A visit to a neighbor-shul...

This past weekend, my wife and I had the opportunity to visit, for the first time inside, an old shul off of Lake Peekskill in Putnam Valley. We were attending a free movie showing of Devil's Arithmetic. It was a fine movie and even though the lights went out during the movie due to the thunderstorm, the presentation was very nice and we also visited with several FHC members who were there to attend the movie.

Afterward, a friend of mine, who was running the movie, gave me a brief tour of the building and I was most saddened to see a repeatedly flooded basement which used to be their library and class-room(s). The entire back half of the basement of the building was unusable due to water on the floor. What was even more disheartening was the mildew and odor that permeated not only the basement but also other parts of the building. Most likely the shul also had mold since my friend advised that the rain infiltration occurred during regular heavy rains.

Nevertheless, there seemed to be a wonderful sense (possibly illogical) of optimism amongst the people who were there. This was their shul and they were having programs and planning events and conducting the business of a shul. The physical plant was clearly a problem, but, it did not discourage the congregants/visitors who were attending the movie.

FHC, on the other hand has a predominantly dry (with some exceptions that should be fixed), building and the physical plant, and while in need of updating and improvements, is a place where we engage in a longstanding act of Judaism... kvetching. (I know that members of the shul we visited must kvetch as well.)

But, I believe that kvetching and pessimism is a self-fufilling activity. If you see the glass half empty, you will be thirsty. Instead if you see the glass has water in it, maybe you will quench your thirst long enough to find a way to get more water, to make the glass full.

I believe FHC has a glass that has water in it. Once and for all I ask the leaders and the membership to think optimistically and take stock of the absolutely wonderful things we have in our glass. Everything from no debt, two shuls and a home, rental income from the Chase bank property (which is also owned by FHC), the cemetary, substantial monetary investments, our dedicated Rabbi and staff of FHC including the office, the principal and the teaching staff.

I believe that we must have a sense of vision and a sense of foward thinking. If we only see the glass as half empty, then we will never be able to envision the glass full. That goes for membership, building improvements, programming, fundraising and the like.

If our membership is going down, let us advertise and publicize.

If the building has deficiencies, let us fix them, and not just talk about them.

If our programming is lacking, let us improve it and get more people involved with what we plan to do.

We have the assets right here and now to make FHC a place where Jews (not just conservative and orthodox raised families) will want to raise their children and come to pray.

We need leadership and a membership with Forward positive thinking. Leave your half empty glass somewhere else.

Shalom. Jeremy