Today is October 10, 2024 -

Congregation Sha'arey Israel

A Conservative Jewish Congregation serving the spiritual needs of the Middle Georgia Jewish community since 1904

611 First Street, Macon, GA 31201
Phone: (478) 745-4571
Email: secretary@csimacon.org

A Message From Our President, Elmo Koplin

Hope everybody is starting off with a great summer.
I appreciate the opportunity to serve the congregation for the coming two years. I was speaking
with somebody recently and told them I had previously served as president a couple of years ago. Did not
realize it had been 15 years!
Getting back involved, it is very exciting to see the energy and tremendous work many volunteers
put in to keep all of our programs moving. It takes the dedication of many volunteers to keep our Kehilla
running.
A big thank you to Theresa Rosengart for serving as President these past two years. She has done
an excellent job and handled many things which go beyond the duties as President! Thank You.
Also a big thank you to the past board for all your work and the work by the various committee
members and volunteers.
In the next couple of years, there will be a focus on two main topics.
Appointment of a Long Range Planning Committee to develop plans to assure the long term finan-
cial stability of our shul and to develop plansfor the continual development of future leadership for our
shul.
I am pleased to announce that Steve Kruger has agreed to chair this committee. In addition to serv-
ing as a past President, Steve has a good bit of experience being involved with long range planning with
other non-profit organizations.
Another focus will be to assess the changing demographics of our Jewish community to be sure
that we are delivering the “product” needed for our Jewish community. We will setup some informal
meeting to discuss what individuals are looking for in their vision of what a Kehilla looks like to them in
2017. Steve Schwartz has agreed to serve as facilitator at these informal meetings. Steve has had experi-
ence in these types of meeting over the years in the business world and also in working with volunteering
with other non-profits. From there we will work to adjust the delivery of a “product” that fits the needs of
our community. Until these meetings are set, feel free to reach out to me or any members of the board
with constructive suggestions.
As mentioned at the annual meeting in the financial report, in order to get to a breakeven annual
budget, we will need to increase dues and work with members to further increase their total annual finan-
cial commitment. At the writing of this article, the new finance committee has yet to meet. Once they
meet and confirm new dues rates, we will get a separate letter out to all members.
I am excited with the many great things we have going on at CSI. I look forward to working with
everybody over the next two years.