| Kol Nidre Remarks, Yom Kippur 5772 Ashamnu. Bagadnu. Gazalnu. Dibarnu Dofi. We have become guilty. We have betrayed. We have robbed. We have spoken slander.[1] Each Yom Kippur we recite our confession together, in the plural. When we ask for atonement and forgiveness, we ask not as individuals, but as a community. Rabbi Issac Luria, the 16th Century Kabbalist, wrote that we say: 'We have sinned' because all Israel is considered like one body and every person is a limb of that body. [2] It was true 500 years ago and it is true today. On this Kol Nidre evening, we reflect on the importance of being a community, on what we have achieved together this year and what we can do together now. In the next few minutes we'll speak about the importance of our contributions, and our roles in building and sustaining our community and its facilities, its activities, and its finances. Looking first at our facilities, as a community we have much to be proud of in the past year. From the opening of the new Minnie Manger - Marcia Lieberman Mikvah, to the sisterhood's beautiful renovation of the gift shop, from the new mizrach and parsha board in the Heyman Chapel to the new candle-lighting area in the Bennett Simcha room, congregants have come together to expand and to renew our facilities, for us and for future generations, continuing the work that started at this site half a century ago. The property we have today once belonged to the King School (now King Low Heywood Thomas). Fifty years ago this year, in March of 1961, Congregation Agudath Sholom purchased this site from the King School. [3] Fifty years later, we have a beautiful synagogue, but our aging building needs repairs, whether fixing the stained glass windows or replacing major climate control systems, as we did in the Bennet Simcha room this past year. When hurricane Irene hit Stamford just a few weeks ago, the drainage system around our building was unable to keep pace with the heavy rain, and we experienced flooding in and around the main lobby, the elevator, the restroom, and the coat room. Walls were damaged and carpets were ruined. We express our gratitude to the House Committee and to everyone who worked hard to ensure that repairs would be completed before the holidays. As we enter a new year we face new challenges and new opportunities. Our building and property will require ongoing care and maintenance. Meanwhile groups like sisterhood and the bingo committee are actively exploring new projects including the renovation of our kitchens and the creation of a fully-handicapped-accessible bathroom. Your generous response to the Yom Kippur appeal can help these projects and many more in the future to keep our facilities clean, safe, and well-maintained, providing a warm environment for all of our programs and activities. This year has been a year of expansion and innovation in our services and programming. We are delighted to see so many families moving into this area and joining our synagogue, and we are especially proud to see how our growth creates an active and vibrant community for everyone. For example, a group of young families approached Rabbi Cohen during the summer with an idea for a new morning service for Rosh Hashanah, and he worked with them and with the Ritual Committee to create our new 6am minyan. While the idea of 6am davening may not appeal to everyone, there were over forty participants on both days of Rosh Hashanah, people who enjoyed a beautiful service and who were extremely grateful for the opportunity, for example, to share parenting responsibilities by having one parent complete davening early while the other could daven at the main service. We are proud that Congregation Agudath Sholom is a wonderful place for children. Under the leadership of our Youth Committee and our new youth director Rabbi Yehuda Jaeger, we have an expanding and exciting youth program on Shabbat and Holidays that serves over 100 children every week. With Rabbi Cohen's energetic leadership and guidance we have seen many programs in the past year. From Israel Advocacy and AIPAC participation, to Shabbat Across America and the bus trip to the new Jewish Museum in Philadelphia, we continue to find new ways to engage and participate in Jewish life. From our inspiring weekly classes with Rabbi Cohen and Rabbi Walk, to the beautiful davening and Cantor's Concerts from Cantor Wollheim, we hope to provide more and more opportunities for everyone to participate in synagogue activities. Your generous response to the Yom Kippur appeal will help provide the flexibility to respond to new ideas and continue to improve and to innovate in our services and programming for children and adults in our vibrant and diverse community. Looking at our finances, with a strong effort from everyone, we have been just able to break even this year. This is thanks to your dues payments and generous contributions, and also thanks to a focused and sustained program by the Finance Committee to control costs. You have been helpful in many ways in our cost-control efforts. By using the cas-stamford.org website to stay current with activities and to sign up and pay for special events, you have helped to reduce the administrative burden on our office staff, and have helped us save a significant amount of the money we used to spend on printing and on postage. By staying current with your payments to the synagogue, you have helped our office run more efficiently, and we sincerely thank you for your thoughtfulness. Yet we all understand that we are living through challenging times economically. Congregants who would never have expected to find themselves in financial need have had to make the difficult decision to ask for assistance. And congregants who for years have been proudly supporting the synagogue find that they are simply unable to do so now. If you are in a position to do so, your generous response to the Yom Kippur appeal will help make up the difference for those who are less able to participate this year. Your gift will help sustain the synagogue at a time when it is needed the most. From the very first time that Karen and I walked into this synagogue nearly twenty years ago, we have felt the warmth of this very special community. We have enjoyed praying together, sharing meals together, singing together, and volunteering together. I would like to thank you for the opportunity to serve as president of the congregation, and ask for your help as together our community goes from strength to strength. On behalf of the board of directors and the executive committee, and on behalf of Karen and my entire family, I wish you an easy and meaningful fast, and g'mar chatimah tovah. As we recite Ashamnu Bagadnu, and as we think about our roles and our responsibilities in the community that we share, please take a moment to reflect on our facilities, activities and finances, and resolve to respond generously to the Yom Kippur appeal. Thank you and g'mar tov.
| 
