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  One of our members was sitting at the synagogue waiting for his son at religious school. He saw the Board meeting in the old sanctuary. "So," he asked me, "now that the building is built, what’s next?" So glad you asked. Isn’t that how a lot of us feel, "Now that the building is built, what IS next for our Malibu Synagogue?" Aside from paying off the mortgage (a very big aside), and finishing some major refurbishing of our campus (another very big aside), what’s next is making Malibu Synagogue a place where more people want to spend their time, to hang out, to see one another, to socialize, to learn, to study, to pray, to raise now a second generation of children—can you believe the first generation raised here has already become young adults! When I saw that member hanging out awaiting his son’s first day in class, I thought to myself "what’s next" is making the Malibu Synagogue a place where LOTS of parents hang out—to socialize, to study, to bond and support one another through the daily joys and tribulations of raising kids (doesn’t it take a village?)— while their children are at Religious School. We will hire a second rabbi this year to join our state-of-the-art clergy in building the sense of family connection and continuing to build a vibrant community. We have already begun the process and in fact had a wonderful evening together on January 12, as we had our first Rabbi candidate "try-out" at Friday night services. We envision parents and children having family education activities together, bonding and growing closer to each other and to other families in the community. This will happen as we implement more programs designed to increase parent participation, such as ethical discussions surrounding the Dan Mazur Himalaya Adventure story, social action projects in connection with Big Sunday Mitzvah Day. We will increase Malibu Synagogue’s outreach and visibility in the broader Malibu community and the Malibu schools. A very important "what’s next" is increasing our communication and connection with each other, sharing our hopes and dreams for all that MJC&S is and can become. We are all one family here –all ideas are welcomed and to be included. What ideas do you have for things you would like to see in our future? Come and share them—my door (or even better, my email address Ewolf@wolfgroupla.com) is always open. In fact, everyone is and will be invited to participate in the upcoming few months in "shtetl meetings" (the Jewish version of a "town hall meeting"), where we openly discuss our our individual and collective visions for what MJC&S is and will become. This is your shul, your school, your community center. When that member asked me the question, "What’s next?," I did the wrong thing. I began to give answers and information from my own perspective. I should instead have done what all Jews (and lawyers) are prone to do – I should have answered his question with another question. When he asked me the question, "What’s next?," I should have asked him and I now ask each of you, "What do YOU think should be next?" B'shalom Ellen Wolf Next: The Board |
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