Submission #28299 by Temple Israel of Sharon Brotherhood - Sharon, MA (738)

Submission information
Submitted by mgetz27
Sun, 2023-04-23 16:54
76.152.206.153
2023
I have read the 2023 Torch Awards Program Guidelines.
Club Name
Temple Israel of Sharon Brotherhood - Sharon, MA (738)
Overall Club Activities
Club Representative
Person completing form
Dr. Jeff Shore
Michael
Getz
Club President at time of convention if known at this time
Gary
Keimach
Club President Now
Michael
Getz
FJMC - other

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From our end-of Summer outdoor BBQ and Board meeting held in August to our Man of the Year tribute and roast held in May, Temple Israel of Sharon Brotherhood has had an extremely active year that has focused on fostering member engagement, attracting new members, and involving the greater Temple community. We held many engaging social activities throughout the year, from Paid-Up Supper, Scotch & steak night, Man of the Year, Judaic and sports speaker breakfasts, a charity golf tournament and online auction, and a combined Brotherhood Scholar-in-Residence Shabbat Weekend that included a major concert for the community with over 300 in attendance.
Not including our monthly Board meetings, we held over 35 individual programs and activities this past year.

We started our year off with an annual half-day executive leadership strategy planning meeting of all the officers and key committee chairs in July; this was led by our president and first vice president. At that meeting, we begin discussions around the year’s calendar (see attached), which we presented to the board at our end-of Summer kickoff BBQ/board meeting, which was held at one of our member’s home on a lake in the area.

We regularly have 25-30 members attend our monthly board meetings, which are open to all members, and are held on Sunday mornings over bagels and lox. One of the goals at the meetings is to build camaraderie and fellowship, and a lot of collaboration happens at each meeting. A program launched by our first vice president this year, “Cause Without Applause”, allowed us all to vote on a monthly donation to a meaningful charity – this has helped develop a sense of shared responsibility and charity. Our annual work on a Habitat for Humanity home, support for holiday Meals on Wheels, donation to Project Bread’s Walk for Hunger, and other similar contributions allow our members to participate in acts of tikkun olam. This past year we also helped sponsor two Temple Israel of Sharon youth to go on the March of the Living Holocaust memorial trip to Poland and Israel.

We held many engaging social activities throughout the year, from Paid-Up Supper, which featured NYC-based comedian, Brad Zimmerman, as well as our annual “Lift Your Spirits” Scotch & steak night, Man of the Year honor/roast, Judaic and sports speaker breakfasts, Hearing Men’s Voices series, Jewish Routes discussion series with our Rabbi, Holocaust memorial Yellow Candle drive, participation in the Tour de Shuls charity cycling ride, “Burgers & Beers in the Sukkah”, World Wide Wrap, and more. Our “Combined Charities Golf Tournament” held in August, and our annual online auction, held in late February/March, have become major fundraising events for the club.

Our annual Brotherhood Scholar-in-Residence Shabbat Weekend was also a major weekend for the community, and not only included our famous Gala Kiddush for the community, but also a concert with singer/songwriter Neshama Carlebach and her band, which attracted an audience of over 300 people from the greater Boston community.

All these activities require a significant number of volunteers to help organize and run. We have found that volunteering to work on an individual program or event can often lead to greater engagement and deeper involvement.
Attachments
Self Assessment
This year, our synagogue President, Neil Aronson, thanked the Brotherhood after a very successful Brotherhood Shabbat Weekend with the following words, which speak to the incredible hard work and leadership of our club within the community:

“Thank you all for an amazing weekend at Temple Israel. Your hard work resulted in an incredibly successful, meaningful and enjoyable weekend. From a wonderful Mishpacha Minyan and Kabbalat Shabbat to a great turnout (on a holiday weekend!) for Shabbat services and a scrumptious kiddush luncheon to a wonderful Sunday brunch and fascinating discussion with Rabbi Creditor, everyone is still kvelling.

“All your efforts making this so successful was truly remarkable. And when one considers that COVID doubled the amount of work, our words cannot say enough for your redoubling (tripling?) of your efforts to make this weekend so successful.

“It’s an honor to be President of a shul with such a vibrant, committed and caring Brotherhood. Please send along to the Brotherhood members the Executive Committee’s congratulations and utmost appreciation for all you do.”
We feel strongly that our activities this year were well aligned with the FJMC’s mission of Involving Jewish Men in Jewish Life. Our own mission, as stated in our bylaws, are:

“Temple Israel of Sharon Brotherhood’s mission is to strengthen our members’ ties to Jewish values, to build communal ties, to support Temple Israel, and to build fellowship and camaraderie through social interaction, education, performing mitzvot, and a commitment to tikkun olam.”

Our efforts this year and every year are focused on building a succession of leaders within our synagogue community, and identifying engaging and innovative programs that help form strong bonds among our members and the greater Jewish community.

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Original Program
Previous Submission
Yes
Gold