I hope everyone had a Pesah Dulse i Alegre (A sweet and happy Passover) and Moed Alegre (happy holiday) of Shavuot.
Our membership continues to grow internationally with members from Turkey, Mexico, and Canada as well as from cities across the United States. Communication with the Sephardic world is expanding with our weekly online La Boz Sefaradi - the Sephardic Voice Newsletter, El Ermanado Sefaradi - the Sephardic Brother Magazine, and our new membership portal. The Digital Academy provides a breadth of online courses, including Sephardic gastronomics, Rabbinic and Torah studies, music, Ladino language, and much more.
Meanwhile, at the Brotherhood we are busy with many new initiatives. Our Finance Committee and Treasurer Jay Matalon has been hard at work ensuring we are fiscally responsible in how we manage our budget and endowments. Our Strategic Planning Committee developed a foundational blueprint outlining the Sepharic Brotherhood’s goals, objectives and specific actions to keep us a vibrant, forward looking organization. Many thanks to our committee members for their hard work, led capably by Committee Chair Sedat Behar.
All of our committees are hard at work to move us forward. Most committee members come from our Central Council. However, any member of the Brotherhood may join a few select committees. We would love to expand participation from our general membership. Currently we have a few non Central Council members who have contributed through their talents, knowledge and skills.
By now you should have received your personal login credentials for our new membership portal, which was prepared by our Managing Director, Ethan Marcus. You can now use the portal to store and edit your information, update your address or easily pay your annual dues or make a donation.
In addition to all that we have accomplished, we are steadfast in our commitment to perform our traditional responsibilities of burying the departed souls of our brethren and providing assistance to those in need through our Henry J. Perahia Fund. We also continue to acknowledge students through our Scholarship program which provides a monetary reward to children of our members.
Much of what we do can’t be achieved by dues alone. We thank those who have contributed or sponsored programs to keep our Brotherhood strong. We hope all of you will think of us in your charitable giving by going online to www.sephardicbrotherhood.com/donate or by contacting us at info@sephardicbrotherhood.com.
In closing, the backbone of the Brotherhood is not just our membership, staff, headed by Managing Director, and our Central Council, but also our extraordinary Executive Committee – Sedat Behar, Jay Matalon, Jeff Beja, Andrew Marcus, Marvin Marcus, Renee Motola, David Schribman and Daniel Small. We are so grateful for their hard work and diligence to keep us on the right path.
Ke Todos Kedan Sanos Asta Ke Veremos Yene.
Kon Ermanidad,
Irving Barocas
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