KA CC Archive Jun 2025

Shalom, Kol Ami!

I hope you are all well into your summer plans, whether that includes travel, camping, catching up on reading, or just keeping cool by the pool. At Kol Ami, we are already diving (yes, pun intended) into our extensive preparations for this fall’s High Holiday season. You thought all that stuff just happens? Nope!

Same with our Board of Trustees and Committee Chairs, who will be holding a brainstorming retreat this summer to formulate the visions, responsibilities, and goals for their portfolios. They’ll be ready to roll all that out in August for our Annual Kick-off Open House, where you will be able to choose ways to get involved that suit your interests.

Summer is also a time of transition at Kol Ami. We are saying a final farewell to our beloved, hard-working, (dare I say legendary?) Executive Director, Mitch Weiss, on June 30^th. Please stop by the office before then to express your thanks to him and wish him well on his next adventure. While you’re there, please introduce yourself to our new Director of Operations, Tanya Spivey. Tanya hails from St. Louis, where she grew up in a vibrant Jewish community. She brings a lot of ideas to Kol Ami and with her Master’s Degree in Hospitality from UF, many of her ideas will probably help us continue to implement our Relational Judaism goal!

Speaking of transition, I want to congratulate Sharon Cross on finishing a successful term as Sisterhood President and wish much success to our incoming Sisterhood President, Barbara Freedland. I also want to congratulate Jon Zimmer on finishing his successful term(s!) as Brotherhood President and wish much success to our incoming Brotherhood President, Yoav Rappaport. I also want to thank all those who have stepped up to serve on the Sisterhood and Brotherhood leadership boards and those who have already served. If you didn’t know, Brotherhood and Sisterhood are two of our superpowers here at Kol Ami! I highly recommend getting involved with them.

On Wednesday, June 18, at 6 pm, our Rising Song Circle, led by Keri Baker and Rabbi Blatt, will be meeting again, and you’re welcome to join them. No experience necessary, just bring your love of music.

For the rest of the summer, all Shabbat services will be held in the Chapel. Please park in the back and enter through the Chapel lobby.

B’shalom,

Jody Sampson-Nair

President