Weekly Message from the Board President

It’s a do-over.  We began with 30 applicants for the position of Rabbi at Mt. Sinai.  Some we eliminated right away, like the two Christian pastors and the Starbucks barista.  Then the Rabbi Search Committee sent out a detailed questionnaire, asking things like how the applicant would feel about moving to Cheyenne, and if they were skilled at reading from the Torah.

Some applicants dropped out because they were looking for Orthodox Synagogues.  Others decided they didn’t want to move to Cheyenne, or wanted to make more money than we could afford.  The Rabbi Search Committee held Zoom interviews with six semifinalists, and then invited three of them to lead services and teach classes via Zoom.  The committee did not feel that the other semifinalists would be a good fit for Cheyenne, for reasons specific to the individuals.

The three finalists then met our congregation virtually.  After the sessions, two of them told us they wanted more money (about double what we could pay), and the third decided he did not want to move to Cheyenne after all.

So it’s a do-over.  We’re starting our Rabbi search again.  This is not unusual for Mt. Sinai.  According to our elders, Mt. Sinai has had to conduct searches twice, or even three times, to find a Rabbi in the past.

We have already placed ads on Zip Recruiter, Indeed.com, and RabbiCareers.com.  We are also reaching out to Jewish seminaries to see if they have students graduating who might be interested, and there are some other websites we are considering.  We should mention that the other websites charge $200 or more to place a job listing, so we want to see if our earlier efforts pay off before spending that money.

We were in the news again!  Wyoming PBS did a story on how Mt. Sinai celebrated Passover during the Pandemic.  You can see it here:  https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/post/synagogue-plan-host-passover-events-alternative-ways-pandemic-continues-2021#stream/0

There’s an interesting art exhibit in Laramie this weekend.  It’s called “Abraham: Out of One, Many” and features the works of Christian, Muslim, and Jewish artists.  Their work focuses on events in Abraham’s life.  Our Dr. Jason Bloomberg will give a brief talk on Friday night.  You can see more about the exhibit here: https://www.oncaravan.org/abraham.

Every month, the Endowment Fund focuses on a different individual the fund would like to honor with a plaque on a chair in the large sanctuary in the Synagogue.  For the month of April, it’s the late Johnny Veta.

Johnny Veta was a prominent Cheyenne businessman.  He owned Western Ranchman Outfitters in downtown Cheyenne.  He served on the Mt. Sinai Board of Directors and as its president. President Jimmy Carter named him to represent the State of Wyoming at Carter’s National Small Business Conference in 1980. Veta was also featured one year in Fortune Magazine’s issue on entrepreneurs.

Sponsorship of a chair is $500, but an anonymous donor has offered to cover half the cost under certain conditions.  The principal of the Endowment fund is never spent.  Just 18% of the interest is given to the Synagogue to cover expenses.  If you would like to donate, please use our website or contact the Synagogue office.

Here’s our Yiddish Phrase of the Week:

Bay nakht zenen ale ki shvarts.
At night all cows are black.

Shalom,

Dave Lerner
President
Mt. Sinai Board of Directors

Community Partner with Family Promise of Cheyenne

April Birthdays

1             Nathan Weinstein
               Gayle Wagner

3             Daniel Solish

6             Sally Nolan

12           Pat Wolf

16           Lynn Grimm

24           Carol Fischer

24           Cheryl Hite

24           Tori Rosenthal

29           Barbara Karz-Wagman