Nishmat Shalom Community Decision Meeting (CDM) Notes 04 Sept 2012
Present:  Alice, Emily, Carol, Lea Max
Participated by Speakerphone in Item #8 and 10:  Alex
Participated by Speakerphone in Item #10:  Ethel
Regrets: Ed, Hanna

Treasury Report:  Balance forward as of June meeting:  $707.60;  Outgo: $80.00 for childcare;  bank fees $3.00.  Current balance: $624.60   Note:  we previously decided we would like to pay NPOGroups/Electric Embers (for listserve hosting)  $18.00 twice a year; instead, Alice will write a check for $36.00, once per year, in November.

Childcare Update:  Per Ed, George was present to provide childcare in both July and August.  No children were present at the July service.

Shalom Bayit project:  we agreed that, for this coming Chanuka,  Lea will again collect donations on Nishmat’s behalf  to sponsor a family that  has been affected by domestic violence.

Tu B’Shvat planning – so far, we have not had anyone step forward to lead or host a Tu B’Shvat seder.  At our last CDM, we decided that if we have one we’d like it to be on Tu B’Shvat itself, either Friday evening Jan. 25, 2013 or Saturday afternoon, Jan 26., 2013, within walking distance of central Berkeley.  We’d also like to avoid date conflicts with other groups.  We will discuss further in November, depending on developments.

Torah Container:  Lea reported that she called music stores and found that there are cases for about $200.00 that might serve as a protective case for our Torah scroll. She will next talk to the Women’s Torah Project which is using this type of case to transport their scroll.   We discussed that a hard shell container might reduce wear and tear on the scroll, and especially on the ends of the atzei chayim.

Calendaring confirmation – We have hosts for the upcoming calendared Shabbat morning services, as well as Shabbat Chanukah (see list below).  We are setting CDM meetings for Tuesday, November 13, 2012, and Tuesday, February 12, 2013.

Fundraising letter – Lea provided a draft.   Some minor changes were made.  We agreed that for this year we would use a longer list of activities, recognizing that this makes the letter over one page long.  We recommend that the letter is copied on two sides of one sheet.   This year we will send it to our far flung members as well as local, but not institutions on our list.  Lea will email the final version to the CDM list and request that people respond to sign on to it by Tuesday, September 11, 2012.  

Upcoming Newsletter-Current newsletter goes through September 22d.   We would like the next newsletter to arrive before September 26th.   We will ask Hanna to draft newsletter by September 11th to be finalized by the 13th.  Carol will email Hanna all the information for the newsletter.  Alex will work with Ethel will take care of getting the newsletter printed and mailed.

Possible Retreat:  We did not have anyone present interested in gathering group input about a retreat sometime next year.    The cost for a weekend (two-night) retreat at St. Columba Retreat Center is $90 per person.  Meals are optional at extra cost.   Point Reyes Hostel has dorm beds at $24/person/per night, as well as private rooms which go for $82-120/per night and can hold up to 5 people.

Letter from a prisoner requesting Jewish materials: Lea will get Alex the contact information for the chaplain from the prison in question, and Alex will follow up.


Next CDM:
Treasury Report
Childcare Update
Tu B’Shvat Planning
Retreat planning:  is anyone interested in coordinating a retreat at either St. Columba or Point Reyes?
Followup to letter from a prisoner requesting Jewish materials.

Upcoming dates:
September 22 (Shabbat Shuvah), morning service hosted by Carol and Steve
September 26 (Yom Kippur), Yizkor, Neilah and Break-fast hosted by Carol and Steve
October 6th (Shabbat Sukkot), morning service hosted by Claire and Ed
November 13th, Tuesday evening, CDM hosted by Emily
November 17th morning service hosted by Alex and Eve
December 14th, Erev Shabbat and Chanuka service hosted by Lincoln and Madeleine
December 22nd morning service hosted by Ed
January 19th morning service hosted by Emily
February 12th, Tuesday evening, CDM hosted by Emily
February 16th morning service hosted by Miryam and Paul

Nishmat Inter-CDM Decision List w/last date of attendance as of 9/4/2012:
Alice 9/4/2012 (Treasurer)
Carol 9/4/2012 (Davening Coordinator)
Emily 09/04/2012
Lea 9/4/2012 (Shalom Bayit Coordinator)
Max 9/4/2012  (Mailing list Coordinator, Website updates)
Alex 6/26/2012 (Leyning Coordinator)
Ethel 6/26/2012 (Community contact)
Ed 6/26/2012 (Childcare Coordinator)
Hanna 4/24/2012 (Newsletter Coordinator)
Vicky 11/15/2011

Other ongoing coordinators:
Debbie (e-Announcements)
Ethel (Community contact)
Raja (Website updates)