In the last two months, I’ve had several conversations with our staff, lay leaders, and members of our Religious School and congregation regarding Temple Beth-El’s future. In this message, I want to share my vision with you. This vision has several moving pieces, so I encourage you to read this letter in its entirety.
I’m in the bittersweet position of sharing that our beloved Ramona Brand is looking to transition from the School Director position into a role with more teaching and fewer administrative responsibilities by October 2026. Ramona has been looking forward to this transition for quite some time now and has assured me, to my relief, that she is not retiring. To be clear, Ramona will serve as School Director for the Academic year 2025-2026, and then slowly reduce administrative duties and increase teaching responsibilities. Thus, Ramona will continue teaching our kids and working with families and special programs. I’m grateful for her years of service and dedication to our children’s Jewish education. I’m doubly grateful that she will help us train our Religious School’s future leader and ensure a smooth transition focused on learning and growth.
Equally challenging is to announce that our B’nai Mitzvah program coordinator, Danny Kraft, will be stepping down from his position at the end of this month. Danny has been a fantastic coordinator, leading and organizing our B’nai Mitzvah tutors with a caring and expert hand. This role, which is commonly held by a Cantor, will be temporarily filled by Rabbi Salston.
After much deliberation and in consultation with Rabbi Salston, the lay leadership has decided to look for a professional educator to serve as our inaugural Director of Family Life and Education (DFLE). This position is threefold:
To become the Religious School Director after Ramona’s tenure.
To help reestablish and coordinate a robust B’nai Mitzvah program.
To collaborate with Rabbi Salston to expand our Adult Education offerings and further integrate our community’s educational programs across generations.
We have established a committee led by our interim Personnel Committee chair, Mike Doniger. The committee is already looking at candidates’ applications and will soon approach the congregation seeking input. Please participate. This request is a call for action for an important position.
I want to stress that the DFLE is not a replacement for a Cantor. We hope to find someone for the DFLE position in this hiring cycle so we can focus on finding the right Cantor for us next year. If we don’t succeed this year in filling the DFLE position, then we’ll search again next year. While this approach is different, the lay leadership has analyzed our personnel situation for several months and arrived at this creative way of navigating the needs of our community. We believe this is our best course of action. Ideally, by proactively seeking Ramona’s replacement now, we prioritize the education of our children and avoid having two simultaneous searches next year. If you want to join the Cantor Search Committee next year, please email me at prez-skromne@bethelrichmond.org.
As stewards of our congregation, our fiduciary responsibility is to you, our members. To cover the costs associated with the DFLE position during its first year, we will use funds that would otherwise be allocated to the Cantor’s salary. After that, the DFLE position will be funded by the vacating religious school director’s salary, while the Cantor’s line will finance the Cantor’s position. By spreading our expenses over two years, we can proactively look for both a Director of Family Life & Education and a Cantor.
Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns.
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