This Sunday, the UJCVP will host our Annual Meeting. The afternoon will include the installation of our new board slate, a glimpse into the work of the UJCVP and what lies ahead, the awarding of the Young Leadership Award and the Beskin Memorial Scholarship Award, and a delicious BBQ luncheon with all the fixings. I hope that you will join us. 

More than anything, our Annual Meeting is an opportunity to come together to celebrate our collective work and recognize the critical role each of us plays in building and sustaining our community. It is a chance for us to celebrate you, because participating in this community is a choice. And we don't take your presence or interest for granted.  

I am reminded over and over the impact that your participation can have in all aspects of what our Virginia Peninsula Jewish community is. Whether it’s volunteering your time, serving on a committee, participating in one of our many programs, praying at your synagogue, advocating with our Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC), or sharing your treasure to sustain a strong future.  

Anyway that you choose to be involved, makes a difference.  

This theme is illustrated in this week's Torah reading, as it opens with the blessings that are promised to the Israelites - security, peace, economic prosperity. Included in these blessings is a prediction of military supremacy: "Five of you will pursue a hundred, and a hundred of you will pursue ten thousand, and your enemies will fall before you by the sword."  

But the observant reader is bothered by the math. If five can defeat a hundred, a hundred should defeat two thousand. The multiple of the first is twenty; the multiple of the second is one-hundred! Which of them is accurate? Why mention the first scenario if the second example is so much better? 

The famed Medieval commentator Rashi concludes that this isn't a mistake, but rather an observation on the ability of a community to be more than just the sum of its parts. Communities act as multipliers, amplifying the power of individuals. So, if five people have a certain power, one-hundred people leverage power which is exponentially greater.

When individuals come together with a shared purpose, their collective efforts can overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles. 

I hope to see you on Sunday to celebrate your contributions. In our community, everyone's effort counts and together we create a force much stronger than the sum of its parts.

Shabbat Shalom, 

Eric Maurer
Executive Director
emaurer@ujcvp.org