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President's Message
By Morris Babani
On Tuesday evening, February 16, I had the good fortune to attend a beautiful wedding ceremony
and dinner reception at our synagogue. Not so unusual, you might say. Well…let me explain
why this was so special. The bride and groom were Marivel and Gustavo Mendoza. Just the day
before, they finished the process of an Orthodox Jewish conversion. Surrounded by our Rabbis,
Hazzan, Gabbai, their two lovely children – Jennifer and Isaac — and many friends and well-wishers,
they were married under the Huppah. It was quite emotional and heart warming.
Their story is one of sincere belief, perseverance, and determination. Due to some quite unique
circumstances, it took many years from the time they began their journey to Judaism to their
ultimate conversion. Many of us give up after one month if we don't meet a particular goal in
life! To the Mendozas, however, their faith in G-d and in Judaism gave them the strength they
needed to persevere. I'm guessing they will celebrate a very special Pesah in their home this year.
Gustavo, Marivell, Jennifer, Isaac – Mazal Tov to you. Congratulations; it is my pleasure to
welcome you as new members of SBH.
As president, nothing would bring me greater pleasure than acknowledging and welcoming many more
new members to our synagogue. To this end, I have challenged our Board to each sign up two new
members in 2010. Entirely do-able, I believe. And I challenge all of you as well. We all have
family members and friends who, for whatever reason, are not dues-paying members of SBH. As an
example, adult children of members, who should be members in their own right. My recollection
(I don't know if a policy is documented) is that children of members were "carried"
by their parents until such time as they finished school, became employed, or otherwise were
not totally dependent on their parents. My gut tells me that we have a wealth of opportunity
to reach out and recruit new members from these ranks. I have asked the Finance Committee to
scrub the current membership list, as well as the Holiday seating chart, to develop a list of
potential members. Between now and Rosh Hashanah, we will be contacting these individuals and
assisting them with the membership process.
If you know of someone who wants to be, needs to be, or just plain ought
to be a member of SBH, please call Diana in the office to get the ball rolling. We have a
membership category that will fit just about anyone's situation in life.
I wish you all a happy and healthy Pesah.
Morris Babani
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