April 9, 2019
On April 20th, the 2nd night of Passover, we will be holding a Seder dinner in our own building. The Haggadah service will be led by Rabbi Lisa. The Seder committee has put in a great deal of time and effort to make this Seder a very special one. Please sign up ASAP at our web site…ojaitemple.org.
In a little more than a month, 2 of the seats on our Board of Directors will be open. If you are interested in being on the Board, please contact me. We welcome your interest,
Last week, at our invitation, we were visited by the head of security for the Jewish Federation of L.A. He spent 3 hours with us, examining our property and filling us in on the various services that they provide at no charge. Based on his recommendations, we are going to immediately make several physical improvements to our property.
We also are in substantive discussions with the Chief of Police of Ojai, Our goal is to become as secure as possible at all times.
In the very near future, you will notice that 3 new trees have been planted in the front yard. The previous ones either died or had to be removed because they were affecting the safety of the adjacent sidewalk.
One of the trees will match our lone remaining tree, which is a fruitless olive tree. The other 2 will have beautiful colored flowers in the warm season and will not lose its leaves in the winter season.
The 6 chandeliers have arrived from my hometown temple, which is back east in New Castle, Pennsylvania. When I was growing up, there were close to 1,000 Jewish people in this town of about 50,000 people. But now there are so few left that the lone remaining synagogue was forced to close its doors and sell the property.
The building was converted to serve a Christian group. This enabled me to be able to purchase them and get them to Ojai with money from our Facilities Improvement fund. Last night, after seeing a demonstration of one of them light up and hanging from a high point, the Board approved the installation of these chandeliers. However, the committee of Barbara Hirsch, David Cohn, and myself are still deciding how many to install and at what locations.
As a further follow-up to the very unpleasant events at Matilija junior high in December, the Ojai school district arranged for the Anti-Defamation League to put on 4 hour seminars with every teacher in the district. The primary purpose was to make the teachers aware of signs of trouble and how to deal with them the moment that they occur. As I wrote last month, the curriculum has been significantly expanded to deal with hate actions against any group or individual. This topic of education will now commence at the 5th grade level.
A committee of 9 dedicated members has been planning the events for our 25th Anniversary celebration. Please save the evening of June 21st and the afternoon of June 23rd. If you don't attend, you will be hearing afterward from those who did, and, regretfully, you will be sorry that you missed these very special events.
We are getting close to closing out a very great year among our 25 years in existence!
Shalom,
Alan
Feel free to contact any of your new Board members if you have a question or a comment. Here is a list for your convenience. To send an e-mail, please click on the Board member's name.
Cell Phone Home Phone How Late to Call
Tony Hirsch, Vice President 805-570-0413 805-640-8398 9:00
