If I had a million dollars…
If I had a million dollars…
This opening line from an early 1990’s Barenaked Ladies song is one with which many of us can identify. Here at TBI we have our own version of this fantasy. We have lots and lots of programmatic ideas that often have to be relegated to our “wish list” because we don’t have the money to make them a reality.
Don’t get me wrong – TBI is a vibrant, active congregation with incredibly responsible leadership that makes sure that we continue to remain vibrant and active even while living within our means and paying our bills on time. And our program is already impressively robust and inspiring – just look at Torah at TBI that was distributed on Rosh Hashanah; or look through our website and see that we have a great educational program.
But we could be more, and we could do more! If I had a million dollars… I would build TBI into an even more robust educational and cultural center for Skokie and beyond.
We have a creative and hardworking professional staff and we have a dynamic and engaged group of volunteer leaders. We have no shortage of creative ideas but we are limited programmatically by our limited financial resources. So, I sometimes sit and imagine what we could do “If I had a million dollars…”
I imagine that we could make TBI into a center for adult Jewish learning – with classes during the day and in the evening; with guest speakers who would attract, inform and inspire our members and our neighbors. I imagine that we could make TBI into a center for Jewish cultural events – literature, music, art, and theatre – filling a gap left by the closing of the Mayer Kaplan JCC. I imagine that we could become a community center with social activities for those who are looking for more interesting ways to fill their days.
It turns out that I am not the only one who imagines what we could create if we had a million dollars. So, we at TBI are joining together to raise 1 million dollars to create our Fund for the Future endowment. The Fund for the Future will generate resources to be used for the congregation’s cultural, educational and social enrichment. This will enable us to enhance TBI’s programmatic capability with new outside speakers, educational series, cultural events and more.
A contribution to our Fund for the Future is not just tzedakah; it is an investment in our congregation’s future, in our congregation’s second century! I hope that every member of the congregation will join me in investing in our future by making a personally meaningful gift to our Temple Beth Israel Fund for the Future!
Just imagine what we could do “If we had a million dollars…”
~Rabbi Michael Weinberg