WES Committees

Bikkur Cholim Committee (Chair: Tamar Stone)

The Bikkur Cholim committee reaches out to WES congregants facing health challenges. The committee provides friendly phone calls, visits, help with shopping, transportation to doctor appointments and more.
 

Yad Mordecai Adult Education Committee (Chair: Linda Rich)

This committee plans a comprehensive schedule of programs that promote Jewish learning and foster creative Jewish living. Offerings cover Jewish history, culture and arts, Hebrew language, text study, Israel, and more. Our events -- courses, lectures, films, and author’s nights -- draw on a range of voices, including those of visiting speakers and Scholars-in-Residence. Whatever your Jewish interests, you’ll find something that appeals to you.
 

Yad Mordecai Social Action Committee (Chair: Stan Samuels)

The activities of our Social Action Committee express our community’s deep commitment to tikkun olam, healing our broken world. The committee has expanded its mission to increase our participation/partnership in projects impacting the New York metropolitan area Jewish community and the NYC Metropolitan community as a whole. We are a participating congregation in Manhattan Together, a coalition of faith-based organizations committed to social justice in New York City, and hold annual Hunger Shabbat and Human Rights Shabbat programs.

The SAC engages our members in environmental projects and alerts them to topical social justice causes. WES members respond generously to our various food drives and collections which are thematically related to the holidays. In addition, we support Ethiopian-Israeli high school students with academic expenses and the NACOEJ lunch program.
 

Building Committee (Chair: Jane Weprin-Menzi)

The Building Committee manages the space, indoors and out, that we currently occupy. We are concerned both with technical aspects of minor and major building maintenance in the short and long term, and with making the building spaces multitask for us through thoughtful use of the square footage we have. Throughout, we keep in mind the comfort and aesthetics appropriate for our Reconstructionist house of worship.
 

Ritual Committee (Chair: Don Menzi)

The Ritual Committee is concerned with the conduct of all religious services of the congregation, offering advice and guidance to the clergy regarding the character and mode of the various services. Individual committee members also create innovative liturgy and encourage congregants to compose original prayers and poetry for use in services. The committee aims to maximize the engagement of our members in all aspects of the synagogue’s spiritual life, and to expand the circle of people actively planning and carrying out our religious services.
 

Membership Committee (Co-Chairs: Art Spar and Joe Gurvets)

The Membership Committee seeks to attract and retain new members to our community. We welcome visitors to services as well as to all our programs. We hold open house Shabbat services each fall for prospective members and a new member Shabbat in December. Our goal is to attract, retain and grow a vibrant, diverse and committed membership.
 

Retreat Committee (Co-Chairs: Rabbi Judith Bardack and Bliss Siman)

The Retreat Committee plans all aspects of our community's annual retreat, including retreat themes, workshop proposals, children’s programming, inventive services and logistics.
 

Israel Connections Committee (Chair: Beverly Weinstein)

The Israel Connections Committee expresses our community’s concern for and connections to the State of Israel. We provide programs and activities that include History of Israel and Zionism, current issues and developments facing Israel.
 

Jewish Family Life & Learning (JFLL) Committee (Chair: Marion Mackles)

The JFLL Committee acts as a lay-leadership advisory group for all JFLL programming. The committee is made up of those who have children in the JFLL program as well as synagogue members who do not.

 

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