Farash Grant

Support from the Farash Foundation has been crucial in developing and delivering on our initiatives. Temple Beth El has received a grant totaling one million dollars to be distributed over the course of three years. The main purposes for this grant are: new hires, launching a multi-year endowment campaign, Jewish community engagement, and staff training. The shift in the use of the shul space has been great, especially in the post-covid world, and a major goal is to evolve with the needs of the greater Rochester Jewish community.

Staffing at TBE is a major goal in the strategic plan. Currently, the professional staff is stretched thin and does not have the full bandwidth to execute all plans we have formulated. It is also a challenging time to fill key clergy and senior staff positions. To help lead this initiative there is now a staffing task force, as laid out in the strategic plan, to identify staffing needs and create job descriptions. The Farash grant will fund the addition of new staff to our team, along with necessary professional development.

Historically the Synagogue has been funded by membership dues, however future generations are not “joiners” in the same sense. This has led us to focus more on development as a means to fund our new initiatives, from individuals and foundations, but also by focusing on raising more endowment funds. A future goal is to support a multi-year endowment campaign to secure financial sustainability for our congregation.

One of the major initiatives in the strategic plan and within the Farash grant is community engagement and welcoming. We have been working collaboratively with Temple Beth Am and Temple Beth David, two smaller Conservative Synagogues that are now under our roof. Our intention is to work together to meet the current and future needs of our communities, individually and collectively, while preserving the history and legacy of our institutions. This can be done through the task force on preserving Conservative Judaism with support from Farash. Engagement is a multifaceted struggle, and we aim to build programs that appeal to all demographics to ensure all are at home here at Temple Beth El.