Thanks so very much to my loyal, trustworthy, dedicated assistant, Annette Bozinko.

In nearly 26 and a half years of service to BSO I have made many decisions, both right and wrong. Without a doubt, one of the wisest decisions I ever made, for you, and for me, was to select Annette Bozinko to be my secretary, my assistant, my co-provider of service to the members of our congregation.

There were other candidates – Annette was my first choice – somehow I was able to sense then what we all know for certain now – Annette has brought to our shul, respect for our religion, plus an innate sense of doing that which is “mateem-appropriate-suitable” in even the most delicate of situations.

This March 20 will be 25 years since Annette Bozinko’s first day of work at BSO. The recognition I receive today is deservedly shared with her. Almost all that Rabbi Philip Pohl has accomplished in our congregation has occurred with added patience, understanding and compassion provided by and from Annette Bozinko.

Thank you Annette, and I thank God that you have included Congregation BSO in your life’s journey.

To Larry Greenberg and the Anniversary Celebration Committee, thank you for your efforts in the planning of this special event.

I am especially grateful to Larry for his support and friendship during all of my 26 ½ years as rabbi in our shul.

I was only 26 years old when I began to serve the congregation. I am appreciative of Larry’s encouragement, guidance and trust when I first came to BSO. I certainly needed it. If the beginning wasn’t as good as it was for all of us, none of us would be celebrating today. Larry, thank you for the confidence you placed in me and helped to build in me.

Thanks very much to all the presidents of BSO – I have worked with all of them, either in their capacity as president and/or through some other facet of their involvement in BSO synagogue life.

I begin with the current president, Jerry Oslick (thanks for arranging this celebration in what has to be considered a most remarkable and accomplished second stint as our president);

Naomi Yadin-Mendick, Larry Fishbein, Mark Wolfson, Shira Oler, Steve Steckler, Gail Goldfarb, Gene Newman, Henry Jacobs, Barbara Abrams, Allan Benish, Gail Bloom, Larry Greenberg, Erwin Bloom, Joel Krinsky and Al Rothschild.

Thanks to our Religious Committee members and its many chairpeople who have helped me create and direct policy on religious issues of importance to our shul. Special thanks to Paula Evans who has served as chairwoman for the last eight years.

Thanks to our Sisterhood for the delicious lunch we will enjoy and to the Men’s Club for ushers today and throughout the year.

Thanks to our wonderful staff with which I share portions of almost every day.

Thank you Cantor Geller, for sharing the Bimah with me, and the holy texts of our people with our congregants. Your davening combines beauty, dignity and respect. Thank you for leading me and all of us in worship.

I also extend thanks to Cantor Aaron Marcus for the four years we shared and to Cantor Don Weisman for his devotion during eleven years with BSO. Cantor Weisman remains involved with our shul seven years later – a good example to follow, don’t you think?

Thank you to Shelley Engel, our new wonderful executive director, for balancing the needs of your staff with the needs of our members. We are fortunate you are with B’nai Shalom of Olney.

I also thank Phyllis Becker, our executive director of the previous 9 years. Phyllis deserves recognition for helping organize the administrative work in our shul during an era of unprecedented growth.

Thanks to Mary Beth Mason, Sandy Branch and Naomi Baer for their work and assistance in our shul office.

Thanks to Jill Epstein for her excellent work as director of religious school education during the last four years, and to Gloria Eiseman with whom I shared the 13 previous years, and to Evey Herschler who served as our educational director for five years before that.

Jill, you bring unbounded enthusiasm and tremendous programming ability to both children and adults in our shul. Thank you for the seriousness with which you approach your work.

Thank you Carol Croll. Along with your staff and many dedicated lay people, you have built our nursery school. I share your pride and I am always thrilled to officiate at a Bar or Bat Mitzvah of one of our former nursery school students.

Both Jill and Carol receive exceptional support from Elaine Fox and Trudy Doss respectively. Their efforts spill over to the rest of us as they know and understand that they work not only for the religious and nursery schools, but for the shul as a whole.

