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PRESIDENT'S PAGE
Annual report
2008-2009
At the first council meeting last year, as no
executive officers had been elected,
the council decided to appoint Mrs. Lisa Gerson, Mr. Martin Joseph and me t
act as the executive. We then chose to act in concord throughout the year
rather
than to take turns in the chair. We set ourselves objectives; to improve shu
attendance, to improve education and to ensure that social events were organised
In all of these we feel we have been successful to some degree.
MEMBERSHIP We are pleased to report that several new members have joined
during the last year. Some are here this evening and are most welcome. Mention
has already been made of the loss of some of our older members, whose passing is
regretted
and who are much missed by us all. We wish their families long life.
SERVICES We are pleased to report that thanks to the efforts of the Rabbi and
various members of the community, we are one of the very few provincial
communities to have twice-daily services throughout the year. We have had a
few new minyan men come forward to assist but there is always a welcome for
anyone, member or not, who wishes to come to minyan.
EDUCATION We are pleased to see that our Cheder
now caters for 25 children,
with a number of 3-y-os to come forward soon. We have a new teacher,
Mrs. Roza Ezry, who also runs a teenagers program once a fortnight. The Rabbi
is running a GCSE class on Mondays; Wednesday evenings he has an adult
education class which is ongoing. He also engages 1-to-1 with community
members on various topics. He has a Talmud shiur on Sunday mornings and will
shortly be starting a post-Mincha class on Shabbat afternoon
There are therefore a number of educational
opportunities for congregants of all
ages to involve themselves, and we urge you to realise that Jewish education is
lifelong and does not stop at 12 or 13.
SOCIAL & CULTURAL EVENTS Our Social and Cultural committee worked
throughout the year arranging our weekly Kiddushim. They organised a Klezmer
evening and a highly successful Chanukah party among other events and were
instrumental in presenting the welcoming face of the Cardiff community to
visitors,
and deserve our grateful thanks.
CHARITY Our last Kol Nidre appeal brought in nearly £10,000 for the “Food for
Kids”
charity in Netanya. They have come to rely on our contribution to continue in
helping
children of poor
families get the nourishment they need and I hope that we may continue to
support
them. The reduction in value of the pound against the shekel means that we need
to redouble our efforts this year to maintain our contribution to this
worthwhile
charity. We would remind you all that contributions can be made at any time
through the shul office, you do not have to wait till Yom Kippur.
STAFF Our principal staff member, Rabbi Wollenberg, has now been with us in
Cardiff for over 5 years. Despite his and Mrs. Wollenberg’s disappointment over
their accommodation problems, he is still 100% committed to Cardiff, and we may
count ourselves fortunate that he continues to try to maintain and improve our
standards in all our religious activities.
We have been very fortunate in having obtained
the services of Mr. Ray Lawrence
as shul secretary. Ray’s enthusiasm and commitment has meant that the shul’s
day to
day running proceeds smoothly. We have now 2 part-time caretakers, brothers
David
and Alun, who together with Ray ensure that the synagogue building and surrounds
are
maintained. Mr. Tony Schwartz has volunteered to help the shul by working on
the gift
aid tax refunds, and we are grateful to him for undertaking this quite onerous
task.
And now to the most contentious issue of the past year, the question of the
Rabbi’s house. The retiring council spent much time in considering the options
open to us in view of the unsuitability of 89 Carisbrooke Way as a family home.
Unfortunately the idea which appeared to the council to be the most viable, that
of
investing in a larger property , did not meet with the approval of the
extraordinary
meeting called to discuss it. The result was that our money remained invested
with
Kaupthing Singer and Friedlander, a wholly owned subsidiary of an Icelandic
bank. I do
not need to tell you the current situation there; it is probable that our money
will eventually
be returned, when we can reconsider the Rabbi’s housing needs.
It remains only for me to thank my fellow
executive members, Mrs. Lisa Gerson and
Mr. Martin Joseph, who have done their best to keep the shul moving forward; and
to those council members who have taken active roles on our various
sub-committees.
We wish the new council to be elected today well and look forward eagerly to the
coming year.
David Woolf—Executive Member
From
the senior warden
Although I was initially
somewhat reluctant to take on the role of senior warden I now find that it
can be quite handy - can you believe how well I can sleep through those long and
placid council
meetings!? ;-)
But, seriously speaking,
having spent a large part of my life in Cardiff I feel privileged to finally
have
the opportunity to make a small contribution and can assure you I'll do my best
to help out in a positive
manner.
As well as becoming a member
of the services committee I decided to join the education committee as
education is obviously so important to the future of the community.
I had the opportunity to sit
in on some of the Cheder teaching and can report that I was genuinely
impressed with the dedication of the teachers and helpers, the quality of the
material being taught and
the progress of the students.
On the subject of education
I'd like to make a plea for all to strive to support the varied programmes, from
the Cheder all the way up to the adult classes and shiurim. They are all
important for the spiritual health of
the community.
Thanks to all those members
both male and female who have made such a positive contribution whether
through regularly attending services, helping out with the Kiddushim or in the
many other ways you have
sacrificed your time and effort so selflessly.
Regarding support for the
minyanim it's great that our small community can turn out a minyan twice daily,
but in order to achieve this we need your help! Please do your best to make
yourself available on the rota to
ensure we have a regular minyan to help out those members saying Kaddish, and to
reduce the overall
burden on your fellow members.
To provide an incentive we
are hoping to implement a voucher scheme so that those attending services
or classes will be entitled to discounts at some local retail outlets and
businesses - watch this space!
Having been so impressed
with the community in general, regretfully I feel obligated to mention how
disappointed I am with a small minority of people who feel that 'political
protest' is the way forward. This
can in no way be the answer and is the last thing the community needs,
especially one of our size where
every bum on seats counts – both for adults in services and children in the
Cheder. If anyone ever needed
an example of drilling a hole by your own seat in a boat - this is it!
On a final and more positive
note I'd like to make an appeal to everyone, without exception, to put any
personal politics and grudges aside, to strive to resolve any conflicts and to
work together as responsible
adults in Shalom and harmony for the benefit of the entire community.
With Best Wishes for a
Kesiva v’Chasima Tovah and a Happy Healthy & Sweet New Year.
Jonathan Frey
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