Happy New Year.
To become chair of NLJC again or even co-chair of our Community with my friend Hilary was a bit unexpected, though we did volunteer. I don’t know whether to have joint chairs or acting chair twice, is a first for PJCEA/ NLJC. If the latter, I must say, it’s good to be in Kamala Harris’ company.
It’s been a bit of a challenge. It’s challenging to manage even a small community such as NLJC purely as volunteers, especially during this difficult time. However, we’ve overcome some hurdles through volunteer actions. Through volunteer actions we’ve been able to do such things as communicate and hold services via Zoom; we initiated Friday evening messages, planned a programme of evening talks and invited members of other congregations to attend our services and events.
Hilary & I think we work well together as co-chairs — although I’m sorry to say for a little while she’s been living with Covid. On behalf of all our Community, I wish her the best, quickest recovery, and I hope Hilary and Sam know that if they need any help over the coming days, members of NLJC will gladly help.
Council members strive to help and manage our Community as best they can. To be a member of our Council requires no small effort and sacrifice of time, and it seems it’s never possible to manage to do all that is needed. For example, Friday evening messages were a great initiative that Miriam introduced and there has been one almost every week since 3rd April. No mean feat. Steve has been outstanding in coordinating this; Anna agreed to write a message monthly, but it may come to an end shortly for lack of new messages. I’ve valued them, as have others.
Council and especially Steve would welcome anyone willing to help out with what has become a tradition during these challenging times. Another initiative is NLJC Talks (or chats) which are planned, in addition to our monthly Kabbalat Shabbat and Shabbat services. Council and especially I would welcome a volunteer to participate or assist in our events/talks group.
We look forward to hearing from you. Stay safe and well.
Sarah Boosey