High Holiday Message From WJC’s President

Dear WJC Friends,

Oh, what a weekend we had! It was great to see so many of you at our Welcome Back Barbecue, our Joy Club concert, our Long-term Member dinner and for the two bnai-mitzvot we celebrated. WJC is a special place—and you can feel it from the energy in the building.

Speaking of energy —I want to publicly thank Jose Fonseca, Patti Becerra and their incredible teams for the amazing amount of work they did to make the weekend so successful. Many of you did not know this, but the barbecue was located outside in the tent just minutes before it was supposed to start. Their teams, and our WJC volunteers moved all the food, drinks and decorations in the pouring rain back to the building—and saved the event. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

This weekend was just a warm-up act for the High Holiday celebrations coming next weekend. Our clergy, office staff, and yes, Jose and Patti have also been hard at work preparing all summer, and I am very excited to see our community come together once more. The holidays are a time for introspection, reflection on the past year, an opportunity to wipe our slates clean and look forward to how we want to improve our lives.

It is with that thought that I am asking a favor of each of you. Our Elul appeal has begun. Many of you remember hearing an appeal from the Rabbi on Kol Nidre, our holiest night of the year, and turning down paper flaps to donate. Over the past few years this has become an effort that occurs online, for the entire month of Elul. These voluntary donations represent nearly 20% of WJC’s budget.

The Rabbis teach us that part of our holiday introspection has to include acts of charity. This year, we are asking every congregant to make some sort of a meaningful donation. Some people donate tens of thousands of dollars every year – and we all thank them for being the bedrock of our community. Some people can afford to do a smaller amount, and their contributions are appreciated as well. Others, have yet to make a donation. For those, we’d like to ask for $180 this year, but even $18 is meaningful as we try to approach 100% of our congregants participating. Please use this link to make your contribution today.

Wishing all of you a healthy, joyful new year. L’Shana Tova! See you in 5748!

Larry