This past month was a busy one at Keneseth Beth Israel.
We had our graduation kiddush celebrating students from pre-school through post-graduate programs.
We had our JLEAP program for the holiday of Shavuot for the youth with partnerships alongside RTA, Jewish Community Federation of Richmond, and the Weinstein JCC.
We finalized our Camp Seed program in conjunction with Torah U’Mesorah for children ages 5 and up.
Of course, we continued our class offerings on prayer and holidays et al.
The synagogue hosted a bittersweet send-off kiddush to the Fitzgerald and Reznick families. Both families are moving to Israel. The Fitzgeralds have held many positions of leadership at the synagogue throughout the past dozen years, including president, head of the mikvah, and chairing the nominations committee to name a few.
While, we will miss them tremendously, we are proud of them moving to our ancestral homeland.
The highlight of the month was our Shavuot celebrations. We had many classes including the traditional “midnight” learning opportunity. Over 100 people attended the classes of Rabbi Winston, Stuart Cantor, Rabbi Cantor, Rabbi Sherman, Ilana Gimpelevich, and Rabbi Asher.
There was a special Shabbat Luncheon honoring Miles Lynn for his 40 years of service to the Sir Moses Montefiore Cemetery. This associate organization has taken care of many hundreds of families through the years under his direction.
Thank you to Yossi Goel, Gail Grandis, and Ilene Paley for coming out of retirement for this delectable occasion.
As we went press, the plans are proceeding nicely for kiddushes honoring Helen & Cmmdr. Dana Griffin for their 50th wedding anniversary and honoring our Chevra Kaddisha for their noble work with families who suffer a loss.
Lastly, we are happy to announce the 8th cohort for our Momentum chapter. Sarah Roper, Debbie Falik, Natalie Gaeser, Rebecca Haine, Kira Marx, Lizzie Drucker-Basch, and Sorah Plotnick will be flying to Israel in July to represent Richmond for a solidarity mission.
This journey promises to be an experience unlike any of our trips (6 for women, 2 for men). As tourism has slowed, it remains critically important to travel to Jerusalem to be inspired and to hug our siblings in the holy land. We wish them well on their journey and look forward to their report upon their return.
As usual, all are welcome to attend our twice daily prayer services, our weekly classes, and our kiddush social
