Last month, I had the great privilege of attending the Biennial, the 69^th General Assembly of the Union for Reform Judaism, in San Diego, California.  There, I joined with other cantors, rabbis, and lay leaders representing congregations all over the U.S. and Canada; almost 5,000 Reform Jews studying, worshipping and sharing together in one place!  It was my 9^th time attending a national biennial (I can’t even count how many regional biennials I have attended in my career), and yet I was just as excited and invigorated by the energy there as I was at my very first biennial.

Prior to the actual biennial starting, I participated in three days of meetings of the ACC (American Conference of Cantors) Executive Board.  Accomplishing the business of the Conference, reconnecting with colleagues and friends and praying together (you haven’t heard anything till you’ve heard our prayers sung in 24-part harmony around a table of cantors!) was satisfying, both spiritually and professionally, and I am proud to serve on this dedicated board. Following our ACC meetings, Reform Jews from all over North America began descending on San Diego and the excitement began to build.

I took a number of workshops, including “A Tot Shabbat that Rocks the House”, “Still Reforming After All These Years” and “Wonderful, Magical, Powerful Millennials: Truths about Today’s Teens”.  During ARZA’s (Association for Reform Zionists of America) evening program, I presented a special piece that was commissioned by ARZA for Israel’s 60^th birthday.  I led a workshop for WRJ called “Beyond Miriam’s Song: New Music for Shabbat”.  And perhaps the most exciting part for me was being a part of the Kabbalat Shabbat service on Friday evening and looking out into the congregation to see 5000 Jews praying, singing and dancing in the aisles!  What a thrill!

I came away from the Biennial with so much energy and material, but probably the most important thing that was reinforced for me is that our challenges at Temple Beth Am are not ours alone.  Congregations from all over the continent are struggling with outreach, membership retention, changes in worship and balancing the needs of a diverse membership.  And in many areas, we are way ahead of the curve.  Sometimes, we struggle so hard with the things that need improvement that we forget how much we have that is working well.  There is much to be proud of here at Temple Beth Am, and I hope to be able to integrate what I learned at the biennial to make our temple better and more vibrant.  I am happy to be working with Rabbi Miller and our Executive Committee to improve what we have and create new and exciting programs for Temple Beth Am.