Mike Winston, TBS President: An Introduction and Focus

Shalom. I’m Mike Winston, the new Temple Beth Sholom President. It is with great pride and honor that I introduce myself this way, as TBS has been my home for 40 years. I have celebrated my preschool graduation, kindergarten graduation, Bar Mitzvah, Confirmation, and marriage to my amazing wife, Mimi, at TBS. Now my kids are preschool graduates and beginning their B’nai Mitzvah learning.

Though this past year has been challenging for TBS, I feel we have turned a corner. We have returned to celebrating Shabbat in person as a community, and we are welcoming our new Rabbi. Although celebrating each week at home with my family was wonderful, having the ability to pray and sing together as community reminds me that we are part of something more. I use the word community with intention, rather than talking about our facility. While our facility is necessary and gorgeous, it is our community and its warmth that is precious to me.

As I look to the future of TBS, I see growth. Through my tenure, I plan to focus on three specific areas of development: growing our membership base, securing our financial stability, and fostering our future leaders. I am grateful for an amazing set of board members who are ready to hit the ground running. The board and I will be meeting for a weekend at the end of this month to look at these areas of development and how we can strategize for the coming years. My initial talks with Rabbi Lipper left no doubt that he is going to be an integral part of starting this strategy. His goal will be to help us continue to heal and really understand and decide, as a community, what we want our next steps to be.

I look forward to more in-person opportunities at TBS to introduce myself and say hello. Please always feel free to let me know what is on your mind.

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