I come to this newly rededicated sanctuary and this pulpit to offer best wishes of blessing as Barry Block becomes Senior Rabbi of this historically vibrant temple. At this highly significant moment, I carry with me the most pleasing expressions of thousands of people, throughout this land, who consider you a caring friend and a rabbi of the highest caliber. The number, “thousands,” is no exaggeration, because you have shared so much with so many!

At this holy time, as you, Barry, bond with this congregation and community, I bring you a gift in the form of an appropriate and splendid insight of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel:

“I am convinced that the sense of meaning grows not by spectacular acts but by quiet deeds day by day.”
(Quoted from Moral Grandeur and Spiritual Audacity)

When this moving service is memory, I know it will be "the quiet deeds day by day" that will form the soul and substance of your interaction with us all. Holiness enters our lives at every turn, but particularly in our relationships with each other. That is the meaning of this moment and every moment of our journey together.

We are all here not only to be part of an installation, but rather more genuinely to make an investment---this congregation to rabbi, and this rabbi to congregation.

May it be God's Will to fashion this precious investment into a deeply meaningful relationship that grows more pleasing day by day by day.

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