Annual Appeal 2024/5785

Dear Beth Israel Congregants,

The Jewish New Year of 5785 is a time for each of us to look back on the past year and to look forward to the one that has just begun. It is an opportunity for us to see how far we have come in the past twelve months and contemplate the possibilities that lie before us as individuals and as a community.

In the year 5784, we dealt with the highs and lows of Jewish communal life, both here in Baltimore and in the world at large. Some of Beth Israel’s highs included:

• Continued growth in our Beth Israel Community Learning Lab (religious school), bringing a new and vital generation into our congregation.
• Celebrating together with fun and meaningful Shabbat and holiday programs – Barchu & BBQ, the myriad programs in the Beth Israel sukkah, the multi-generational Hanukkah celebration, and the packed house for our Barbie Purimshpiel, to name just a few.
• Social action activities, such as Bunches of Lunches, Habitat for Humanity, and our December 24 mitzvah projects.
• An amazing Artist-in-Residence weekend with filmmaker Mark Bennett that showcased his animated work, “The Tattooed Torah.”
• A robust year of adult learning programs, including Lunch-n-Learns and evening lecture series taught by our wonderful clergy as well as the annual Rachel V. Glaser Film Festival.
• Improvements to our building, including security system upgrades, a new sound system, energy efficient indoor and outdoor lighting, and refreshing our Social Hall with new carpeting and paint.

Did you know that membership dues cover only about forty percent (40%) of our operating costs? These costs include salaries for our amazing clergy, our hard-working administrative staff, and our devoted teachers – all of whom you have graciously welcomed into your family as part of our congregational community. We are fortunate that we have tenants in the back part of our building whose rental payments cover another thirty percent (30%) of our operating expenses.

We rely on your gifts through this High Holy Day Annual Appeal to help us close the remaining operating expense gap. Your generous participation ensures that we can continue to provide all of the wonderful services and programming that you have come to expect, and it will also allow us to:

• Offer more diverse cross-generational programming on a variety of topics of Jewish interest,
• Expand our off-site programming – bringing Beth Israel to you,
• Enhance the beauty of our building through further renovations to our public spaces, including new carpeting in the sanctuary and lobby,
• Fund additional necessary upgrades to our phone and security systems.

Thank you for your past generous gifts to the Annual Appeal. May we count on you to make a donation this year? Please help – every gift, of any amount, makes a difference. With a gift of $1,000 or more, you will become part of the Rabbi’s Circle, a special recognition for Beth Israel’s most generous supporters.

Thank you for all you do for Beth Israel!

Aliza G. Rothenberg                                                 T.J. Casser             
President                                                                     Executive Vice President & Fundraising Chairman