40 Years in the Desserts

First, a happy and gratified thank you, to all who worked so hard on our “40 Years in the Desserts” celebration.
What a great night it was because of all the hard work of Steve Schulefand and his legendary singers and Lauren Piscitille and her hard-working committee.

For 40 years, I have kvelled with you and celebrated with you, cracked jokes that you laughed at and cracked jokes that you groaned at, named your babies and blessed your Bar and Bat Mitzvahs, sat
with you in emergency rooms and by
hospital beds, was relieved when you
got better or dodged a bullet, mourned
with you in the mornings and the lonely
nights, grieved with you even more than I showed, cried
tears of sorrow, but also cried tears of joy at your weddings
and anniversaries, yelled at you and pleaded with you,
supported you and encouraged you, told you that you are
better than you think you are, told you not to let the bad
guys get to you, worked hard to promote peace in your
families, and all in all, lived your lives with you.

But lately, more than ever, it’s been hard out there for a
rabbi. It’s been really tough to go out there and face
people who hate you. But your support in recent weeks,
more than ever, has meant the world to me; it’s given me
the wind at my back.
Thank you for that wonderful night. It was beyond just
desserts; I didn’t deserve all this. But in a way, you do.
By allowing me to be your rabbi these forty years, you’ve
given our community a lot of stability and continuity,
and a lot of productive peace.
So together, with the continued blessings of G-d,
Let’s keep going.
Let’s keep standing up for Israel, and Jewish values, like
democracy, and law, and decency, and dialogue.
Let’s keep being there for each other,
But by the way folks, the joke’s on you. I finished forty
years last August. I’m already into the next forty. Take
that, Moses. And Moses didn’t get a fun party like I did.
But that parting the sea thing, that was awesome.
Thank you again.
Rabbi Scolnic