September brings the anticipation of the High Holidays, fall foliage, pumpkin pies and apple crisps.  Fall is an exciting time of year for me and always makes me thankful for living in New England.  As I approach Rosh Hashanah this year I have been reflecting on my journey at Agudas Achim, both as an individual and as member of this congregation.
       When I joined Agudas Achim 15 years ago the community had just decided to affiliate with the Reconstructionist Movement and Gail Diamond had just been hired as our Rabbi.  (For those new to AA or those still wondering exactly what Reconstructionist Judaism is, here’s the elevator pitch, as written by Rabbi Richard Hirsh.  Reconstructionist view Jewish culture, religion and tradition as created and evolving through the Jewish people, as a sort of grass-roots movement, as opposed to a top-down religion handed down at Sinai by G-d.  Reconstructionist Judaism has a high degree of participation in communal decision-making and strives to balance our respect for tradition with evolving needs of contemporary society.) 
       At the time I had no sense of the implications this choice held for the community.  But with the hindsight of 15 years I’d like to share my observations on our growth as a Reconstructionist community along with some information about our future direction.
       First and foremost, we have become a participatory community.  In 1993 our School Principal, Choir Director and B’nai Mitzvah tutor, along with many of our teachers, were from outside our community.   Now all of these positions are held by members of our congregation, including all of our Hebrew School teachers. Our teacher’s aides are our very own teens, who generously give back to the school.  We have a very active teen group that did not exist 15 years ago.  The teens study Torah with the Rabbi and this has evolved into our own post B’nai Mitzvah program this year.  Many congregants have learned to read Hebrew and layn.  We have a core of wonderful lay service leaders.  As a result we have gone from Shabbat services where we rarely had a minyan to very lively Shabbat services with wonderful Torah discussions, even when services are lay led.  We have had a core of Adult B’nai Mitzvahs.  A very active Social Action Committee has developed and blossomed.  This group is now coordinating with the School and Adult Education programs to link learning/reflection and social action.  We had a very successful community retreat in 2006. And thanks to our innovative Shabbat B’Yachad Program that is inclusive of all our members, we have become a community both of learners and  of  teachers. 
       Over the years our community developed a participatory process that balances tradition with contemporary needs in order to ensure decisions are within the framework of Torah.  Our method of decision-making starts with the text and what it teaches us about a specific issue.   We strive to gain an understanding of the context in which we are looking to make a decision, whether it be our Kashrut policy, dues structure, school policy, etc and to ensure final decisions are reflective of our values.  Many of you have attended parlor meetings where we invited members to add their voices and their understanding to the process of setting policy and as a result we, as a community, have been able to develop policies that meet our specific needs.
       As you can see we have much to be proud of as a community.   Now, on the edge of Rosh Hashanah, as we look forward, the obvious question is:  What does the future hold for us?  This is an important question for our community.  Rabbi Elyse is in the last year of her contract here at Agudas Achim.  Rabbi Elyse has been very instrumental in the growth and development of our community.  She has pushed us to take ownership, to be full and active participants in the life of our community.   She challenged us and we successfully took on the challenge.  And with success, it becomes important to recognize that the relationship between the community and the rabbi is evolving too.  We, as a community, are not at the same place we were 15 years ago.  Thus, a small committee of the Board is taking on the task of reviewing the leadership needs of the community, as we look to the future.  We again will be utilizing the process that has guided our decisions in the past.  There will be opportunities for study, reflection, and a value-based process.  We look forward to hearing from the many voices in our community as we move forward. 

May you all have a healthy and prosperous New Year.  L’shana tova.
Marcia Szymanski