Mark Twain once said that reports of his death were greatly exaggerated. After Rabbi Goldfeder announced his intention to take a job at MIT’s Hillel, many folks in the Boulder community told me they doubted the viability of Aish Kodesh.

I think anyone who has been davening with us each Shabbos would have a different perspective. Our (admittedly small) sanctuary has been standing-room-only most shabbatot. After enjoying the best Kiddush in town (I know I’ll get some blowback for that, but what other shuls serve up smoked salmon, Adin’s special sourdough challah, Ketriellah’s vegetarian cholent, an array of hummous, veggies, fruit, etc. each shabbat?), we hang out in our beautiful back yard for hours before traipsing off for third meal and musical havdalah.

This past year we have grown our membership by 33%, with five new members in just the past month. There is a real sense of cohesion and kavanah in our community as we confront the task of hiring a new rabbi. Last Sunday we not only spent six hours cleaning up the outside of our property, we also met for a three-hour community meeting to clarify our next steps as we grow into the future.

Yes, we will miss Rabbi Goldfeder and his family. We feel blessed that we are saying goodbye to people we love and will miss. But we are also confident about our future and what we need to do to achieve it. Aish Kodesh has never been this strong.

And we will get Ketriellah’s and Adin’s recipes before they leave.

Shabbat Shalom,
Dan Kinderlehrer
President
Kehillat Aish Kodesh