Thank you Jacob Komisar for your work with our youth – Mazel Tov on your upcoming marriage, and may you soon produce some youth of your own.

Thank you to Juan, Carlos and John for their being ever ready to push, pull, shlep, and set up items for our services, programs and classes.

Thank you to Terry Smith who has been with B’nai Shalom of Olney for 13 years.

Thanks to my father, Max Pohl, for demonstrating to me when I was a young boy working in his store, how to treat customers (aka – congregants) and co-workers. Thanks for demonstrating that work could be fulfilling and fun, while also not compromising on what it takes to succeed.

Thanks to my mother, Rose Pohl, for helping to move me down to Olney on an oppressively hot Sunday, July 23, 1978. She was then, exactly the same age as I am now. And, she is still just as smart, strong, energetic and good-looking today as she was then, thank GOD!

Thanks to my parents, Max and Rose Pohl, for raising me in a traditional Jewish family – and for entering me into the covenant of our people, despite the overwhelming personal loss they experienced in their refusal to dishonor and abrogate that covenant.

Thanks to my in-laws, Al and Ruth Temin, for their generosity to our shul, their consistent support and unending encouragement for more than 20 years.

I remember with fondness Ruth’s parents, Lou and Dora Freedman, and express gratitude for their presence at B’nai Shalom of Olney – they were an important link to my earliest contact and relationship with Sharon, which really began when I first saw her walk into the shul in August 1983.

Thanks to my sisters, my brothers-in-law, my sister-in-law, my nieces and nephews, my extended family, for their constant love and understanding.

To my wife Sharon, thank you for joining me in my life and creating our life at BSO. Thank you for giving me a life of meaning, love and holiness, separate from BSO. You didn’t choose this life, you chose me, after I chose you, but you now know, in your own right, how much Judaism can add to marriage and family life.

Just as this synagogue never had a full-time rabbi before I arrived on the scene in 1978, it didn’t have a full-time - Sharon, you’ll excuse the term - “rebbitzin.” But after you entered B’nai Shalom, you also created your own place here as well. You began by serving as a teacher, music teacher, and B’nai Mitzvah tutor, all of which are tasks for which you have been compensated.

However, you also volunteered and found other ways to contribute and be involved in our shul – the choir, serving on the Bikur Holim committee, beginning Gan Shabbat, beginning babysitting, serving as a Gabbai, and other ways as well. I am grateful, and I am proud of the way in which you made our shul your spiritual home.

To Rebecca, Ariela and Hadar – you bring joy to my life every day, and nothing makes me feel more fortunate than being your Abba – thank you for sharing me with the membership of our shul, which, of course, has become your shul!

Let me tell you why I suggested we hold this anniversary celebration on a Shabbat morning. All my life, nothing has given me greater satisfaction than going to shul on Shabbat morning and worshiping with my fellow Jews. That hasn’t changed in my 26 ½ years as a rabbi. Instead, that experience has only become a greater and more enriching part of my life. This time I wanted my rabbinate to be celebrated by davening together and being certain that we together, thank God for all that we have shared.

And so, I would like to thank all of you, the members of Congregation B’nai Shalom of Olney, for without you, there is no congregation.

To reinforce this point, let me quote a few sentences from the President’s message in a previous newsletter from B’nai Shalom of Olney, which actually was then called the Olney Jewish Congregation.

This is from an article written by then-president Joel Krinsky in May 1974, more than 30 years ago:

“The budget and building fund evoked much discussion. The business of getting a Rabbi and Torah is no easy or inexpensive business. For one, a full-time rabbi at this point in time would require an additional assessment of from $200-300 per family, and a Torah would deplete our bank account. In this particular area, I would like to thank Gene Newman for his comments. ‘A Rabbi and Torah do not make a congregation, its members do.’”

Just to let you know how far we’ve come, there is a note at the end of that article which says the following – “There will be services during the summer months.”

