Dear CTI Members and Friends,

With the High Holidays truly behind us, let’s recap. Our Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur services, led by Rabbi Robert Wolkoff and Cantor Ze’ev Weinstein, were inspirational and well attended.

After a short break, we headed into Sukkot, but because of an early nor’easter storm, we were unable to set up our Sukkah in Andrew Levin Park. No one could remember this ever happening. Not to be deterred, we gathered in the community room and invoked a ‘’virtual’’ Sukkah with pizza and popcorn on the menu. Once sated, we watched “Ushpizin,” a classic Israeli film that takes place in Jerusalem during Sukkot. We enjoyed the company of our usual crowd and new members, who came to enjoy the festivities.

For our last weekend of the Chaggim, shul members Helaine and Lew Teperman brought renowned Cantor Shaya Ribowsky to our pulpit. The cantor and Rabbi Wolkoff offered special meaning to our Shabbat, Hoshana Raba and Shemini Atzeret services. The grand finale of the season was, of course, Simchat Torah, with Cantor Ribowsky leading singing for the seven hakafot. Round and round we went, Rabbi Wolkoff and then all of us in turn circling the community room while carrying our beloved Torah scrolls. Dance, drink, food and real simchat were experienced by all.

Now that we are fully into this new year of 5787, we have once more started our Shabbat mornings reading from the beginning. The parshiot pass each week — Bereshit, Noach, Lech Lecha, Vayera — our sacred stories explaining G-d’s plan for the Creation at large. First in the Garden, then Adam and Eve; Noach and his family are part of a new creation, too. Then G-d calls Abraham, and again something new is created. This is us, individually and collectively as a community. These are our foundation stories, and week by week, step by step, this shul is doing the same thing.

Once a month, the Board of Directors, Rabbi Wolcoff, the Ritual and Programming committees come together to plan what is next. Once we wrapped up the High Holidays, we hit the ground running with a schedule of classes and activities designed for the enrichment of you, our community.

Our Friday night Oneg talks are scheduled through the end of November. We’ve heard Scott and Heidi Vayer talk about beekeeping on the North Fork,  then Tom Schlichter educated us on the changes in the whole fish and shell fish populations in our local waters. Alex Wolkoff talked about artificial intelligence, and Rabbi Wolkoff reported on his recent trip to Israel. Watch your email for announcements of other interesting programs coming up in December.

Hanukkah is early this year. Starting with a special activity at the Oneg Shabbat on Friday, Dec. 4, we will have two Shabbat weekends filled with fun happenings, including the annual lighting of the Greenport Village Menorah in Mitchell Park on Sunday, Dec. 6, followed by a Latka and Vodka party in our community room for members and friends. Other activities are being planned.

I am excited and filled with hope for our evolving future. As I said in my Rosh Hashanah talk: I love this place, this synagogue, the shul community, this little village, and the greater North Fork area. I believe there is much we can accomplish here. Let’s keep doing the work of Tikkun Olam — repairing the world each day in all the myriad ways we can imagine it might be done. Let’s develop new pathways of connection to each other and our neighbors, creating the world we want to live in and that we want to leave for our children. L’dor v’dor — we are the generation creating the future for the next generations. It’s going to take all of us. We have things to do – a library to organize, Onegs and Kiddish lunches plus Shabbat dinners to prepare, and committees to populate as we continue to create ourselves anew. I hope you will join us. See you soon.

—Suzan E Lipson