Kehillat Kernow 2012 Annual General Meeting
Held on 18 November 2012
Present:
Leslie Lipert, Pat Lipert, Harvey Kurzfield, Rachel Brown (Secretary), Adam Feldman, Louise Garcia, Bonnie Rockley, Anne Hearle, David Hearle, Anthony Fagin.
Apologies:
Babs Coleman, Liz and Julian Berg and Julie Stone.
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Chairman’s Remarks for AGM Kehillat Kernow Nov. 2012 It’s that time of year again when I put together my thoughts on the past year’s events, tie them together and present them in a concise and meaningful manner! Well, here goes. As usual it has been a year of interesting events as well as all the normal things that take place on a regular basis – including all our Shabbat and Festival services and here I would like to thank all those people who have been prepared to stand and deliver those ‘services’ throughout the year – without their support we would be in a right pickle! I am amazed at the ways in which our service takers always manage to come up with new ideas and thoughts on how to make our services interesting and meaningful. To that end they are helped, I am sure, by the excellent prayer books we now have, which include a range of options for services and I think we are learning how to use these for our own benefit all the time. As always I am also indebted to the members of our committee who continue to give up their time to ensure that all our activities go ahead throughout the year, so my grateful thanks are hereby publicly extended to all those who may be here with me today. I hope that there are also enough members of the community present to actually hear me read this, but if not, perhaps you’ll be able to read this in your next newsletter! The year has included visits from David and Hannah Jacobs and the ‘new man’ at UJIA’s Office for Small Communities, Rabbi Reuben Livingstone. Such visits help us to maintain our contacts with the broader community and keep us in touch with mainstream Judaism. They also serve to boost our confidence, because I strongly believe that our organization, though some distance from the centres of British Jewry, is one that is known to be both vibrant and expanding and that is very encouraging for all of us. In addition to all our services we have also held other successful events. These have included our story-telling evening at the Poly in Falmouth which was open to all and which was well received by a large audience. Proceeds from this event were this event were donated to the Inter-Faith Forum of Cornwall. This is the organization (to which we are affiliated) that is bringing together many different faith groups in Cornwall with the aim of building Dor Kemmyn – the ‘common ground’ facility that will be based at Penmount near Truro. Planning Permission for this amazing building has been granted, the ground plan made clear with a Stonehenge (more of that in a moment) and all that is required now is a large sum of money to get the building erected!! Recently Pat Lipert and I attended this aforementioned ‘Stonehenge’ event at Penmount at which wooden poles were buried in the ground to show the eventual inner structure of the building. Also in attendance were the Lord Lieutenant of Cornwall; The Bishop of Truro; Radio Cornwall and representatives of all the different faiths involved in the project as well as other invited guests. As a member of the Inter-faith forum I have also participated in a number of events, which have introduced large numbers of primary school children to some of the Sacred Texts of different religions. This Thursday will see me head (weather permitting) for the far-off shores of the Scilly Isles where a group of us will be seeking to introduce our separate faiths to pupils at both primary and secondary age groups. Our hardworking treasurer continues to be involved in the TOP SECRET plans which were set in motion over a year ago, but, as with all such schemes, the wheels of bureaucracy tend to run at a very slow speed. I am reasonably confident that during the course of the next year all may be revealed. I for one am praying for a successful conclusion. We have also been engaged with Falmouth Town Council and members of English Heritage in ensuring that the somewhat run-down state of the Jewish cemetery on the outskirts of Falmouth is addressed. So far, after weeks of negotiation some progress has been made and the site has been made a little more secure but the parties involved are hoping to get an agreement from Sainsbury to continue to make the grounds even more secure. Meanwhile, there is, I believe, an agreement that Falmouth Town Council will continue to maintain the grounds. We were all sad to hear of the death of Celia Levy in Israel and messages of sympathy have been conveyed to Elkan Levy. We were also very saddened at the loss of our own Kate Fagin and a number of our members were able to pay their final respects at a moving ceremony at St Budock’s Church and then at the municipal cemetery in Falmouth. The stone setting for Ron Mason took place in Fair Park cemetery in Newquay and Pat Lipert and I were in attendance for that. Brenda Mason is, we were informed, responding to treatment but still immobilized in the care home at St Just. I hope, at some time in the future, to arrange a short Friday night Shabbus service there if the care home authorities are agreeable. To close, I would just like to repeat my thanks to all those who have continued to make our community such a continuing success and may we hope for another fruitful year ahead. Shalom
Cheder progressing nicely Thank you to Rosie Brown for supporting the Cheder and who received a Youth Award from the RSGB Bonnie to hold a Chanukah party for the children
Report distributed with the agenda- a full copy will be held on file Total amount in both accounts at moment £49,634.61 We currently have 3 Kiddush Cups, 2 Mezuzahs and 1scroll Agreed for Leslie to order 5 more cups and 5 more Mezuzahs. Rachel to order 20 tartan kippahs
Full report held on file. The library now holds 882items, 73 new additions made this year including a Simon Wiesenthal biography. All items(each annotated) can be viewed on the KK web-site library
Jackie expressed her many thanks to Leslie for all his hard work in helping her this past year as due to personal problems she was unable to attend and advertise some of the events. In February David Hearle led the woodland walk to celebrate the New Year of the trees. We celebrated the 13th annual European Day of Jewish Culture with an evening of Jewish Story telling which was a great success. Thank you to Harvey, Liz and Louise as well as all the wonderful food supplied by Pat and Nicola. |
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Unanimously agreed |
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Next AGM 10 November 2013 2:00. |