On Thursday night, OCTOBER the 18th, I had the privilege of installing the members of the JCAA Board of Directors for 2012-2013.
The JCAA and Federation of Austin have joined UT Chabad as partners in our work to reach out and engage the Jewish Longhorn students of UT and beyond. The students, as we know, are our future Jewish leaders. We are extremely grateful to the Allocations committee for their commitment to ensuring that our anchor program of Shabbat, which as many people note to me, is the largest most consistent Shabbat Program in perhaps all of Texas, continues to thrive and engage our future leaders.
In light of this new-found solid connection, I was pleased to have the opportunity to offer my blessings and talk about leadership. I am pleased to share a brief highlight of my talk:
“Noah, in this weeks Torah portion, walks with G-d, but fails to walk with mankind. So much time and energy invested in building a grand ship, but who does he lead onto his ship? Only his family, leaving the rest of humanity behind.
While Noah excelled in goodness in his generation, we can not began to compare his greatness with the leadership and greatness of Avraham and Sara, the first Jews, who continue to influence our society to this very day.
You see Noah, was warm --- he figuratively wore a beautiful fur coat. But that warmth was limited and perhaps on some level selfish. Avraham on the other hand figuratively lit bonfires. Avraham was a lamplighter, who was open to the entire community, including Arabs and even idolaters And with their tent, Avaraham and Sara, teamed up together, to establish values of goodness and empowerment. He was the first to hold press conferences about Judaism and its values.
Without further delay, I am honored to represent the student community, where my wife and I spend the majority of our time running the Chabad STUDENT center, as well as with the permission of the wider community at large, to declare the incoming JCAA Board of Directors for 2012-2013 installed. And I would like to thank and bless last year's board together with this year's board as well as all of us gathered here tonight on this important occasion, to continue leading in way that Avraham and Sara established for all of us...”
I spoke of a few more ideas with respect to Jewish unity and closed with a blessing of uniting for the common cause of Jewish engagement and leadership.
I want to take this moment to sincerely thank the JCAA and the Jewish Federation of Greater Austin, and particularly Susan Broockman (Chair-elect at JCAA Board of Directors), David Brenner (Chair at JCAA Board of Directors), Jay Rubin (CEO at Jewish Community Association of Austin), and all of those who are involved in their noble efforts.
Austin is leading the way in regards to diversity and partnership for a greater cause, making sure we unite and move forward together, allowing our diversity and unique contributions to come together to propel us further and successfully.
I am proud to be part of this amazing community.
Rabbi Zev Johnson (Executive Director of the UT Chabad Student Center), Rabbi David Komerofsky (Executive Director of Texas Hillel) and Margo Sack (Director of Jewish Student Life at Texas Hillel) share a moment and and many smiles at the JCAA annual meeting