vayikra, Parshas Zachor and the world of Purim. It’s a time for new beginnings, and refocusing on our mission and purpose. Most importantly, it’s a time for and celebration of what we have achieved, and rededication to the work ahead of us.
The past two years have been challenging for all of us. The constant uncertainty, lockdowns, shutdowns, illness and fear have impacted each of us in immeasurable ways.
There have been many high moments of friendship, kindness and concern, and exceptional growth. But there have also been low points of in-fighting, cynicism and pain.
Now it is time for us all to move on.
I believe in us. I believe in our strength, our commitment to Torah and Mitzvos, and our love for Hashem, His Torah and His People. I believe that the best is yet to come.
But as we emerge from this period of pain, and just before we move on, we need to clear the air.
As your Rabbi, this responsibility begins with me. I would like to apologize to you, the members of our BRS West family for the times that I wasn’t there for you, and for the times that I didn’t communicate effectively.
Aliza and I love each and every one of you, and will continue to be there for you. We ask your forgiveness for that which we did, and for that which we failed to do. Of course, we harbor no ill will of resentment to any of you. All that we ask, is for you to extend the same love and forgiveness to each other.
It is the highest honor of our lives to serve as your Rabbi and Rebbetzin, and we are grateful to Hashem and to you for trusting us with this mission. We look forward to doing so for many years to come.
I am infinitely grateful to Dr. Todd Slesinger for his leadership for the past four years. Under his stewardship, our shul has grown from 60 families to over 130 member families (with over 260 kids!). We could not have achieved any of this without Todd’s exceptional leadership in some very trying times.
With such growth, changes are essential and the changes we are implementing have been a long time in coming. You have been patient with us, and I hope that you will welcome this next stage with excitement, participating and positivity.
I know you all have a lot of questions as to the shul’s plans for the future. There are small questions (what’s the menu for kiddush?) and large questions (are we building a shul and mikvah?) The answer is that I don’t know. That’s what we, as a community, need to work on and decide.
With this in mind, I am excited to present to you the next stage of our growth. A group of BRS West members have stepped up together and volunteered to create necessary structure and organization for our shul.
To be clear: They are not the board of the shul. Their goal is to get the shul in order, so that you - the members - can vote on a board, and get to work.
Please see the letter attached, and please don’t hesitate to reach out to me for any and all questions.
Hashem should shower us all with all the brachos of Torah, Ahavas Hashem and Yiras Shamayim. This month of Adar Sheini should fill our homes and hearts with Simcha.
B’yedidus,
Rabbi Rael Blumenthal
This coming Shabbos we are entering into Sefer Vayikra, Parshas Zachor and the world of Purim. It’s a time for new beginnings, and refocusing on our mission and purpose. Most importantly, it’s a time for and celebration of what we have achieved, and rededication to the work ahead of us.
The past two years have been challenging for all of us. The constant uncertainty, lockdowns, shutdowns, illness and fear have impacted each of us in immeasurable ways.
There have been many high moments of friendship, kindness and concern, and exceptional growth. But there have also been low points of in-fighting, cynicism and pain.
Now it is time for us all to move on.
I believe in us. I believe in our strength, our commitment to Torah and Mitzvos, and our love for Hashem, His Torah and His People. I believe that the best is yet to come.
But as we emerge from this period of pain, and just before we move on, we need to clear the air.
As your Rabbi, this responsibility begins with me. I would like to apologize to you, the members of our BRS West family for the times that I wasn’t there for you, and for the times that I didn’t communicate effectively.
Aliza and I love each and every one of you, and will continue to be there for you. We ask your forgiveness for that which we did, and for that which we failed to do. Of course, we harbor no ill will of resentment to any of you. All that we ask, is for you to extend the same love and forgiveness to each other.
It is the highest honor of our lives to serve as your Rabbi and Rebbetzin, and we are grateful to Hashem and to you for trusting us with this mission. We look forward to doing so for many years to come.
I am infinitely grateful to Dr. Todd Slesinger for his leadership for the past four years. Under his stewardship, our shul has grown from 60 families to over 130 member families (with over 260 kids!). We could not have achieved any of this without Todd’s exceptional leadership in some very trying times.
With such growth, changes are essential and the changes we are implementing have been a long time in coming. You have been patient with us, and I hope that you will welcome this next stage with excitement, participating and positivity.
I know you all have a lot of questions as to the shul’s plans for the future. There are small questions (what’s the menu for kiddush?) and large questions (are we building a shul and mikvah?) The answer is that I don’t know. That’s what we, as a community, need to work on and decide.
With this in mind, I am excited to present to you the next stage of our growth. A group of BRS West members have stepped up together and volunteered to create necessary structure and organization for our shul.
To be clear: They are not the board of the shul. Their goal is to get the shul in order, so that you - the members - can vote on a board, and get to work.
Please see the letter attached, and please don’t hesitate to reach out to me for any and all questions.
Hashem should shower us all with all the brachos of Torah, Ahavas Hashem and Yiras Shamayim. This month of Adar Sheini should fill our homes and hearts with Simcha.
B’yedidus,
Rabbi Rael Blumenthal