by Michael Saxe-Taller
Because of the broad nature of my responsibilities as Kehilla’s executive director, I have a unique perspective on the Kehilla community. I have prided myself on knowing just about everything that is happening in our large, growing and extremely active congregation. At this year’s Kehilla Leadership Retreat, I found out how wrong I was.
One of the goals of the retreat was to give an opportunity for folks to visually see the breadth of the Kehilla initiatives, committees and centers of activity in which people take leadership. Several of us had crafted an activity to do this in which we would call out Kehilla groups (ie. Board of Directors, Spiritual Leaders, Chesed Committee, Immigration Committee), Kehilla School parents and people would identify themselves if they were part of that group. We compiled a long and, what we thought was comprehensive, list. Once we completed our list, someone asked if others could share additional groups. People proceeded to call out more than a dozen more centers of activity at Kehilla that I hadn’t even thought about.
I was taken by the sheer number of things that make up the Kehilla community and I was not the only one. Numerous people said this activity was a highlight of the weekend. It was inspiring to them that there are so many different ways that people demonstrate their commitment to this community and that so many Kehilla members give of themselves to so many different aspects of communal life at Kehilla.
It is clearly important for us as a community to stop and notice what makes up this congregation we call Kehilla. This is one of the main purposes of our Annual Community Meeting, which this year is being held on Wednesday evening, May 16 in the sanctuary (full details below). Kehilla members from many of those different centers of activities come together to strengthen their connections with each other. I give my yearly State of the Congregation presentation, and this year we will also hear more detailed description of some of our congregational initiatives, including our Racial Justice Initiative and our Sanctuary work.
Please join us on May 16 so you can see the broad picture of Kehilla and have the opportunity to be inspired for yourself.
Kehilla’s board, staff, spiritual leaders and committee chairs invite you to join us for:
Kehilla’s Annual Community Meeting
Wednesday, May 16, 2018 in Kehilla’s Sanctuary
6:45pm – Schmoozing and Snacks
7:00–9:15pm – Congregational Gathering
Learn about the state of the congregation and key Kehilla initiatives, share our successes, appreciate our congregational leadership and think about our vision and mission for Kehilla.
Any questions? Contact Michael Saxe-Taller at Michael@kehillasynagogue.org or 510-547-2424 x101.