I just spent a lovely Memorial Day weekend at a family wedding in Arizona. It was the first wedding in my children’s generation of cousins, and it was very special to see all of them enjoying each other’s company as young adults, as opposed to as young children. (That wasn’t always so enjoyable for the parents, sometimes!)

 

Although we don’t all get to see each other as often as we would like, it was a clear priority to my husband and his cousins to make the time to be at this special occasion, and it was a wonderful thing for his cousins to include all of us. I would never say we take each other for granted, but it was nice to be reminded of how connected we are and how much we love being together.

 

After the UJC Annual Meeting, I was thinking about another group of people who, I would hope, don’t get taken for granted, but about whom we in lay leadership need to take the time to appreciate and talk about. Because the Annual Meeting this year focused in some part on our agencies, and also pays tribute every year to the service of our federation staff, I started thinking about all of the Jewish professionals who keep our community connected — who help make us a vibrant Jewish community. From synagogue clergy and staff, to the agency execs, social workers, job counselors, to the building staff at all of our community institutions who break things down late at night and set them up again for the morning, the fundraisers, administrators, financial wizards, nursery and Hebrew school principals and teachers, nurses, doctors, PT and OT specialists, administrative assistants, grant writers, marketing specialists, program planners and budget-makers — and on and on, these are the people who keep our Jewish world running, keep it safe, keep it growing. 

 

It is these hard-working people who create the holy community, the kehillah kadosh, where we find comfort and support, meaning and learning, aid and advice. As we approach the end of another programming/fundraising year here in MetroWest, I want to say so much more than “thank you” to these largely unsung heroes. So I will say what my childhood Hebrew school teachers used as high praise for anyone — tov ma-od — job well done!

 

Feel free to add your own thank you to whichever Jewish professionals you are seeing in this very busy season!