Building Committee: Chairperson: Joe Greenfield

Temple Building Committee Update
November 7, 2006

This will probably be my last update. We are mere weeks away from permanently moving into our new Temple home and therefore disbanding the Building Committee. Minor details need to be finished - little bits of painting, carpeting, and plumbing. We've ordered our new Sanctuary chairs - expected arrival by January 2007. We've ordered the equipment for the big catering kitchen - expected arrival next month. Window treatments for the rooms are being selected and ordered.

This process has been a long time in the making. While packing up boxes last Sunday at TBE South, we came across a speech I wrote in September 1995 - more than a decade ago. I had the privilege of serving as the Temple's President at that time and had drafted that speech to give as the President's High Holy Day address to the Congregation. In that speech, I spoke about the need for a new building - we had filled the Oneg room for High Holy Days (we had not yet been forced to move to the Brewster school for services). In my speech I spoke about overcrowding and the need for everyone to make a conscious decision to make the Temple a priority in their lives.

Fundraising was the key then and is the still important. There are lots of items we didn't get or purchase yet because of funding. Moveable walls in two classrooms upstairs, shelves for the library, trees and shrubs for the landscape and many other things are still needed as of this writing. As I did 11 years ago, I encourage you to make your Temple a high priority in your family's life and consider giving a little bit more to make our new religious home even better.

Shalom,
Joe Greenfield – soon to be ex-Building Committee Chairperson