Elul Appeal 5786

Dear WJC Family,

Four years ago, on Rosh HaShanah, I asserted that the butterfly is the symbolic animal of the Jewish people. (In case you didn’t get to read it then and would like to, you can read it by clicking here.) Now, of course, there’s so much that is different in our world from 2021 until today, but here’s a change that might give you a pleasant surprise. Today, there are more monarch butterflies.

That’s right. The endangered butterflies that I compared to the Jewish people because of their fragility, but also their resilience and ability to always find their way home, are making a comeback. How are they doing it? There are many factors, but the one I’ll highlight here is that while the butterflies continue to rely on safe habitat on the ground, when the world below gets threateningly broken, the butterflies go higher. Just how high do you think they can fly? Whatever you’re thinking, it’s probably higher than your wildest guess. They can rise as high as 11,000 feet – so high they sometimes get picked up on radar!

Our world gets crazy, and they rise above.

It is a model for our community as well. We are engaging in the world – serving, learning, praying, and caring. But we are also seeking to raise up our lives and our spirits, above the noise and threats inundating us from all sides. Perhaps that is why we, like the monarch butterflies, are growing as we welcome new families to the WJC family and continue to honor the ones who have made us who we are. Rising together, we elevate our lives with meaning and purpose. In a world gone mad, we seek to provide the sanity of sanctity.

We want to make sure we can create an atmosphere, a physical space, and a portfolio of activities that help all of the members of WJC find their way to this “higher” place, giving us the koach (strength) to be resilient in a challenging world. When you contribute to this year’s Elul Appeal, you are helping us to create that sanctified space, a space where we can show up together to sing and study, worship, do tikkun olam, and dance, no matter what chaos is out there in the world.

Your contribution is essential to WJC – the Elul Appeal now accounts for almost 20% of our annual operating budget! That’s why I am imploring you to give generously. These funds enable us to:

● Ensure we can provide excellence in programming and experiences for all our members; continuing to bring excellent guest speakers, run trips and retreats, and bring myriad kinds of spiritual services and occasions to meet the diverse needs of our neighborhood Jewish community

● Cultivate a welcoming space for everyone, no matter their views or opinions regarding outside events or movements. In this cultural moment, WJC stands out as one of the few remaining spaces where people of many varied backgrounds and opinions can come together to seek meaning and purpose, to learn with and from one another

● Help fund the ever-increasing security needs and the associated costs to ensure a local safe space for Jews to gather to pray, learn, and celebrate

● Support our efforts to strengthen bridges and partnerships with our neighbors, to counteract the scourge of Antisemitism and to minimize its spread in our community

● Contribute to efforts that support inclusion, enhancing accessible spaces and technology like our new audio induction loop for the hearing impaired

● Maintain and improve our physical spaces, like this past year’s update of our meat and dairy kitchens, enabling us to bring people together for excellent meals on Shabbat and at programs, as well as allow easier catering of large-scale events. Our aging facility requires many such updates to keep it comfortable, attractive, and functional for generations of WJC families to come

Tami and I believe strongly in the centrality and importance of a local synagogue for a Jewish community, especially at times like these. That’s why our pledge to the WJC Elul Campaign is the largest donation we make every year. We hope this year you will join us and make a generous pledge that is meaningful to you.

As we enter the High Holiday season, reflecting on the difficulties and strain of the past couple of years, let us lift ourselves above the swirling chaos by investing in the spaces and activities that have lifted the Jewish people through good times and bad for millennia. Like our inspirational friends, the butterflies, our best years may lie ahead. Help us make it so by clicking here and making a generous donation to the Appeal today.

With blessings,

CONTRIBUTE TODAY