Our Voices

From generation to generation. This is a phrase we hear in Judaism nearly constantly. For my family, most recently, we heard these words from Rabbi Feder as we handed the Torah to my daughter as she became a bat mitzvah.

In a perfect world, my parents would have been there to show her the chain goes back further than Katie and I do, and that we are who we are because of our parents. I don’t know if the importance of this continuous chain resonates with a 13-year-old, even on the occasion of her bat mitzvah. But I know, for me, it became meaningful as a young Jewish adult and remains to this day.
 
It represents, for me, the unbroken chain of Jewish tradition, thought, commitment and family that stretches back almost 5,800 years. The concept is clearly one of our core strengths, because the importance of it compels us to teach our children what it means to be Jewish and why it matters so much. We have survived as a religion and a culture, I would argue, because of two primary things: this generational chain of committed tradition and our devotion to the Torah (whether we interpret it literally or not).
 
However, I think I’ve always felt that the very concept of generations is inherently flawed. Lumping generations together (Millennials, Gen Xers, etc.) implies that we’re all running on the same schedule, that each rung on the ladder of life is equally spaced and we move along at the same rate; that our parents are the same age and we move in these time-bound groups. Yet, this isn’t true at all. The concept of generations feels like stair steps through time, when in reality, our movement through time seems more like an escalator: our position changes not as a result of discrete, large “steps,” but rather as a series of extremely small, almost imperceptible, continuous movements.
 
As my term as President ends, we will see another one of these small, continuous movements. Since its inception in 1955, PTS has had 24 Presidents. I have been one in a chain that we hope and believe will remain connected and continuous for many generations to come. Our jobs as Trustees and leaders is, quite literally, to do our best to ensure that, and with the tremendous help of our Clergy and Staff, I believe we have succeeded for another “generation.”
 
The Board of Trustees has  elected Arlene Rosenberg as our congregation’s next President and, starting in July, she will transition from her current role (Secretary) to this new one. She will take a different approach with a different personality and a different set of skills to the same task I am stepping away from: the preservation and stewardship of Peninsula Temple Sholom.
 
The job of temple presidents (and Boards) is to sustain and protect the unbroken chain of stewardship and care for the benefit of the community we serve. The goal, for most of us, is not a giant “stair step” of change (although there are certainly moments that call for that), but the continued nurturing of the temple’s physical and non-physical assets for the benefit of our congregantion. To ensure that the temple remains in good health for many, many generations to come. I have unlimited confidence in Arlene and her commitment to doing just that. She will serve you well as another strong link in the unbroken chain. From generation to generation.
 
L’dor vador.