The Congregation meeting of Sunday, June 11, offered a joyous beginning to the shul’s new Board of Directors which, with no opposition, was elected according to the bylaws of the shul with a single vote cast by Recording Secretary Joanna Paulsen.

At the conclusion of the vote, outgoing president Judith K. Weiner turned over the agenda to the new president, Sara M. Bloom, who had been vice president for all three terms of her presidency, and instructed her to complete the remaining agenda items.

The new president thanked the congregation for its vote of confidence; offered praise to Madelyn Rothman and Alan Garmise, who are retiring from the board; acknowledged members continuing on the board, and welcomed new board members Ellen Buchbinder, Caren Demel and Gordon Henry.

The new shul president directed most of her remarks to her predecessor, Judith Weiner, noting her three years of superb leadership, observing how skillfully she had met shul issues head-on, and also the creative ways she had initiated programs and events to engage the membership. On behalf of the board and congregation, Sara Bloom thanked Judith Weiner for her leadership and, speaking personally, she acknowledged her love and appreciation for their friendship.

A gift to Judith Weiner turned out not to be a waffle iron, as Sara Bloom had fibbed prior to the Sunday meeting, when she presented Judith with a wrapped package. The Zoom meeting, the new president explained to the congregation, had precluded an in-person presentation, which called for the deception. True to her word, Judith did not open the package until Sara had concluded her remarks and had instructed the outgoing president to do so. Surprise! The gift was not a waffle iron after all; it was a richly illustrated Mark Rothko monograph, an artist favored by Judith Weiner. The book was inscribed to her, “…with grateful appreciation, from the board of directors and the membership of Congregation Tifereth Israel, June 2023.”

In acknowledging the gift, a welcome selection based on her effusive thank you, Judith Weiner said, to the amusement of all, that she was not disappointed that the gift was a definitive Rothko volume and not a waffle iron.

The new Board of Directors

Joining Sara Bloom on the newly-elected board of directors are: Ellen Buchbinder, Vice President; Joanna Paulsen, Treasurer; Nancy Torchio, Financial Secretary; Suri Lan Brown, Recording Secretary; Elaine Goldman, Corresponding Secretary; Elizabeth Adams, Caren Demel and Gordon Henry, Members at Large; Adrianne Greenberg, Sisterhood President; Men’s Club President TBD; Immediate Past President, Judith K. Weiner (nonvoting) and Rabbi Gadi Capela (nonvoting).