There is a Midrash that when God asked the people of Israel if they would accept the Torah and we said yes, God also asked us what we would give as surety that we would observe the mitzvot. Only when we offered our children as surety, was God satisfied and willing to complete the brit, the covenant with us because God knew our children were our future.
Today, here in Louisville, KY, we must decide the course of our future and the community we will build for our children. Will we have a strong Jewish community that nurtures Jewish identity and supports Jewish values?
Last May, we embarked on a new course to build a vibrant Jewish community for our children and the future. We’ve examined where we’ve been and laid the foundation stones by forming the Jewish Community of Louisville. The report of the Program Review Committee provides the blueprint for our dreams, identifying our programming strengths, weaknesses and gaps that must be filled.
Now the Strategic Planning Committee is poised to gather the building supplies, working with the recommendations of the Program Review Committee and the realities of our fiscal situation and our facilities. The Search Committee is striving to find the right individual to serve as president of the JCL to direct the construction, and they are close to concluding their work.
The construction has already begun. A challenge grant from David Klein assures that there will be funding for a middle school director – the top priority identified by the Program Review Committee. The first phase of our new web site makes it easier to find information and participate in community activities.
It is our Faith in Our Future that enables us to look toward the future, but faith is not enough. The time has come to back up that faith with financial support.
Our Louisville Jewish community can dream and plan and develop blueprints, but unless we invest in those dreams by supporting the JCL’s Annual Campaign, we will never be able to move forward to achieve them.
Super Sunday is February 21, and building on the 2010 JCL Annual Campaign theme, Faith in Our Future, this year’s Super Sunday Committee reminds us that Faith Comes from the Heart.
It is our Faith in Our Future that has brought our Jewish community together, and it is the gifts that come from our hearts that will ensure a future of vibrant Jewish life in Louisville and enable us to fulfill our responsibilities to the world Jewish community.
Volunteers are still needed to help with Super Sunday. Sign up online by clicking here, call 451-8840 or email maryjt@jcfl.com if you can be part of the Super Sunday team. Choose the shift that works best for you: 9:30 a.m.-noon, 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m. or 6:30-9 p.m.
If you can’t volunteer, please give from the heart. When a volunteer calls on Super Sunday, show your Faith in Our Future. Please answer the call and make a generous gift to the 2010 JCL Annual Campaign.