Letter from Outgoing President Henry Mourad
Dear Fellow Karaites,
From the depth of my heart, I want to thank you for allowing me to serve the KJA as your President for the past two years. It's been an honor and a privilege to dedicate my time and efforts to our beloved community and to be on the Board of Directors for the past ten years. Past Presidents before me paved the way and established a road map to continue in their footsteps. In my mind's eye, my mission was crystal clear. And, I hoped that together backed with your support, we would continue our heritage and devotion to see the larger community flourish.
My mission was simple and direct. I was committed to involve our young generation and guide them to embrace Judaism in its purest form. Our objective was to make them immersed in Hebrew studies and show them the beauty of our movement within Judaism. We wanted our prayer and its liturgy to be spiritual and also unique. Yet, even though the mission was simple, the task was quite complex. In these modern times, daily life is complicated and time is scarce and scheduling these programs required a great deal of flexibility.
But, we were all committed to work around these obstacles and we did our best to overcome any and all road blocks to achieve a path to our destination. Fortunately, I was not working alone. I had tremendous help from dedicated members who were relentless in their devotion and were committed to ensure our success.
Under the guidance of Shawn Lichaa several programs were successfully carried out. Our Family Shabbat service attracted congregants who saw the beauty of family participation and involvement in our Shabbat prayers. Additionally, the Karaite Press was quite successful in publishing several books and piqued the interest of our community even further. Our weekly Parashiot were recorded for the convenience of our congregants and to benefit others who resided outside the Bay Area. Our educational program, headed by Zaki Jacob, taught many members of our community the Hebrew language with the intricate details of vocalization.
Moreover, our plans also encompassed the renovation of our Synagogue and erect a new additional space to house a Karaite Jewish Cultural Center and a social hall. With the leadership of David Ovadia, our dream is becoming a reality. His dedication was unsurpassed and his pursuit of our objectives was persistent. The details, coordination and execution of the plan was the utmost in precision.
To fund our plans, David and Maryellen Ovadia dedicated many hours and formed a volunteer committee to raise the funds necessary to move these intentions forward. To our great satisfaction, we were happy to see that the community stood behind our efforts and pledged their commitment for these plans and donated with an open heart. You blessed our objectives through your unwavering support and gave us the go ahead with your solid backing. I thank you all for your generosity to safeguard the true purpose of our cherished cause. I could not be more thrilled to see how our Karaite community was united in their beliefs and approved of our plans.
Furthermore, we reached to our community and asked them for their assistance so we may in turn help others who are less fortunate. As expected, we were not disappointed either. We were indeed happy to see an overwhelming response. Together, we upheld our Jewish traditions for the ultimate Mitzvah and followed God's commandments. Nothing pleased me more than to have expanded that program and to have made sure that the whole community is better off with each passing day.
My special thanks go to all the Hazanim who dedicated their time and efforts to conduct our prayers under the guidance of Joseph Moussa and Joe Pessah. A big thank you to Marc Khedr for his meticulous upkeep of our Synagogue and his taking care of our finances. Also, I cannot forget to thank Mike Ovadia for informing us of the Shabbat schedule and other events every single week. My gratitude to Sarah Lichaa for running the office like clockwork and Abe Massuda for maintaining our database.
-Now, it is time for me to pass the baton to the next leader of our community, David Ovadia, who was elected new President of the Board at last weeks’ Board Meeting. Remember, at one time in our past, the Karaite community's numbers were comparable to that of other Jewish movements. I am positive that by working together and standing behind our new leader once more, coupled with your continued support, we can pave the way to restore our great heritage and unique tradition.
As always, we will continue to coordinate with our brothers and sisters in Israel to achieve these noble endeavors.
Sincerely,
Henry Mourad
From the depth of my heart, I want to thank you for allowing me to serve the KJA as your President for the past two years. It's been an honor and a privilege to dedicate my time and efforts to our beloved community and to be on the Board of Directors for the past ten years. Past Presidents before me paved the way and established a road map to continue in their footsteps. In my mind's eye, my mission was crystal clear. And, I hoped that together backed with your support, we would continue our heritage and devotion to see the larger community flourish.
My mission was simple and direct. I was committed to involve our young generation and guide them to embrace Judaism in its purest form. Our objective was to make them immersed in Hebrew studies and show them the beauty of our movement within Judaism. We wanted our prayer and its liturgy to be spiritual and also unique. Yet, even though the mission was simple, the task was quite complex. In these modern times, daily life is complicated and time is scarce and scheduling these programs required a great deal of flexibility.
But, we were all committed to work around these obstacles and we did our best to overcome any and all road blocks to achieve a path to our destination. Fortunately, I was not working alone. I had tremendous help from dedicated members who were relentless in their devotion and were committed to ensure our success.
Under the guidance of Shawn Lichaa several programs were successfully carried out. Our Family Shabbat service attracted congregants who saw the beauty of family participation and involvement in our Shabbat prayers. Additionally, the Karaite Press was quite successful in publishing several books and piqued the interest of our community even further. Our weekly Parashiot were recorded for the convenience of our congregants and to benefit others who resided outside the Bay Area. Our educational program, headed by Zaki Jacob, taught many members of our community the Hebrew language with the intricate details of vocalization.
Moreover, our plans also encompassed the renovation of our Synagogue and erect a new additional space to house a Karaite Jewish Cultural Center and a social hall. With the leadership of David Ovadia, our dream is becoming a reality. His dedication was unsurpassed and his pursuit of our objectives was persistent. The details, coordination and execution of the plan was the utmost in precision.
To fund our plans, David and Maryellen Ovadia dedicated many hours and formed a volunteer committee to raise the funds necessary to move these intentions forward. To our great satisfaction, we were happy to see that the community stood behind our efforts and pledged their commitment for these plans and donated with an open heart. You blessed our objectives through your unwavering support and gave us the go ahead with your solid backing. I thank you all for your generosity to safeguard the true purpose of our cherished cause. I could not be more thrilled to see how our Karaite community was united in their beliefs and approved of our plans.
Furthermore, we reached to our community and asked them for their assistance so we may in turn help others who are less fortunate. As expected, we were not disappointed either. We were indeed happy to see an overwhelming response. Together, we upheld our Jewish traditions for the ultimate Mitzvah and followed God's commandments. Nothing pleased me more than to have expanded that program and to have made sure that the whole community is better off with each passing day.
My special thanks go to all the Hazanim who dedicated their time and efforts to conduct our prayers under the guidance of Joseph Moussa and Joe Pessah. A big thank you to Marc Khedr for his meticulous upkeep of our Synagogue and his taking care of our finances. Also, I cannot forget to thank Mike Ovadia for informing us of the Shabbat schedule and other events every single week. My gratitude to Sarah Lichaa for running the office like clockwork and Abe Massuda for maintaining our database.
-Now, it is time for me to pass the baton to the next leader of our community, David Ovadia, who was elected new President of the Board at last weeks’ Board Meeting. Remember, at one time in our past, the Karaite community's numbers were comparable to that of other Jewish movements. I am positive that by working together and standing behind our new leader once more, coupled with your continued support, we can pave the way to restore our great heritage and unique tradition.
As always, we will continue to coordinate with our brothers and sisters in Israel to achieve these noble endeavors.
Sincerely,
Henry Mourad
