Dear Congregants,
Those of you who are longtime members of BCRC may scarcely believe it, but the time has come once again to discuss renewing BCRC’s contract with our Rabbi. Those of you who have joined us since mid-2016 may not even be aware that this was something congregations actually had to do. Either way, our first seven-year contract with Rabbi Amy Sapowith is due to expire at the end of our current fiscal year, on June 30, 2023.
That is still some time away, but the BCRC constitution (which I invite you to familiarize yourself with) requires that:
No later than ten months before the completion of the Rabbi’s term of service, the Board shall communicate with the Rabbi regarding her/his desire to renew the Rabbi’s contract. If the Rabbi desires renewal, the Board shall thereafter communicate to the Congrestation the impending expiration of the Rabbi’s term of service and allow the Congregation the opportunity to supply feedback. [Art. XI, Section 1(c).]
Ten months before the end of the contract works out to August 31, 2022, and I am pleased to report that Rabbi Amy does in fact desire renewal of our relationship. Therefore, this letter serves as the Board’s communication to you, the Congregation, of the impending expiration of the current contract, and to open the period during which you’ll have “the opportunity to supply feedback.”
To whom should you supply your feedback? The BCRC constitution is silent on that. But in the absence of any prior precedent, we’ll set up a special email address, Feedback@bcrcva.org, to collect your comments.
According to the BCRC constitution, the feedback and comment period must remain open for at least 30 days, after which (and no later than eight months prior to the expiration of the contract, or around October 31, 2022), the Board of Directors will then make a recommendation as to the Rabbi’s re-election, shortly after which we’ll be communicating with you again, to let you know what the next steps will be.
Again, if you’d like a preview of the process beyond that point, it’s all explained in Article XI of the BCRC constitution. But for now, we encourage you to supply your feedback during the comment period, after which we’ll move on, beginning with a fuller explanation of the final phases of the re-election process.
L’shalom,
David Waldman
BCRC Board President