And just to remind you how everything stays the same – below that it says: “All members interested in helping plan and participate in High Holy Day services, please contact Jerry Goldberg.”

Another item from this old newsletter that I will quote simply because it refers to someone who is here: “We are painting the school rooms and hope to have them ready for school. People are needed to serve on this committee. Anyone interested, please call Howard Press at …..”

Now let me read this item, which clearly explains how desperately the synagogue needed a rabbi: “Prior to the beginning of Rosh Hashanah week, there will be a S’lichot service at midnight on Saturday, September 22 in the Synagogue room. This is a traditional service which is quite interesting and welcomes in the High Holy Days. In order to entice all to attend, a get-together for drinks and refreshments will be held at Al Rothchild’s home, (address provided) from 9 P.M. to 10 P.M. Then the scene will shift to Jerry Goldberg’s home (address provided) for more of the same from 10 P.M. to 11 P.M. From there all will proceed to the synagogue.”

Now I understand why I had to serve as Rabbi – the congregants didn’t know the difference between S’lichot and Purim!

One last item that is amusing – from Sisterhood News, written by Sue Levine – “On October 17 our monthly meeting was held in the old hospital at 8:30. The business meeting was cut short so the girls could play Bingo. Bill Magliaro and Walter Bleich were callers for the exciting evening – especially for the winners who made off like bandits. Everyone was anxious to begin playing, but there was some important business that had to be completed.”

Getting back to my main point, without a doubt, the most beautiful and special aspect of being the rabbi of this congregation, has come from the opportunities to serve you, to be with you, and to share with you the most sacred, and difficult experiences of your lives.

I really have been like family to you, because I have been invited into your family life during all the times when you extend an invitation to your family members, or when you reach out to them for help. I am grateful to you for allowing me to join you in those special and sacred occasions.

Personally, it has brought me great satisfaction, and professionally, nothing has given me greater pride than sharing with you the wisdom of our people, and the beauty of our traditions. I tried to do so at times when you needed them most. Almost always you have been quite receptive to my bringing them into your lives.

I also want to thank all the rabbis in this community and elsewhere who have supported me and helped me during these last 26 ½ years. I especially thank Rabbi Mark Loeb for joining with us this Shabbat morning. I have learned from each of them, yet there is only one I want to mention specifically today. I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned this publicly before, and so it is appropriate that I express my gratitude to Rabbi Aaron Pearlstein, also known as Arkie, who died in his early 60’s from cancer.

He told me, “Do the following, and you will be considered a successful pulpit rabbi. Make your hospital visits, return your phone calls, and answer your correspondence.”

When he told me that I thought, “You know, I can do that, maybe not 100% of the time, but I think I can do it at least 90% of the time.” I made up my mind to be available and accessible to the members of Congregation B’nai Shalom of Olney because I learned long ago, from Rabbi Pearlstein and from others, that there really is no substitute for being present in people’s lives when they need you.

Then, of course, voice mail and e-mail had to make that all much more complicated and demanding.

What have I learned by being present with you at the most important occasions in your lives? What have I tried to do with you and for you?

The answer I will suggest today comes from a paragraph in the Etz Hayim Humash written by Rabbi Harold Kushner in his Midrashic Commentary to the opening stories in the Torah portion we read earlier.

We read of Pharaoh’s dreams, and how his dreams represented the prediction of good years followed by seven lean or difficult years. Everybody knows the story, right?

Listen to what Rabbi Kushner wrote on Page 215 in the Etz Hayim Humash –

“One of the lessons of the Joseph story, reinforced by its being read as autumn gives way to winter, is that life is cyclical. Good years are followed by lean years, adversity is followed by success, rejection yields to connection, winter gives way to spring and summer, only to return again.”

“What can be learned from this Parasha is to prepare ourselves in good days, days in which holiness is revealed, to set the light in our hearts, to be there in times when holiness seems far off?”

The author of the commentary S’fat Emet answers his own question:
“ We must store up resources of faith, even as the Egyptians stored grain, to nourish us spiritually when events turn against us.”

