Kol Nidrei Address by Chairman of the Board Mark First
Mark First, Chairman of the Board
September 24, 2023 ~ 10 Tishrei 5784
Address to the Annual Meeting of Park Avenue Synagogue
Art Penn, Chairman of the Board of Trustees
May 22, 2014
Welcome to the 132nd annual Congregational Meeting of Park Avenue Synagogue.
There once lived a King who had an advisor named Goldstein. The King relied on the wisdom of Goldstein so much that he decided to promote him to chief advisor. But the other advisors objected. They said, “It’s OK to have a Jew as counsel, but to allow him to be our boss is unacceptable.” The King accepted their argument and ordered Goldstein to convert. He had to obey.
But soon after, Goldstein felt great remorse and over the months that followed, he became despondent, his health suffered and he grew weak. Finally, Goldstein could take it no longer and made a decision. He went to the King and said, “I was born a Jew and a Jew I will always be. So do whatever you want to me.” The King had no idea that Goldstein had been feeling so strongly about his conversion.
“OK,” said the King, “if that’s how you feel, go and be a Jew again. The other advisors will just have to live with it. You’re too important for me to lose.”
On his way back home to tell the news to his family, Goldstein felt the strength surge back into his body. When he arrived, he called out to his wife, “Sarah, we can be Jews again, we can be Jews again!”
Sarah glared at him and said, “Couldn’t you have waited until after Passover?”
It’s after Passover and as we near the end of the first year of our term, the other officers of Park Avenue Synagogue and I feel blessed to serve a thriving, vibrant community built on relationships and a passionate vision. We are partners with an incredibly gifted clergy and professional team, and our members are caring, active and engaged.
Under Rabbi Cosgrove’s leadership, we have moved to create multiple points of entry that are responsive to 21st-century lives. We strive to make Park Avenue Synagogue a laboratory for how to live Jewishly in America, while being active members of secular society. We seek to be a destination for spiritual enlightenment and teaching, a connection to the past and a pathway to the future, a hub of thought leadership and a multi-generational center for learning, community and celebration.
In the past year, we have focused specifically on three areas: searches, services and space. Thanks to tireless efforts of our search committees, we are beginning the next year with a professional team that is stronger than ever. In July, Rabbi Neil Zuckerman will join our clergy team as Associate Rabbi, and we will welcome Rabbi Ethan Witkovsky as Assistant Rabbi. Rabbi Charlie Savenor will take on the job of Director of Congregational Education. Pamela Schwartz will begin as Director of the Early Childhood Center. We also welcome Eliana Light in the new position of Director of Music Education.
Our “dream team” of clergy, educators and professionals is dedicated to enriching and integrating the educational opportunities open to members of all ages. As we continue to bring world class talent into our community to serve our members, we can never lose focus on the individualized one-on-one, person-to-person connection that has been the hallmark of Park Avenue Synagogue for over 130 years.
We will continue to focus efforts on making our services inviting and participatory while respecting tradition. Our reimagined Friday night services now draw an enthusiastic crowd of congregants of all ages finding a meaningful way to break from the work week and welcome Shabbat.
Rabbi Cosgrove will speak about how we intend to respect tradition and encourage innovation with regard to Saturday morning services. Our Sanctuary Task Force, consisting of a diverse group of leading congregants, has been working all year, taking feedback live and on by email, in order to assess the preferences of our members. We hope to engage all age groups with an integrated experience for all ages, including parents and grandparents who want to pray and study as adults as well as to attend synagogue with their children. We invite you to come to our services Friday night and Saturday morning and to be part of our invigorated Shabbat community.
Regarding space, among the blessings of an increasingly involved congregation are that our High Holiday services are over-subscribed, our schools have grown beyond capacity, and our adult classes serve hundreds of people at all hours of the day and evening. I am thrilled to announce that we will add a third High Holiday service this fall to serve the needs of the hundreds of members for whom there has not been adequate seating in our Sanctuary or Lower Level services.
As for the rest of the year, we are challenged by lack of space in many areas. We have had to hold family services on Shabbat at the church down the street in one direction and at the German cultural association down the block in the other direction. Our welcoming space is not welcoming. With about 450 students in the congregational school, a thriving young family program and over 600 adult learners in the building at all hours, there is a need for additional and modernized classroom space. Our entertaining space is dated.
