Dear Jeff,

I left a message on your machine, but I just wanted to say again how much
your gift to The Temple means to me, personally. As the current President,
one of my big agendas is youth and camping and you have certainly given that
a major shot in the arm. We have a fabulous new Youth and Camp Committee
Chair in Chris Brice and I do hope that we can all get together when you are
here next week. Chris and I met for over an hour just last week to discuss a
plan of action to get more kids involved. I thought perhaps from your
history of youth group involvement you might be interested in reading my
first bulletin article, so I will copy and paste it to the bottom of this
email. My son was just elected Programming Vice President of our Youth Group
and he will go on the NFTY Exodus trip to Israel next summer. All 3 of my
boys are involved in UAHC camps. I believe that that is the single most
important thing you can do to instill a love of Judaism in kids today. Well,
don't get me started. You see, you have really hit my button on this.

Thank you for your kindness and your vision. May this New Year bring you all
things good..............

Warm personal regards,
Julie Benson
3900 Woodstone Ridge Way
Louisville, Ky. 40241
502-228-4106
Why do I want to be President?

It is indeed an honor and a pleasure to have become the 16th President of
Congregation Adath Israel Brith Sholom. Having already spent 6 years on the
Operating Committee, I've been preparing for a long time. It's very
interesting to me that as soon as it became apparent that I was in line for
this position, the same question kept coming up from many members, including
some of my closest friends. " Why do you want to be President of The
Temple?" was asked of me over and over again, especially during this last
year. It was always asked with kindness, but extreme curiosity, so I thought
that I would take the opportunity of my first bulletin article to give the
entire congregation my answer.

I grew up in New Orleans at Touro Synagogue and at 15 years old became very
involved in my Temple Youth Group (TYG). I was an active member of SoFTY
(Southern Federation of Temple Youth) and spent 2 summers at Kutz Camp
Institute ( the national Reform high school camp) in Warwick, New York. I
taught our Sunday School music and Israeli dance program and just generally
embraced the Reform Movement. I spent 5 summers on the staff of the Henry S.
Jacobs Camp Institute in Utica, Mississippi. (Sister camp to the Myron S.
Goldman Union Camp) Through all of this time, I made life long friends and
contacts that are now leaders in their Reform Congregations around this
country, as well as UAHC staff members. Growing up active in the Reform
Movement, embracing it as a teenager, with my parents' support, has modeled
my religious life and I guess that there was no other choice for me, but to
do this.

There are still other reasons for my taking on this responsibility. I've
heard so many times over this past year, "But what about your family? You'll
be so busy!" It all comes down to the old saying, "If not now, when?" and I
have to add, "If  not me, who?" If I, Julie Benson, don't take the
responsibility to help in a leadership capacity of my Temple, then who else
shall I count on? Can I ask others to do a job that I am not willing to do
myself?

My children are another reason why I do this. Perhaps, from my example, they
will someday feel a sense of obligation to their Jewish community. I would
like to think that one day my grandchildren will look upon my picture
hanging on the wall of The Temple and appreciate the position that I took to
keep their Temple thriving. It's a small, but important job in the scheme of
our Jewish world, and I feel very good knowing that I will do my part, to
the best of my ability and encourage others to do so as well.

The rewards are great. It's the least that I can do and I look forward to
much volunteer involvement over the next two years.

I now ask all of you to get involved on a committee here at Temple. The list
is in this bulletin. Call the chair of a committee that interests you and
say, "Count me in!" You'll soon see that rolling up your sleeves feels
really good. Together, as a community, we can accomplish great things. As a
congregation supporting each other, we will thrive. Let us share our
heritage in every way possible.  Through our combined efforts we will make
The Temple stronger  and in the process, I promise that we will also have
great fun! Thank you for your confidence and for allowing me this
opportunity to serve you, my Temple family.........

B'shalom,

Julie