That’s the lesson of Hanukkah – and that is the lesson I learned from being with each and every one of you over all these years.

Even when life is darkest, together, as a community, as a congregation, as fellow Jews with one another, we can find the light, see it, benefit from it and allow it to guide us to better times and better days.

All we need to find is the smallest amount, and we can add to it and make it grow. And life can grow from bad to better, from bitter to sweeter, from sad to happy.

That’s why we follow the suggestion of Hillel, the great sage, and begin with one candle on the first night of Hanukkah and add one more each night – ma-alin b’kodesh v’lo moreedeem – we ascend in matters of holiness and never look to decline.

My role was to help you add joy to your most happy occasions, to your greatest simhas, and my role was to also help you find light when life was darkest.

I did that by presenting to you a gift that is already yours and belongs to you, not one iota more than it belongs to me.

Mae Levin story -

The resources of Judaism are always available to you; my task was to make them accessible to you.

And that’s why I first came to this congregation 26 ½ years ago to begin serving as the rabbi. You know the story. We were in a shed, and why would anybody have chosen to work here, to build a life out here, especially a single young Jewish man?

I now know the answer to that question, and I know it’s not because I’m crazy. The last 26 ½ years are proof that it was not a crazy decision. Rather, it was because this community offered me an opportunity to share with you skills I already possessed, while giving me the time to develop other skills that came along over the years.

This congregation not only needed a rabbi, it needed a kol bo – someone who did it all. And back then, I was young, and I was stronger, and I had nothing else to do on Friday nights other than come home from shul and prepare Torah readings, at least until I hooked on Dallas!

So, I was ready to do it all, because what the shul needed then, I knew how to do.

Yes, I could teach some Torah, even though I really didn’t know how to deliver a sermon.

I could lead the davening, even though I didn’t know very much about counseling.

And somehow, God gave me the ability to provide some comfort to people. The very first funeral at which I officiated was that of Jean Tishman, of blessed memory, a woman in her mid-30’s who died of cancer. I knew the prayers but I really didn’t know what else to do. But God helped me and I learned to always trust in God’s help.

In other words, I knew enough about synagogue religious life to manage the religious life of this synagogue. And, all the while, I spent more and more years really learning how to be a rabbi.

I knew, in the deepest part of my soul, that I had the ability to give you enough of what you needed at the beginning, so I could then develop more of what you needed as we grew together.

You know that I lost one of my dearest friends, a friend since the earliest days of college, Kenny Goldrich, zichrono l’vracha, in the beginning of October, right after all the fall holidays. He would have been here today, just as he was present at my 10th anniversary with B’nai Shalom of Olney and my 18th. I miss him today and every day.

Yet, I am blessed to have along with me today from Albany, New York, my longest and dearest friend from early childhood, Steve Abelson. We have remained the closest of friends for more than 40 years. He and I grew up together and we know our greatest moments of joy and our moments of deepest sadness.

So it is with me and B’nai Shalom of Olney. We have grown up together and we have taught each other how to be a rabbi and congregation.

Thank you for working with me in making our choice of one another the right choice.

Thank you for opening up your homes and your hearts to me and for allowing me to open my heart and soul to you.

Finally, join me in thanking God for everything we have accomplished together.

And I wish to do so by having us all join together in singing the first stanza of Maoz Tzur! Listen to the literal translation of the first stanza and you will hear how appropriate it is to sing on this day when the shul and the rabbi celebrate together:

Maoz Tzur Yeshuati – O mighty Rock of my salvation

L’cha Na-eh L’shabayach – to praise You is a delight.

Tikon bayt Tefilati – Restore My house of prayer.

V’sham todah n’zabayach – And there we will bring a thanksgiving offering.

L’ayt tachin mat-bayach – When you have prepared the slaughter

Mitzar ham’nabayach – For the blaspheming foe

Az agmor b’shir mizmor – Then I shall complete with a song and hymn

Hanukat ha-mizbayach – the dedication of the altar.

Amen!