Like any organization, the Jewish Center of Northwest Jersey has a president with a variety of duties. Howie Hirsch will serve as president for the 2009-2011 period; Jim Arvesen is the immediate past-president.

The current message from the president, published in the Journal, is found below. (Past messages can be found on the Past Messages page.)

E-mail temple president Howie Hirsch

Summer Message from President Howie Hirsch

On May 23rd I was lucky enough to attend the confirmation ceremony at our shul. If you were there, you know it was another special day in our special place. The students were all well prepared and led the service beautifully. The sermon, while each one worked on their part separately, flowed into a wonderful and moving speech about the what makes our synagogue special. I read a lot of articles from other temples about what they can do to make their synagogue more inviting, warm and welcoming. We do not need this lesson. We have all of you, who in every interaction amongst yourselves and with the outside world, demonstrate that love, caring and community is what we do best. I am lucky to be able to lead such a wonderful group of adults, young adults and children in our journey in life.

As the Rabbi says, sometimes being small is a blessing and other times it is harder than in other congregations. At our congregation, we depend on everyone of us to do at least a little to help keep this congregation solid. We all know that if we say no when asked, there is a chance that whatever it was we were asked to do may not happen, because every one of us works so hard and so selflessly to assure our ability to thrive.

This now concludes my fifth year as president and, I have to say, I have not had a better year. The community is flourishing. My board members are taking care of their committees and planning new ideas. The Sisterhood and PTO are probably the two most energetic groups that we have seen here in a while. These women are making a statement about how they want their religious life to be. This includes fund raising for the temple, education, and outreach to assist the community, as well as making sure our co-op Sunday school functions smoothly. I am so impressed with their energy.

Love,
Howie

Read past messages on the Past Messages page.