Members Present

Jack Adler, Naomi Kamins, Howard May, Eliot Meadow, Howard May, Susan Miller, Myron Poliner, Ron Rubel, Stanley Sadinsky, Mike Sigal, Jeremiah Weinstock, Irwin Zagoren

Members Absent

Seth Axelrod, Stewart Danziger, Richard Lawson, Lee Osborne, Hyime Paley, James Poliner, Holly Simon, Steven Small

Others Present

Joanna Schnurman

The meeting was called to order at 7:20 pm by Eliot Meadow.

D’VAR TORAH

Stan Sadinsky posed a question about why we pay so much attention to rituals, in particular the sacrificial rites as explained in Leviticus, that have not been performed for nearly 2,000 years.  Upon considering the Hebrew for sacrifice, korban, and learning that it comes from the foot karov—near—we understand that sacrifices were meant to draw us near to God, perhaps in ways that God would expect of us.  Today, among other things, we can offer our work in and for the congregation, raising our children in the traditions of Judaism, as well as offering our sincere prayers for repentance and forgiveness as sacrifices that draw us near to God.

CONGREGANT COMMENTS

None

MINUTES FROM PRIOR MEETING

The minutes from the prior Board Meeting were approved as corrected:  In the President’s Report, it was incorrectly written that rabbi Eve would lead the Shabbat service on August 1; Rebecca Axelrod will do so.  It was recorded incorrectly that CAI has a closed Facebook account; CAI has a closed Facebook group.
 
PRESIDENT’S REPORT

Eliot reported the following:

- In the past 3 weeks, he has been mostly involved with the rabbi search, which, so far, has been successful.  The seminarians have proved to be good candidates; the third is coming this weekend; he is committed to serving a small congregation.

April 5th is the meeting of the search committee to rank its choices, after which the committee will present its finding to the Board.  At 6 pm, the recommendation will be presented to the Congregation for its vote.  On April 6, Sandra Beckman, the search committee chair, is permitted to make our first offer to a candidate.

-There have been two major chairmanships that have not been active this year: fundraising and membership.  The congregation will have serious struggles without these chairs and their committees being filled by active and committed members.

-The Annual Meeting will be held on June 14,at which time we will hold elections and approve the budget.  If we have a rabbi by then, we could invite him or her to attend, we could also have a speaker.  A topic for a speaker could be the Israeli elections.  Eliot asked for other suggestions.

INTERNS’ REPORT

None.

RELIGIOUS SCHOOL REPORT

In response to a question about the small synagogue group, Joanna told us that the towns involved are Middletown, Newington, Windsor and Bloomfield.  Others want to join, but to date, the group will remain as is.  The four plan joint programs throughout the year, taking place in each of the synagogues.

She reported having informal conversations about increasing foot traffic in the building over the summer.  She reported that Diana Lane said we need to let people know up front how welcoming we are today, in ways we didn’t used to be.  It was suggested that perhaps Diana can write something for our Website front page, or work on a policy statement with Holly Simon.  Joanna also suggested that our ad in the Jewish Ledger may not be the right place for attracting newcomers.  We have funds available to place ads in local papers. It was recommended that she contact Dave Shulman and Eileen Daling about new copy and placing ads in other outlets.

In unrelated discussions, Ron Rubel answered Irwin Zagoren’s question if people read E- news and Kolot on-line the same way the read the paper version.  Ron said he is building a survey for on-line users to find out how effective it is.  He did say that only half of the subscribers even open the file.  Mike Sigal asked if we are bringing the issue of interfaith burial to the annual meeting.  Eliot answered that we can’t yet, because the committee hasn’t done sufficient preparation.  Eliot suggested that he should meet with Jack Adler to set out a timeline of necessary actions; Jack will call the meeting.

MEMBERSHIP REPORT

No report.

FINANCIAL REPORT

TREASURER’S

Mike Sigal reported that all bills are paid.  The treasury is approximately $130,000 in the red.  We are using about$121,000 from the endowment to cover these expenses to date.

ENDOWMENT

Myron Poliner reported the current values of the main endowment and the Chevra Kadisha endowment.  The Israel bonds will be stored in the Bank of New York; they are valued at face value, which he says is appropriate.  The money taken from the endowment for operating funds comes from the revenue on investments.  The revenue, however, is down about 15% from one year ago.  We might face more dividend cuts.  Myron reiterated that we absolutely need a major fundraiser every year.

FOCUS TOPIC

The focus topic for this month is the budget for next year.

-Mike reported that our membership is declining in paying members.  He does not, however, want to recommend an increase in dues.

-One cost-saving idea is to shut the synagogue for the summer and use the Nester Center, which is less expensive to cool.

-Another suggestion is to charge a premium for the bar mitzvah year, say $250 to cover the cost of training, as is done elsewhere.

-It was agreed that we should start as quickly as possible to start accepting advertising in our publications.

-We can be more aggressive about renting out space in the synagogue to appropriate groups according to the fee structure already in place.

-A fundraiser suggestion was to organize an annual cantors’ concert of all kinds of music in conjunction with several other congregations and split the proceeds.  The concert site would rotate through the congregations.

-A membership idea is to host coffee socials with the rabbi in members’ homes, especially in the surrounding towns, for potential and new members.

BOARD NOTIFICATION OR ACTION REQUESTS

None.

AD HOC COMMITTEE REPORTS

Nester Center: The front steps are being cut out and redone.
Rabbi Search: As reported on by Eliot in his President’s Report.

OLD BUSINESS

Banners: Joanna will turn her attention to a generic banner.
Dedication: Irwin will have a full update at the next board meeting.

NEW BUSINESS

Nothing to discuss.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:05 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Naomi R. Kamins
Secretary