WELCOMING 5780

SETH SCHAFLER WJC PRESIDENT

As incoming President of WJC I am filled with gratitude for the opportunity to serve this wonderful community and excitement for what lies ahead.

We are privileged to welcome Rabbi Jeffrey Arnowitz as our new Senior Rabbi together with his wife Tami and their four beautiful boys. They will infuse our community with new energy, warmth, and ideas. I look forward to working with Rabbi Arnowitz, and extend my sincere thanks to the Rabbi Transition Committee, co-chaired by Sarene Shanus and Susie Miller, for making the Arnowitz’s transition a smooth one. I thank you all for giving the Arnowitz’s a warm WJC welcome.

I am pleased to welcome three new officers and seven new trustees to our leadership team, demonstrating once again the robust lay leadership that makes WJC so special—Laura Grill as Officer for Adult Programming and Member Relations; Alynn Perl as Assistant Recording Secretary; Randy Heller for another tour of duty as Chair of the Board; and our new trustees, Jonathan Berg, Elise Dowell, Glenna Lee, Richie Krasner, Andre Kaplan, Joanna Liebman, and Beth Rudich. I also congratulate our outgoing President, Jeff Lavine, on his well-deserved election as Honorary Trustee.

As WJC celebrates our centennial year, we have embarked on an Endowment Campaign appropriately called the “Strength-to-Strength” Campaign (Chazak, Chazak Venitchazake). WJC’s hallmark has always been to provide our members a unique blend of Jewish tradition and innovation that appeals to a diverse community and reaches out to the world. The endowment will give WJC’s leadership the resources to continue to lead our community in new, creative ways, while maintaining the existing programming we have always enjoyed. With the strong foundation laid by Rabbi Segelman, and now the vision of Rabbi Arnowitz, we will continue to lead by example. The endowment campaign was just launched, and already we are off to a strong start. During the coming months, volunteers of the campaign will be contacting all of our members. I am excited to be serving as WJC President at such an important time for WJC. Feel free to contact me or our campaign co-chairs, Ian Winters and Larry Iason, if you would like to become involved or have any questions.

On a bittersweet note—after a final year as self-titled “Assistant Rabbi,” we will be bidding farewell to Rabbi Segelman, Marla, and the Segelman family as we celebrate Rabbi Segelman’s 32 years of devoted service as Senior Rabbi of WJC. In addition to honoring the Segelmans at the upcoming Spring Gala, we will be compiling a book of reminiscences of Rabbi Segelman’s rabbinate from members of our community. This important project will be led by our congregants Ruth Obernbreit Glass and Susan Lewen. I hope you will all participate by providing memories that the Segelman family and our Shul can treasure for years to come.

I look forward to seeing you all on the High Holidays and through the year. Thank you all for your good wishes and support.

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