Another Catchy Title

It was a first for me. Never in the history of Congregation Beth Adam have I had to begin the High Holiday Services talking about what to do if the fire alarm sounds. If you weren’t here for
Rosh Hashanah – let me explain. The night before Rosh Hashanah, I was at a restaurant just sitting down for dinner when my cell phone rang. It was Beth Adam’s alarm company calling – our
fire alarm had gone off. When I arrived at Beth Adam only a few minutes later – I was greeted by the sight of several fire trucks and fully uniformed fire fighters walking through the building.
Fortunately, there was no fire – a malfunction had caused the alarm to be tripped.

Even though the alarm company was able to trouble shoot the problem, there wasn’t sufficient certainty that the problem wouldn’t recur. So in order to be on the safe side, realizing that
we would have hundreds of people attending services, we developed an action plan just in case. Part of the plan was to inform the congregation about the possibility of a problem – assuming
that knowledge would help to prevent panic. The plan also relied on the fact that there is additional support here during the High Holidays – Roberta, our Business Director, officers from the
sheriff’s department and volunteers.

While nothing happened during the High Holidays and we had a plan in place – it is important for us not to ignore the lesson we learned from this event. We need to be prepared – not just for the holidays but throughout the year. It is for this reason that we are looking into setting up a Safety Team that will take the lead on such issues.

The Safety Team would be composed of several individuals who would know the protocol in case the fire alarm sounds, know where the AED (Automatic Electric Defibrillator) is located and how to use it, and be prepared to help lead in case of some other emergency. If you are willing to serve on this team or even lead it please contact me. Our goal is to have approximately 6-8 people trained. We need volunteers to fulfill this very important function within our community.

If volunteering for our Safety Team isn’t your interest, please know that there are other activities of the congregation which need volunteers. Currently we are looking for someone to coordinate our Congregational Seder. The basic structure of our Congregational Seder is in place and there are people who are willing to volunteer to assist, but we need one person to take the lead. Perhaps you are that person; please contact us if you are.

If Safety and Seders aren’t your thing, perhaps you have library skills. We are looking for someone to head up our Library Team. There are individuals willing to shelf and sort, but we need someone with library skills to oversee the work.

And if Safety, Seders or Library isn’t your bailiwick, perhaps you are willing to serve as a camera person for our streaming Friday Night Shabbat Services
or volunteer time to work in Beth Adam’s office on Wednesdays. This Wednesday volunteer would answer the phone, make copies and assist in other non-computer related ways to facilitate the operation of the congregation.

While this may not be the most exciting Rabbi’s Message I’ve ever written it certainly is one of the most important. Volunteerism at Beth Adam has been a key to our success over the years. So much of what we are proud of – Religious School, Liturgy, Governance, Fundraising, has been a function of a strong and committed community of people who have dedicated their time and energy.

As Beth Adam continues to strengthen our programming and expand what we are doing, we need more volunteers to achieve our mission. So please – if you have an interest – call me or Roberta. And remember – we are also looking for hosts to help with the Linton Series – which is a major community event.

For all those who have helped and continue to help – thank you for what you have done. For those thinking about helping – please jump on in – the water’s fine. Our community is strengthened through our work together.