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Message from the President The Work of a Synagogue For me, Beth Chaverim embodies "work worth doing." Here is what I mean by that: Those of us who joined Beth Chaverim come here because we are looking for something we need, and we find it here. We find an education for our children, and for ourselves. We find support and counseling. We find a prayer community when we are in pain or in trouble. We find a community to celebrate with when we have a joyous event in our lives. We find opportunities to make the world a better place. We find friends. But here is the paradox: we ourselves actually create the very things that we come to Temple in search of. We offer support and prayer for our fellow congregants when they need us, singing a misheberach or coming to a shiva minyan. We share profound and deeply personal thoughts with each other by speaking about such topics as "What Judaism means to me." We sing together, we dance together, we have thrown candy at each other’s children as they stand on the bimah for their bar or bat mitzvah. We beam with pride as our children graduate from Confirmation in the spring, and we beam again at the little ones the following autumn, clutching their precious miniature Torahs, to celebrate the beginning of their religious education. The creation of such a community, grounded in Jewish tradition and structured on Jewish values, is the work of a synagogue. It is "work worth doing", and it is work that we do together--not just for the sake of Heaven, but for the sake of the members of our community itself. We need Beth Chaverim, we need this community, each and every one of us, especially when we are living through difficult times. Each and every one of us needs the relationships we find here, and the opportunities we find here to contribute to the lives of others. So thank you for giving me the opportunity and the honor as President of Beth Chaverim, to lead our community, to do "work worth doing". And thank you for your own part in building this community. Mazel Tov to each and every member of the Board of Directors, and to their families. I know that as always, I will be able to count on all of you as we work together to ensure that Beth Chaverim continues to be a welcoming community, a strong community, a holy community, a congregation which will grow, and which will forever strive to bring the presence of God into our midst, and into our world. I’m humbled by the honor, and excited for the opportunity to serve Beth Chaverim that has given so much to me and my family, and only hope I can live up to the accomplishments and dedication level of those who have served before me. Todah rabbah for the honor. Tracy Cirone
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© Beth Chaverim Reform Congregation Ashburn, Virginia USA
President's 
