PRESIDENTS MESSAGE BY RON SIMON

Thursday, May 20 will be the annual meeting of Congregation Beth Israel, which is always a great opportunity to learn what is going on at CBI, honor those

who have completed their term as directors, and welcome the new directors. The evening will begin with a reception at 6:00 p.m. in the David and Dorothea Garfield Social Hall and the meeting itself will begin at 7:00 p.m. We also announce the winner of the Volunteer of the Year award. I hope that you will be able to join us that evening.

This is the time of year when we work

on the budget for the new fiscal year, which begins on July 1, 2010. Needless to say, these continue to be difficult economic times for everyone and for Congregation Beth Israel – so I hope that in your planning for your membership in the coming year, you will consider upgrading to Century Club, if at all possible; and if you are in Century Club, that you will consider upgrading to a higher level. We need everyone’s support to the maximum extent possible, in order to help provide all of the services that are expected by our members.

By the time you read this, Passover will only be a pleasant memory, but I must comment on the lovely Minyan service that was led by Jerry Sampson with the assistance of the Board of Directors of CBI on Saturday, April 3. Over 100 people attended the service, including more than

I hope that in your planning for your membership in the coming year, you will consider upgrading to Century Club, if at all possible.

half of the Board of Directors, and it was followed by a lunch provided by board members and shared with everyone who attended the Minyan. The Torah portion was a special portion that is read during Passover week, and the reading of the Torah was ably done by Heidi Gantwerk, Cynthia Fram and Bob Filderman – all members of the Board of Directors.

I had the honor of giving the D’var

Torah, which gave me the opportunity to comment on the fact that just as the Jews had their Exodus from Egypt, 3,000 years ago, so did my family have an exodus of sorts from Cairo to New York in 1942. The Jews spent 40 years in the Sinai desert in their Exodus; my family spent 8 days in our exodus, flying through Africa and

TERRI BIGNELL TO SERVE AS PROJECT DIRECTOR OF CBI 150TH

CBI congregant Terri Bignell will serve as project director of Congregation Beth Israel's 150th anniversary celebration, working part-time to

help us with planning and implementation. Terri moved to San Diego from Fresno,

California in 1986 to serve as Women's

Division Director of North County for the United Jewish Federation. She was responsibile for all aspects of fundraising, education and outreach activities.

She has served on the Boards of the UJF

Women’s Division and Hillel of San Diego and currently sits on the Executive Committees of both Women’s Division and the UJF where she is vice president of Planning Allocations.

At CBI she participated in the

inaugural CBI Leadership Development Program and has served on our Nominating Committee.

Terri is proud to serve professionally

again and assist CBI in planning a wonderful year of celebration for our 150th anniversary.

South America on our way to New York. The Jews were escaping from Pharaoh and slavery; we were seeking to get out of Egypt because of fear that the Germans might seize Cairo and threaten the lives of all Jews who lived there.

I also spoke about the Torah portion,

in which God instructs Moses to return to Mt. Sinai with new stone tablets, after having broken the first ones because of the Golden Calf. I pointed out that God gave Moses a lot of instructions to pass on to the Israelites, but that those instructions carried with them a wonderful “carrot;” God will go with them, they have the opportunity to be “distinguished” from all the people on the face of the earth, and he will keep mercy with them unto the thousandth generation. I commented that this is good modern management – make sure the people you are leading buy into what you want them to do by giving them a real incentive to do things right!

Our lay led Shabbat Morning Minyan

service is only one example of the wonderful worship and programming opportunities that Congregation Beth Israel provides to its members and the public every week. I hope that you are taking advantage of what is offered, and participating in at least some of the programs that are available to you.

This summer Camp Beth Israel is open to

children entering grades 1-3!

See information on page 12, or call 858 535-1144, ext. 3120.

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