Nishmat Shalom Community Decision
Meeting (CDM) Notes 10/8/2013
Present: Alice, Alex, Carol, Ed,
Emily Ethel, Lea, Max
Regrets: Hanna
Attended in part by phone: Claire
1. Treasury Report:
As of 6/4/2013 we had $533.60; then spent $231.60 ($200 on childcare,
$4.00 on bank charges; $27.60 in postage) Since 6/4 we have received
$520 in donations, representing 13 households; current balance:
$822.00. We have been running into our reserves for the past two
years. We need $200-300 more so that we don’t run out
of reserves. Carol will send her copy of the appeal reminder to
Ethel and Ethel will send out another reminder. We agreed to
table our discussion of finances and potential fund-raising events
until January when we will do our annual budget.
2. Childcare Update and
Content: George has been providing childcare for the last
several services. For the August service, there were no
children present. Lea had mentioned that George was interested in
providing some Jewish content during childcare. We agreed that we
were in favor of this and thank Lea for bringing it to our
attention. We also reached consensus that we trust
George’s competence, sensitivity and good judgment in presenting
this material. Carol offered to bring two or three books for George to
have on long term loan. She will email George to let him know.
3. Follow-up on Prisoner
Letter: Alex exchanged messages with Eliyahu Klein but
they have not yet connected.
4. New Hallel Liturgy: Carol
emailed Riqi Kosovske regarding her offer of new Hallel liturgy from
Havurat Shalom, and will send another email in a few weeks if she has
not heard anything.
5. Case for the Torah:
Carol delayed dealing with this because one of the rollers again needed
to be repaired (which Max took care of—thank you!), and she
wanted to see the outcome. Fortunately, the Torah scroll is whole
again, and she will continue to work on the case issue for the next
meeting. Carol’s next step is to email those who most often
host Nishmat and/or transport the Torah scroll for their review of the
specs of a proposed case.
6. Shalom Bayit Chanukah Gifts:
Lea is willing to coordinate individual Nishmat members purchasing
Chanukah gifts for a family coping with the aftermath of domestic
violence through Shalom Bayit again this year, and we are would like to
sponsor this program again. Thank you to Lea.
7. After Service Teachings:
Max volunteered to lead a teaching about the parsha after the service
in October; he will also lead a teaching at some point about the
structure of the service. We can revisit more opportunities
for teaching at our next meeting.
8. Role of Greeter: We
agree that the experiment of assigning a greeter was not working as
well as we had hoped, and we do not have consensus to continue
it. We would like to remind everyone at services to give a smile
and assistance to those who arrive and need it (such as finding books,
carrying things). We also discussed that we appreciate a peaceful
atmosphere during the silent amidah and mourners’ kaddish, and
that we should be mindful of this if people arrive during the silent
amidah or mourners’ kaddish.
9. Calendar January – May 2014
Tu B’Shvat Seder (tentative) at Claire’s Sunday, January 12
(Ethel suggests 5 pm)
CDM: Tuesday evening, February 11th -at Emily’s
CDM: Tuesday evening, May 20th -at Emily’s
Shabbat service dates –hosts to be determined:
January 18th:
February 15th:
March 22d: (4th Shabbat)
April 26th: (4th Shabbat)
(Passover is 4/15-4/22)
May 17th:
Goal: to have Newsletter out by mid/end of December
Upcoming dates already calendared:
November 16th - 3rd Shabbat Morning Service (Alex and Eve)
November 26th - Shabbat Chanukah
joint celebration with Beyt Chesed - Friday evening-(Madeline, Lincoln,
Aviva and Maya)
December 21s - 3rd Shabbat Morning Service (Len and Tovia)
Nishmat Inter-CDM Decision List w/last
date of attendance as of 10/8/2013:
Alex 10/8/2013 (Leyning Coordinator)
Alice 10/8/2013 (Treasurer)
Carol 10/8/2013 (Davening Coordinator)
Ed 10/8/2013 (Childcare Coordinator)
Emily 10/8/2013
Lea 10/8/2013 (Shalom Bayit Coordinator)
Max 10/8/2013 (Mailing list Coordinator, Website
updates)
Ethel 10/8/2013 (Community email contact)
Other ongoing coordinators:
Hanna 4/24/2012 (Newsletter Coordinator)
Debbie (e-Announcements)
Raja (Website updates)
Attended by phone:
Claire 8/23/2011 (consulted by phone on 10/8/2013)