We recently had a good laugh reading a wonderful comic strip. The main character gets all tucked in and ready for bed: warm milk, relaxing book, perfect room temperature, eye mask, white noise and comfy sheets. The lights are turned off as he readies for a good night’s sleep, when all of a sudden…the lights come on and he is visited by The Ghost of All the Things That Can Go Wrong Tomorrow. The Ghost could care less about the elaborate sleep preparations; he just pushes himself into bed with the main character, saying “Move over, I have lots to tell you.”

So funny, but so true! On any given night, we are awake at ridiculous hours, fretting about something at work or in our families, or even at CBT: Will we meet our fundraising target? Will we forget the name of someone we’ve known for years? How will our budget be impacted if we have a dreadful winter? And yet, when we sit on the bima during the high holidays, looking out at nearly 400 B’nai Tikvah families, greeting over 20 families who are new to our community, watching the ritual committee and volunteers make the hundreds of honors seem absolutely effortless – many of our worries seem to fade away.

We each have our favorite moments at synagogue during the holiest days of the year. Watching the room fill up with hundreds of men, women and children dressed for holiday and scoping out their regular seats and seatmates, and standing right next to a dozen loud shofarim, are treats. Greeting everyone at the end of each service during Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, and especially during Neilah, is certainly a highlight. And spending a couple of minutes in front of the ark with our families – both biologic families and families of friends – is a joy. The Ghost of All the Things That Can Go Wrong Tomorrow seems to take a much needed rest while we are at synagogue; and, of course, that is the whole point of why we are there – to express our gratitude for all that we have, to atone for all that we could have done better, and to look forward to getting it right in the year to come.

We take to heart the words that we said during our Yom Kippur appeal; we are so lucky to be a part of this special CBT community – to use the modern vernacular: #blessed! We wish for you and your families a year of health and happiness, peace and contentment; a year that is imbued by the warmth of good friends, and enriched by the loving extended family here at B’nai Tikvah.

Allison Nagelberg, Co-President
Ruth Anne Koenick, Co-President