President's Blog

"To be Jewish is to ask questions," wrote Edgar Bronfman, former president of the World Jewish Congress. Another saying is, “ask two Jews, you'll get three opinions." Asking questions, having respectful discussions and debate, and holding diverse opinions are central to who we are as Jews and to our Jewish tradition. 

In this tradition and consistent with our Temple Beth Shalom values, we call for members who are interested in contributing to the Temple Beth Shalom Board’s governance responsibilities to join a board committee.  A summary of each committee’s scope, the committee chairs, and their email addresses are as follows:

Communication: Exploring ways to engage in two-way feedback and better communication between the board and congregation. Co-Chairs Kate Benay (ksbenay@gmail.com) and Josh Katzowitz (jkatzo@gmail.com) 

Congregational Engagement and Culture: Cultivating Temple Beth Shalom’s culture and vision as a “warm, welcoming, and supportive faith community.”  Co-Chairs: Seth Bengelsdorf (1sbprods@gmail.com), Janna Greeson (jannavmiller@gmail.com), Michelle Natinsky (michelle@qti.com), and Kim Kass (kwaxler@gmail.com) 

Philanthropy: Exploring new sources of revenue for Temple Beth Shalom, developing long-term and annual philanthropy plans, and supporting the hiring and work of the development director. Co-Chair: Lenny Krasnow (Lenny.Krasnow@gmail.com) and another TBD

Budget (Finance and Land): Developing an annual budget for Temple Beth Shalom, and working with the congregational and campus neighbors to recommend additional land and bundling needs. Co-Chairs: Caroline Kopit (carolinekopit@gmail.com), Kevin Richie (kevin@richie-family.com), and Mike Siegel (michael.siegel@gmail.com) 

Bylaws: Determining the most strategic timeline, process, and priority sections for updating the Temple Beth Shalom bylaws. Co-Chairs: Lori Levy (lorilevy43@gmail.com) and Mark Sims (texaslaw@austinmediation.com)

Board Engagement and Onboarding: Welcoming new board members, and reviewing and supporting board member engagement. Co-Chairs: Carly Johnson (carlybjohnson@gmail.com) and Sean Smiley (sean2smiley@gmail.com) 

Ritual Committee: An advisory group that convenes at the request of the senior rabbi to discuss and provide feedback on matters that pertain to ritual and worship at Temple Beth Shalom. Co-Chairs are TBD. Please email Larkin.Tackett@gmail.com if interested. 

We believe these committees are ways to consider questions, to listen to our congregation’s diverse opinions on these topics, to discuss and debate respectfully, to prioritize transparency, and to move forward together. Details about each committee's preliminary scope, as well as the committee structure and expectations, including inclusive membership, engagement, and ownership is available via this link.

On behalf of the board, we acknowledge that recently we’ve neither communicated the work of the board well nor established strong systems to engage the congregation. We believe the work of these committees are important steps to improve. 

As soon as possible and by Wednesday, September 27 – two days after Yom Kippur – please email the committee co-chairs if you are interested in joining their committee. We are seeking a manageable number of committee members who are representative of our congregation’s diversity. The committees will kick off their work in October. 

Please don’t hesitate to reach out with questions about board committees or Temple Beth Shalom board governance in general. You can email Steve at president@bethshalomaustin.org or Larkin at larkin.tackett@gmail.com.

Thank you for your membership at Temple Beth Shalom. We value the questions and opinions of all Temple Beth Shalom congregants to move forward together. 

Steve Fintel, Temple Beth Shalom President

Larkin Tackett, Temple Beth Shalom President-elect