During my first tenure as President of Naples Jewish Congregation (NJC), from 2017-2021, I came to the realization, through my wonderful experience as NJC’s lay leader, that what makes NJC so special is its members. Our Congregation truly is a family for all things spiritual, educational, and social. Our source of strength is our wellspring of caring, our warm and welcoming embrace of our members and guests, and our deep and abiding commitment to each member of our NJC community.
We are so proud of our outstanding spiritual leader, Rabbi Howard Herman. He engages our Congregation with intriguing and informative lifelong learning, as well as thought-provoking and quite topical sermons that cause us to ponder life and its many challenges. Rabbi Herman is not only our exceedingly learned leader, but our friend. He is so approachable and so hamish that he epitomizes our “big heart.” He is a terrific listener and a fount of sage advice. We are so fortunate to have Rabbi Herman leading our Congregation. He was recently described by a couple in our Congregation as “…brilliant and gregarious…” I concur!
Music has always been at the core of NJC’s spirituality. Our anchor is Alla Gorelik, our most accomplished Music and Choir Director and accompanist. We recently suffered the devastating loss of our beloved Jane Galler, our joyful and soulful Cantorial Soloist of over 25 years. Although we can never fill that void, our hardworking Music Committee and Board of Directors conducted an extensive search. We have arranged for Rabbi Cantor Mark Lipson, a commanding presence in song, guitar, and on the bima, and Cantor Beth Schlossberg, a wonderful Cantor who uplifts us in song, to be with us for many of our upcoming Shabbat services. Cheryl Eitman, an exceptional Cantorial Soloist, will join us for our High Holy Days services.
In addition to NJC serving as a spiritual sanctuary for our members, we provide social sustenance for our congregants. We gather for congregational meals throughout the year, including light dinners after lifelong learning sessions before our Shabbat services, Kiddush luncheons following our Saturday Shabbat services, light dinners before our Summer Shabbat services, Break the Fast and our always well attended Chanukah dinner and Passover Seder. Several years ago, Bonnie Lechtner came up with the idea of Flamingle. It is a concept rooted in congregational togetherness. We participate in engaging Flamingle events every 6 weeks or so, such as miniature golf, a boat excursion, sharing stories over a potluck lunch at Sugden Park, and a tour of the Baker Museum.
Susan Falkenstein, who is quite creative, leads our Sisterhood, which holds intriguing events on an almost monthly basis. One of these is our Sisterhood Book Club, led by Ruth Simon, one of our voracious readers. The eclectic list of books read and discussed is either written by a Jewish author or has a Jewish theme. That way, our readers stay close to their Jewish roots. We are quite an active Congregation with a high percentage of our members participating in services and our many events.
If you join us for one of our Shabbat services, you will be warmly embraced by our members and will never feel neglected. Coming to NJC for one of our Shabbat services will conjure up memories of the theme song of that exceedingly popular sitcom, Cheers. At NJC, “…. everyone knows your name and….everyone is glad you came.” Please join us soon to experience the always friendly welcome you will get at “the small congregation with the big heart.”