In our over 130-year history, we are now coming to the end of the longest span with no improvement to our space. It’s been 34 years – a generation – since we significantly renovated this building or added a square foot of space at Park Avenue Synagogue. It's time for this generation to do its part. We are currently formulating an exciting plan for the future, to be announced in the months ahead.
I'm honored to be working with the best group of partners I can imagine. Thank you to the hardest working group of officers in Judaism; our President, Paul Corwin, and Officers Natalie Barth, Marc Becker, Andrea Baumann Lustig, Jean Bloch Rosensaft, Mel Schweitzer and Heidi Silverstone. Thank you to our outstanding Board of Trustees and Advisory Council who have been involved in all the areas that are the lifeblood of our community. Thank you to all of the volunteers who work on each committee, parent association, task force and on special events like the Gala and Purim Spiel. You have all done amazing work this year!
Rabbi Cosgrove, your rabbinical leadership continues to inspire us all. Your vision, intellect, personal touch, humor and just plain hard work continue to be a gift to our community. Cantor Schwartz, your talent combined with your humanity is an amazing combination. Thank you for leading the musical charge in services and outside of services and spearheading the creation of the leading center of Jewish music in America. Cantor Lissek, what a fantastic first year you have had! Thank you for your beautiful voice, personal warmth and constant smile.
Beryl Chernov, thank you for keeping this increasingly complex organization running so smoothly. I also want to thank our staff leaders who work so hard for this community. Thank you, Rabbi Neil Zuckerman, Rabbi Eve Rudin, Liz Offenbach, Matt Check, Aliza Cantor, Marga Hirsch, Jonathan Schlesinger, Laura Yamner, John Davis and Lawrence Conley. Thank you to all of the educators, professionals and staff who provide so much value to our community each and every day.
With great appreciation we say good bye to some important leaders who are leaving Park Avenue Synagogue. Carol Hendin has had 20 wonderful years as head of the Early Childhood Center. Carol, under your guidance the ECC has become one of the leading early childhood centers in Manhattan. We know that you will continue to provide counsel to us after your retirement and hopefully you will attend some of our educational programs and services, but we'll miss you as a daily presence. We look forward to celebrating your legacy at a special Friday Shabbat service on June 6.
Rabbi Steven Rein, congratulations on your new pulpit at Agudas Achim in Alexandria,VA. It's been a thrill to watch you grow from a new graduate of the seminary to the all around great Rabbi you are today. We'll miss you, Jodi, and your energetic and well-dressed boys, Ari and Ilan. We look forward to honoring you on Erev Shavuot, June 3.
We also want to extend best wishes and good luck to Ronit Aranoff, our Director of Bnei Mitzvah programming, who will be returning to the West Coast after 10 years here at PAS as one of our most popular and impactful teachers of our young adults.
Speaking of honors, I'm pleased to announce that our Simhat Torah honorees for this year will be Charles Yellen and Barbara Weinstein. We look forward to honoring their many contributions to our community in October.
I want to wrap up by sharing with you the Park Avenue Synagogue Leadership culture which the Officers, Board and Advisory Council have used this year as a guidepost for our priorities and behavior as leaders. We hope that over time these principles will go beyond the board.
Always act and make decisions in the best interests of the synagogue.
Provide a warm and welcoming entry into our community-meet people where they are.
Encourage members to own their synagogue experience.
Focus on serving our members and community-make "customer service" a priority.
Be present and supportive of services, events, board meetings and committee meetings.
Make Park Avenue Synagogue one of your most important philanthropies.
Operate with honesty, transparency, integrity and fairness.
Act as a team.
Build the future-identify and develop our successors.
Respect everyone – express appreciation to volunteers and staff.
Strive for a collaborative partnership between lay leaders and staff.
Provide outstanding staff a long-term career opportunity.
Strive for a flat and nimble organizational structure – no boundaries or boxes.
Continuously improve – be respectful of tradition but encourage innovation.
Enjoy the opportunity, have a positive attitude and have fun!
Our goal for the coming year is for our strong community to grow even stronger. We are a synagogue in action, uniquely positioned to address the needs of our community. I hope you will be an active part of it.