It is a pleasure to be with you on this first Annual Chanukah Banquet since my coming to Springfield. All this past year – eleven months – has been a series of “firsts”: first High Holidays, Purim, Simchat Torah, and so forth. This is the last of my “firsts,” for in a very short time I will have completed my first cycle in Kodimoh. Ordinarily, it would be inappropriate to hold a Kodimoh Festival – a purely congregational celebration – on Chanukah. Ein me’arvin simchah be‑simchah – we do not mingle one celebration with another, so as not to detract from either (as with weddings on Chol HaMoed or Purim). But today, both Kodimoh’s personal and Israel’s national Chanukah festivals coincide in essence: Lo va‑chayil ve‑lo va‑koach, ki im be‑ruchi, amar Hashem Tzeva’ot – not by might nor by power, but by My spirit, said the Lord of Hosts. And what is all this, if not a festivity in honor of our purpose, which is the ruach, the spirit of Torah and Judaism. The program of Kodimoh – in its ritual, educational, administrative, and auxiliary aspects – is the story of the implementation of that ruach, that Divine‑like spirituality, in all phases of our congregational life. All that has been done – and all that will be done – is geared to the premise that the primary function of a synagogue is the advancement of ruach Hashem Tzeva’ot, the spirit of Torah in the lives of those whom Kodimoh serves. I have been asked to present, in outline, both a review of the past year and a preview of what we expect in the coming year, God willing. But I shall not make a clean‑cut division between last year and next. At present we are in a state of flux – of continuing activity and progress. A great Hebrew poet once said something that in English would be rendered, “Today by tomorrow will be yesterday.” Let us look upon Kodimoh’s program as a continuous and unbroken implementation of ruach Hashem, the spirit of Torah. In the realm of ritual: High Holidays featured a pre‑Selichot social, reverent…

My task this evening is to install the new administration of our Kodimoh. Looking over the list, I discover that there are a total of seven units that must be officially charged and installed. And I do not regard this as a mere fortuitous coincidence. The number seven is a ”magic number" in Jewish life. It is above all the number of days of the week, the symbol of the creation of the world, and therefore the symbol of creativity as such. It is my hope and my prayer that this administration will fulfill that function of creativity on the pattern set down before it. For the work of the officers of a synagogue is much like the study of Torah - Im yom taazvenu yomayim yaazveka, neglect it for a day and it neglects you for twice that time. You cannot keep the status quo in a shul - it’s either ahead or backwards, either creative or, chalilah, destructive. Our installation, this evening, of each and every one of the new administration is based on that proposition, the proposition that you must determine to be creative, else you harm this holy work זזhich you have undertaken• Let us proceed then, with the installation, on the pattern of the first seven days in which God created this Universe.2 .On the first day, G-d created Heaven and Earth - and He also created Light, and Darkness. The ability to distinguish between Light and Darkness, the duty of spreading light and subduing the forces of darkness, is a sacred one. In the first of the famous Dead Sea Scrolls discovered recently, an ancient Megillah whose authorship has not yet been determined beyon doubt, tells of the battle between the BNEI OR and BNEI CHOSHECH, the Children of Light and the Children of ^arkness. The members of the Board must consider themselves the true BNEI OR, Children of Light. Upon you we will rely to bring great light into the congregation whom you are priveleged to serve. Upon you depends the future of the administration, and hence the future of Kodimoh. Apathy, indifference, pettiness and lack …

Every living and thriving organization, such as our beloved Kodimoh Sisterhood, is like a song. Our efforts are harmonious, and our purposes are uplifting. We like to think that working on behalf of Sisterhood brings happiness and joy to those who participate. Like a song, there are solo-parts, certain tasks which can best be petformed only by dedicated individuals; and there are chorus-parts, projects which can succeed only when everybody participates together. There are times, such as during the summer, when the tempo of the Sisterhood melody is slow; and times, such as during the bazaar preparation, when it is fast. Like a song, Sisterhood inspires us; it makes us forget our own woes and irritations; it represents something fresh, and charming and delightful; and it makes us want to sing along with it.It is therefore fitting that at this meeting, the culmination of our year's work, when we instal the officers who will conduct the orchestra of Sisterhood's efforts next year, that we instal these officers with Song•Some of these songs may be familiar to you, in which case you are invited to join me in them. Others, though new to you, are the kind which you can w» hum along wi th me. All of them are Hebrew songs, and all come from our sacre^ Srayetbook, the SiddurOur first officers to be installed are the TRUSTEES. Mrs. Kimball, Mrs• a ect^»*^Kletsky and Mrs.^en Silver know their work well• It requires being the faithful trustee^ of <11 that is valuable to Sisterhood. It means keepinga watchful and wakeful eye over all t hat happens with us• The Trusteesare the loyal watchmen, the vigilant guards o< Sisterhood. It is appropriate in installing such officers, to recite, in sing, the words of our Siddur in which we appeal to G—d in His capacity as SHOMER YISRAEL, THE the Guardian of Israel, the Divine Trustee of our people, and ־we ask of Him:Guardian or xrustee of Israel, watch over the remnant of ־1־srael, and do not allow harm to befall Israel •who daily reci…

I am very grateful for the gracious extravagance with which I have been introduced and the charming overstatement of the tribute paid to me. However, I believe that no tribute is very persuasive at this hour. It always seems to be my fate to rise to sneak after 11:30 – whether Saturday morning or Sunday night, when people are in a hurry either to get home to eat or home to sleep. I am of course delimited to be here with you. The years that I spent here were precious ones in my life and that of my family. Coming here is indeed a homecoming. Your building is breathtakingly beautiful. The simplicity of the design, the beauty and elegance of the lines, the exquisiteness of the appointment s are a tribute to your devoted labors. Many a speaker has said that this represents a fulfillment of your dreams. I must take exception to these remarks. Those of us who were in at the beginning of the building drive know very well that our dreams were quite modest compared to this achievement. Never, even in our wildest moments, did we allow ourselves to think of such a beautiful structure for Kodlmohl No, this reality exceeds over and over again even the fondest dreams and hopes that we entertained.I see in this result not only aesthetic excellence, but also the mark of individual personalities and the impressions of devotion, selflessness, and self sacrifice.The Baal Shem Tov once said of a synagogue, that he could see the walls creeping with souls. I can say the same thing of this beautiful new synagogue. I see more than brick and beams and panels. I see the walls creeping with souls. We are surrounded here by precious memories of people who, like King David, saw visions of a temple built to G-d, but were not privileged to liveto see its completion. First and foremost amongst them, is ths soul of Louis Katz, that grand old man of Kodlmoh, who was the inspiration for this building. It *as in August 1957 that a young Rabbi was being rowed around a lake in Otis, Massachusetts, by an…