Today is March 28, 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

Reflections on 5780

I apologize for not getting an article into the bulletin last month.

I would like to reflect on a couple things as we are well into 5780.

To start off, Mazel Tov to the Bullington family on the Bar Mitzvah of Cameron and Porter! It has been a true pleasure watching these boys grow into young men. We are all very excited for you and look forward to what the future brings for both of you.

It is exciting to see many of the ideas which were discussed earlier this year in Adult Ed planning meeting turning into programming. Thank you to Jan and Chrissy for all their work in pulling things together and turning some of these new ideas into programming.

There has been a tremendous amount of activity related to religious school and Hebrew school. Thanks to Jen and all her committee members in getting off to a great start for the new year. We are trying a couple things different from last year. With change, comes some challenges from time to time. We are working through these challenges and making necessary adjustments to be sure the kids have an excellent learning experience.

Louis and Henry O have been working together continuing our efforts to look at all our expenses and changes needed to improve our Long-Term Financial Stability. Little items can make a big difference over time.

Brian continues his efforts in the upkeep of our building and facilities. There are a lot of things he handles behind the scenes which most of our congregation is never aware of. Thanks for all your effort. Reality is we are dealing with a fairly old building. We will in coming months be working on long term plan to address some minor touch up cosmetic items and also address plans for the major projects such as HVAC, roofs, etc.

We announced a year ago that we will be downsizing our gift shop to sell Judaica items only. This has taken longer than expected. Please touch base with Deborah as we will be closing the doors after December 31st. We are pushing to get everything out by then. This is a great opportunity for you to purchase gifts at a great price and help the Shul.

We look forward to Chanukah Family Night December 22nd. Come join us in making your own Chanukah Sweatshirt. Of course, there will be the best Latkes made served that evening.
Lastly, if you have not made a donation to our Annual Fund Drive, please do so. This is our most important fund raiser. WE need ALL our congregants to participate in this at some level.