I had several ideas for topics to write about as my last bulletin article of my term. As I sit in the synagogue library, because I have no power, internet or phone service at home due to the recent tornado, I have rethought all of them.

Instead of the normal “Thanks, it’s been great” message one might expect from an outgoing synagogue president, I want to talk about something else.

Now my articles have typically been about volunteerism, becoming involved in the community and fairly secular in nature. In light of the storm going through my neighborhood and wreaking havoc, I want to bring up a more spiritual message. Once the wind stopped blowing and the trees stopped falling, I was able to go outside, check on our property and our neighbors to make sure everyone was OK. Thankfully, my house has only minor wind damage and our cars were spared by mere inches from falling trees. Our neighbor’s house was hit but with only a glancing blow and they were also alright. Having been through this and seeing the absolute destruction on the streets around us it reinforced a few things for me.

While the cause of this storm can certainly be explained scientifically and the causes are well documented and discussed, damage caused by the storm is typically regarded as an “Act of G-d”. Now while I don’t know if the storm is or isn’t a true ‘Act of G-d’, I do know that our relative lack of damage was just that. We are a G-d fearing family. While I certainly don’t know the mind of G-d, I do know that we were spared the worst of the storm and I am hard-pressed to come up with an explanation. We regularly come to synagogue. We regularly pray to G-d for various things, both ordinary and extra-ordinary. Maybe that was enough.

Thank you for the past two years serving as your President and may you show the same kindness to our incoming President as you’ve shown to me.

Brian Lakin

TBS President