Congregation Ohav Sholom

A few years after joining Congregation Ohav Sholom, I received a call from David Zwerin suggesting that since I setup our original Synagogue website, I might be a good fit for Corresponding Secretary. I asked what that job required. David responded that I was responsible for sending notices of meetings, but the office would do that for me. Fantastic - a two year stint with no responsibility - what trouble could this bring me?

Let me describe how honored I am to be elected President of Ohav Sholom. This very special congregation infuses yiddishkeit to all its members and guests while keeping them comfortable at their level of observance. We have an outstanding spiritual leader, Rabbi Wohlberg, whose teachings inform, entertain and provoke us. We take great pride in our support for Israel, our outreach programs and our commitment to our community.

I begin this term as the beneficiary of the work done by our past presidents, officers, trustees and committees who dedicated themselves to building this synagogue. I am privileged to have an extremely talented group of officers managing synagogue affairs.

We have completed the most difficult phase of our lobby renovation with only a few details left. This leaves us well positioned to focus our efforts on our strategic goal: growing our membership.

Congregation Ohav Sholom is in excellent shape. Still, there are many challenges ahead to confront in order to stay fit. Traditional synagogue membership faces competition from many alternatives and we need a fresh and relevant message for the Jewish community. Furthermore, the environment for fundraising is becoming difficult. I bring you this information not to alarm you, but to remind you that we cannot become complacent. We still have much work to do - we always will - and we should be confident that it will be rewarding.

Have a great summer. I look forward to working with all of you.

Brian Bertan
July, 2007

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