View from the President

Beginning my new journey
As Your President
A message from Adrian Dubow
President, Temple Beth Am
AdrianDFL@aol.com

This past spring my husband Ken and I had the opportunity to spend two great weekends at the University of Florida visiting our children. The first weekend was Family Weekend at our son's fraternity, AEPi. Our son, Brian, is a freshman at UF who has adapted nicely to the fun, frivolity and fatigue that college life offers while still managing to make the Dean's List. The second weekend was Family Weekend at our daughter's sorority, AEPhi. Our daughter, Rachel, is a senior who will graduate this month and move to New York City in the fall where she has a job, a plan and a vision for her future. She will begin a new chapter in her journey through life where she will author the pages with her own life choices and experiences. As a mother who has enjoyed every chapter in my daughter's life, it is rewarding, thrilling and quite surreal that as she begins her new journey in life, I too, am beginning my new journey as President of Temple Beth Am.

Just like my daughter, I am entering my Presidency with a job, a plan and a vision for our future. The “our” in our future is defined by you, our precious Temple Beth Am Community. I feel very privileged and honored to serve as your President. I am extremely lucky to have an outstanding and diverse Board of Directors and numerous volunteers with whom to share this important work. I use the word share with great emphasis. My work is only as strong as the individuals with whom I surround myself and the strengths that each individual brings to the team. I am also very blessed to work with a dedicated clergy team and professional team. Over the past decade, I have learned the “synagogue business” from these individuals and I will continue to learn as I move forward through my new job.

My plan is to communicate with the congregation in an open dialogue with full transparency surrounding the most important and exciting issues, as well as the less glamorous ones. I am here to listen to you and to learn from you. My vision is quite simple. Temple Beth Am has been a leader in the business of “Jews” for the past 58 years. We have established this reputation because we have been open minded, thoughtful, generous and even fearless at times. We have evolved to meet the demands that our Temple Beth Am community deserves and expects. My vision is to engage the congregation and together we will continue to drive the evolution of Temple Beth Am to meet the spiritual, social and educational needs of our community. We will engage our children, youth, young adults, mature adults and seniors. It is extremely important that the constituencies that make up our community feel valued and connected as we move forward together. Times are changing, and so will we, though I never want to lose the traditions and the melodies that make us who we are.

The challenge of utmost importance is the “search” for our new Senior Rabbi. We are in phase one of this very important task: gathering information. We will be sending a short survey to the congregation very soon. Please take a few minutes to complete the survey and share your thoughts with us. We look forward to hearing from every congregant. Our goal is to keep the Rabbinic Search process transparent and inclusive. Please let us engage you in this challenge.

Click here to learn more about the Rabbinic Search Process. We will continue to gather information from the congregation over the next six months in order for us to complete the Rabbinic Search Application in the fall. The application will be a direct reflection of the information and feedback that we will receive from you, our congregation.

I want to express my gratitude to Susan Henkin who tirelessly and gracefully served the congregation as our President for the past two years. Susan and our Vice President of Endowment, Mark Gilbert, will spearhead our Endowment Campaign and our "Create a Jewish Legacy" Campaign in the upcoming months. Susan's strength and wisdom have generously paved the path for my journey as the President of Temple Beth Am begins.

My journey at Temple Beth Am actually began when my daughter and I enrolled in our first Mommy and Me class (now called Toddler Time) almost 22 years ago. We found fulfilling and meaningful activities and a community of friends for our entire family. Many of the children Rachel played with, learned with and grew up with at Temple Beth Am will be wearing their caps and gowns right beside her (physically and metaphorically), as they too graduate from college this month. They all have their own plans and they are framing their own visions for the future. What they have in common are the seeds of Judaism, community and friendship, that were planted in them here at our synagogue, our home, Temple Beth Am. Mazel Tov and best of luck to all the new graduates.

Please join me on my new journey and thank you for giving me this privilege.

    Adrian