Well, it has been a busy year with lots happening and many wonderful events, simchas and memorable occasions.

I’d like to thank the Board for all their work, support and thinking power over the past year. I’d like to acknowledge the exec committee who is made up of Debbie Swiatek, Shane Sampson, Alistair Kirk and Paul Wilton. Once a month we’d meet as a committee at Debbie’s for breakfast and nut out the hard stuff, which we then take to the Board for further discussion. Thank you for being there this past year, taking time out of your Sundays and putting your BS hat on, it’s been of huge help to me to have that think tank in place.

I’d like to thank the 4 people who are stepping down this year. Paul Wilton who stayed on as an active past president, who was a listening ear when I came on board and was there to attend events when I wasn’t able. Thank you Paul for all you have done and do for our community. I’d like to also thank Charles Fishman who has been on the Board on and off for over 10 years. Charles came on to the Board this last year as a governance person, to make sure that we attend to the bigger issues and not get bogged down by the small stuff. Thanks Charles for all you have contributed to our discussions. I’d also like to thank Sarah Livschitz who has been an amazing young voice on our Board and who has been our Board rep for Ritual. We are going to miss you Sarah and wish you all the best for this year and your transition to Wellington. And lastly I’d like to thank Michelle Wise who is also stepping down. Michelle contributed hugely to discussions and helping to formulate thoughts and ideas. I always appreciated Michelle’s quiet reminders to me to move something along or to slow something down; I will miss your advice Michelle.

I’d like to thank ongoing Board members, Julie Dick, Olga Bernstein, Suzanne Nemeroff, Alistair Kirk, Debbie Swiatek and look forward to welcoming new folk on board and both Neil and Shane who are coming back on for another two years, Shane as Treasurer and Neil as Board member.

I’d like to thank the Ritual committee who manage huge workloads and work tirelessly for our community. I’d like to thank our lay leaders, B’nei Mitzvah tutors, shammashim, community care folk, Burial and Benevolent, conversion committee, Renovations committee, Rabbinic Search committee, Tali Mozessohn who organizes the Silver Club, the folk that provide our Ma’ariv dinners, our Educator Debbie Miller and our Hebrew school teachers, our foodie team contributors and everyone else, I hope I haven’t missed anyone out. I’d also like to thank Christine in the office who has been both an incredible support and resource for me over the past year.

One of my first tasks as your president was to organize two farewells, one for Jill and the girls and a month later another for Rabbi Brent who left us in late June last year. Once again we were left to our own resources and our autonomous nature kicked in and we were off!

We then conducted a search for a suitable Rabbi for the High Holy Days and managed to secure Rabbi Kelman who arrived in September with her husband Elan. They gave us a wonderful month and guided us through the days of awe in a relaxed, knowledgeable and meaningful way. It was a pleasure to have them with us for a short period of time.

We celebrated our 60th birthday in style and thanks to the leadership of Debbie Swiatek had three opportunities to acknowledge this significant birthday with a ‘High tea’, special service and a Dinner dance.

We have re-established the Ma’ariv dinners over the past year, which are proving to be as successful as ever and also established a foodie team who are available on request to provide fresh or frozen food to nourish us at potlucks and simchas.

We are now offering online streaming of our services for those who are unable to attend and for family and friends overseas to join in our simchas. We’ve had very positive feedback from this service.

We have employed Debbie Miller as an ongoing part time Educator and recently an accounts person has joined the team. Neil has been working hard with Keren to transfer all our accounts onto zero and this project has pretty much been completed. Thank you Neil for all your hard work on this.

The social and educational opportunities for all ages have expanded considerably and we have regular events and adventures together. We provide significant meaning to all our holidays throughout the year that thoughtfully bring us together as a community of Jews. We have a vibrant Hebrew school catering for many of our children. This is thanks to the hard work and leadership of Debbie Miller and her amazing team of teachers.

We are in the process of bringing you Teruah online with the facility to provide paper copies to those who choose. The first copy of this should be available early May.

Due to the current climate worldwide in relation to anti Semitism we have been advised by CSG to upgrade our security processes. We have contracted with a security firm to provide a guard at the gate for every service at Beth Shalom until the end of the year when we review. We’ve recently upgraded our cameras outside by installing ultra red cameras for night vision. We have also introduced a new portfolio on the Board and from now on there will be a Board rep for security. Our Board rep is well voiced in security issues and will work with us to determine the correct course of action in this area over the next year.

We are in the process of developing a Jewish Immigration website which is being headed by Leon Chapman. This will enable potential immigrates into NZ to gain information about Jewish life in New Zealand. Attracting new members to Beth Shalom is an ongoing need and this will contribute towards this.

Rabbi Keren Black who is our sponsoring rabbi whilst we don’t have one comes to NZ at the end of June and will be traveling to all the progressive communities in the country finishing up his trip with 3 days at Beth Shalom. We have been working closely with the other communities to bring this about.

We enter into this next year with two major projects in mind. One is to complete the renovations (if that is voted on as a go ahead tonight) and the other is to source a suitable Rabbi for our congregation.

We will be discussing and voting on the Renovation project in the ‘General Business’ part of this meeting.

As well as providing spiritual support, Beth Shalom provides opportunities for our diverse community to connect, socialize and learn. With the changing needs of the members, the kitchen cannot support the catering requirements for simchas, social gatherings and other get-togethers. Our library is a wonderful resource but the space bulges at the seams, and our very limited toilet facilities are not easy for the frail and infirm to use. We want to take this opportunity to invest in our facilities to ensure we have a fantastic space for youth to come together for our older members to socialize in and the wider community to appreciate.

At the recent congregant meeting, Shane laid out the financial situation of Beth Shalom, and we discussed various funding options for the renovation. Whilst Beth Shalom is asset rich with a strong property valuation, the cash flow from our revenues less operating expenses is small, and is highly reliant on donations and bequests. As such, we believe that it is not prudent to use debt financing for the renovation project. In addition, many aspire to taking on a rabbi on a full time basis and this decision will require us to maintain a strong cash balance. The prudent course, therefore, is to fund the renovation project from pledges and donations. Shane will be discussing more about our finances in his report.

Our Rabbinic Search committee is in the process of writing the profile for a Rabbi in order to send out to varying sources throughout our networks. We have good advisors and help in Rabbi Fred Morgan and the UPJ and have friends in Israel, USA and others who are there for us for advice and support.

In the meantime we are currently in discussion with a Rabbi to join us for the High Holy Days and will be able to announce who that is once we have a contract. I’m confident you will be very pleased with our choice.

One of the tasks ahead of us is to develop a social/engagement committee, folk who are keen to organise social and fundraising events. If any of you are interested in joining a team for this or know of folk who may be please let us know.

We are also in the process of reorganizing our gardening processes and getting a plan in place for ongoing garden maintenance and development.

I’m now half way through my time as President, it’s not quite as daunting as it was a year ago and I feel proud to serve such an amazing community. We are family and experience all the dynamics as such, not everything goes right, not everyone is happy and not everyone gets along but our collective spirit is one of integrity, generosity, openheartedness, forgiveness and commitment and I’m honoured to be a part of such a family.

Thank you