Rosh Hashanah 2876/2025
By President Amy Siegel
Shana Tovah – Good morning,
It feels very special to be here with all of you as we embark on the third year of our congregation B’nai Torah MetroWest. It is wonderful for all of us to be surrounded by family, friends and neighbors in this beautiful sanctuary with architecture reminiscent of the colonial days of New England when our country was formed.
It is especially gratifying to have our Ark Curtains hanging in these beautiful, giant windows. For those of you who don’t know, we had a bit of behind-the-scenes drama leading up to High Holiday Services, as we could not locate the Ark Curtains, which are originally from CBT. The Ark Curtains were found (without having to wrestle with any snakes – like Harrison Ford in Raiders of the Lost Ark) thanks to congregant Leslie Stern, who wisely insisted we check our closet at the temple one more time. Luckily, she found the curtains in the back corner of the top shelf. – Height really does matter when searching for something.
We all took a leap of faith when our former temple – CBT was dissolved, and we decided to come together to forge a new congregation. We all shared the same goal of wanting to maintain a close-knit, supportive, caring community where we all feel connected to one another.
One of the poems in our Siddur that we recite during our Friday Night Shabbat Services has resonated many times with me this year. It is written by Michael Walzer a political philosopher, from his book “Exodus and Revolution.”
Standing on the parted shores of history
we still believe what we were taught
before we ever stood at Sinai’s foot:
that wherever we go, it is essentially Egypt
that there is a better place, a promised land:
that the winding way to that promise
passes through the wilderness.
That there is no way to get from here to there
except by joining hands, marching together.
This has been a challenging year both within our community and in the outside world. We have experienced painful losses, changes in health, the impacts of aging, and contending with a world where anti-semitism continues to be on the rise.
Being part of a Jewish community feels more important than ever to help withstand these trying times we are living through. As a congregation, we were able to come together often in the past year – to pray together, to learn together, to grow together, to help others in need together, to have fun and socialize together, to celebrate Shabbat on the Beach and enjoy sunsets and delicious ice cream together, and to comfort one another during difficult times.
I want to invite all of you here today to continue to engage with our BTM Community in whatever way is meaningful to you. My hope is that our congregation can be a place of comfort, a place to offer spiritual renewal, a place of learning, a place of performing acts of tikkkun olam, and a place to also find joy and social connection. On your way out today, you will receive a High Holiday Goody Bag that also contains a pamphlet outlining many of our programs for the coming year. Our next big event is our Fall Social will take place on Sunday, October 5th – we will watch the film “The Dewey Connection: From Exodus to Independence: How A Brockton Man Helped Create the State of Israel.” This son of the man who made this documentary will join us for a discussion after the film and then we will enjoy a delicious pasta dinner. And of course, there is always weekly Mah Jongg and Canasta. It has been lovely this year to have some men of the congregation join us for Canasta.
We have been especially fortunate over the past year to have the spiritual guidance, leadership, comfort, and wisdom Rabbi Emily Mathis has shared with all of us. We have appreciated the lessons she has taught us in her D’var Torah at Shabbat Services, the comfort she has provided during times of need and loss, the learning we have done together through Torah Study and her Adult Learning classes, such as Grandparenting Through a Jewish Lens, which will continue this year.
I want to thank Rabbi Emily for leading such meaningful and spiritual Rosh Hashanah services. We are especially blessed this year to have Julie Silver and Lisa Jane Lipkin here providing the beautiful music for all of us to enjoy, along with our own wonderful BTM choir members Leslee Olender and Sandy Pochapin.
The work we achieved over the past year as a community would not have happened without the amazing volunteers in our congregation. I especially want to thank our BTM Board – Robin Berman, Jan Binus, Jon Ehrmann, Elissa Nystedt, Terri Smith, Orna Sonnenschein and Stephanie Strachman along with our Executive Committee – Dale Donchin, Jody Kotkin, Danyel Rogers, Leslie Stern, Jay Schwartzberg and Jeff Strachman. I so appreciate the creativity, thoughtfulness and dedication you all bring to the task of nurturing and leading our community.
I also want to thank our Ritual Committee members – Jon Ehrmann, Dale Donchin and Marc Milgram for coordinating the many various elements of our High holiday Services including giving out service parts. Thank you for all your hard work to ensure our High Holiday Services run smoothly. I also want to thank Orna Sonnenschein for being our B’nai Mitzvah tutor for all of our Torah readers – your patience and encouragement helped us all feel more comfortable and confident chanting Torah. Thank you also to our new administrator Naomi Fisher for all of her assistance with preparing for the High Holidays.
I want to extend a special thank you to Dori Mariasis for coordinating and organizing everything that was needed for our Rosh Hashanah Goody Bags this year. Dori and her wonderful group of volunteers – Jan Binus, Robin Berman, Nancy Donchin, Paula and Alan Glickman, Rina Mayman, Myrna Meirowitz, Stephanie Strachman, Leslie Stern and Jo Travers put together the dry ingredients you will all need to make a delicious apple cake for Rosh Hashanah. I also want to thank Susan Kaufman for providing a vegan recipe for the apple cake for everyone to enjoy. Each family will be given a goody bag on their way out of today’s service.
My gratitude also extends to all of you – our BTM members and guests who have joined us today. And thank you to all of our members who have embraced our “From the Heart” donation option, in place of a specific dues amount, and who have given so generously to support our congregation.
I want to offer my thanks to the members of First Parish of Sudbury for sharing their beautiful sanctuary with us and giving us a sacred place to hold our High Holiday services this year. And I want to give a special shout-out and thank you to Terry Lockhart, who is sitting in the back of the sanctuary. Terry is the sound engineer for First Parish. He is providing all of the technical support to create the beautiful sound of our services and allowing people who could not be here in person to join us via Zoom. Thank you so much for all of your help.
And thanks to Congregation Beth El for generously allowing us to borrow their Ark for our High Holiday services this year.
After today’s service ends, we will gather at the Grist Mill at the Wayside Inn for Tashlich at 1:00 pm. We have bird seed for everyone to toss into the stream as we cast away our sins. The bird seed is safer for the local bird population.
Also, on your way out of services today, please take a shopping bag with a copy of the list of food items needed for our Yom Kippur Food Drive for local area pantries. You can bring your donations back on Yom Kippur. I want to thank Danyel Rogers for coordinating our High Holiday Food Drive each year. Your donations make a huge difference in the lives of people who live with food insecurity in our communities.
As a reminder Kol Nidre will begin on Wednesday October 1st at 7:30 pm and the Yom Kippur morning Service will take place on Thursday October 2nd at 10:00 am. Rabbi Emily will offer a special study session from 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm entitled “Jonah isn’t a Story of Happy Endings” Yizkor will be at 4:00 pm followed by Ne’ilah at 5:00 pm. Our communal break fast will take place downstairs here at First Parish at the conclusion of our services. All of the details for Yom Kippur including the sign-up for the Break Fast can be found in our Newsletter.
I also want to thank my daughter Rachel and my son Jason for always supporting me in my life. And of course, I need to give a huge thank you to my husband, Matt for his steadfast support of my role as the president of BTM. As many of you are aware, Matt became a Marathon Runner at the age of 60. Matt always models for me the qualities of hard work, strength, and endurance, which are the essential qualities every president needs.
On behalf of Matt and myself, we want to wish all of you a happy, healthy, and a sweet New Year. L’Shanah tovah u’metukah! – (omaytukah).