GJC’s Annual Congregational Meeting (via Zoom)

Germantown Jewish Centre’s Bylaws require that the following notice be provided to the congregation in conjunction with the Annual Meeting:

Article X.B of the Bylaws
The report of the Nominating Committee shall be mailed by the Recording Secretary to every member of the congregation, together with the notice of the Annual Meeting, as set forth at Article V, paragraph D of these Bylaws. Other nominations may be made by petition signed by twenty-five (25) members of the congregation, provided that such petition shall be signed by the nominee and received by the Chairman of the Nominating Committee at least fourteen (14) days prior to the election. Such nominations shall be presented at the Annual Meeting, together with the report of the Nominating Committee. There shall be no nominations from the floor.

AGENDA

· Ma’ariv: Rabbi Richman
· D’var Torah: Rabbi Zeff
· Presentation of GJC’s 3rd Annual Impact Report: Nina Peskin
· Financial Report: Dan Livney
· Presentation of Congregant of the Year, Rabbi Beth Janus: Dan Livney (please scroll down to read more about Beth)
· President’s Report: Dan Livney
· Nominating Committee Report: Helen Feinberg (please click here to view report)
*Discharge of Outgoing Officers/ Directors
*Installation of Incoming Officers/ Directors
· Closing Blessing- Prayer for the congregation and our future: Rabbi Zeff

GJC is proud to recognize Rabbi Beth Janus as its Congregant of the Year

Rabbi Beth Janus, Seth Lieberman, and their children, Zeke (Zekie) and Nami, specifically chose the neighborhood of Mt. Airy because of its proximity to GJC when they moved from California 11 year ago. Seth had been a member before meeting Beth, and the community drew them here, as well as the ECP, where they knew they wanted to enroll their children. Beth and Seth became active members of GJC and of Minyan Dorshei Derekh. When asked what place GJC occupies in their lives, Beth answered, “It’s pretty dominant. It’s almost our entire social life, and our religious life.”

Beth has always loved being Jewish. Growing up in a large family (one of her grandparents had eight siblings) in the small, Jewish community in Richmond, VA, as a child Beth felt like she was related to half the Jews in the area. Her strong connection to her family and to friends in BBYO instilled the feeling that being Jewish was special. From this foundation, she began to consider the rabbinate, in part because she encountered a number of people in college who were skeptical about Judaism. That juxtaposition to her own feelings about Judaism helped clarify how core it was in her own life and sparked her path to becoming a rabbi.

One of the many rabbis who have enriched GJC by giving their valuable time, professional expertise, and skill to GJC, Beth has volunteered in many ways in the time she and her family have been members. She served as one of the co-chairs of the GJC Family Retreat in its early years. Later she began serving as one of Dorshei Derekh’s mazkirut. When the pandemic hit and we began to get a sense of the scope of need within our congregation, Beth, Genie Ravital, and Rabbi Marsha Friedman collaborated with Rabbi Zeff and Rabbi Richman to try to meet some of those needs. Starting with a survey and then organizing the response into calling members to check in, and offering various pastoral support groups, these three volunteers mobilized dozens more congregants to do outreach and offer support. Beth said of her experience, “I was inspired at the very beginning because it seemed like the pastoral needs were going to be really intense, and that Adam and Bec couldn’t meet all those needs. I wanted to help with that; it was something I could do, to organize the calls and make many of them myself. The vast majority of people we contacted were really moved, and their feeling and connection to our community really grew. There was a lot of gratification, and we did surface some things that people needed help with but didn’t think to call the rabbis about, and we were able to connect them to support.”

When asked why Beth chose to invest time volunteering for GJC, she answered, “Because I know how unique GJC is. To have this progressive, Jewish community where people are so committed – the values I share with people – it’s very self-serving. I have friends, my spiritual needs are met, I connect with people. This isn’t selfless- this is my vision of Judaism.”

GJC is deeply grateful to Beth and the team of volunteers who made this outreach possible and is so glad for the opportunity to recognize her contributions to our community. Thank you, Beth!