News

2004-09-08	FINALLY, WE'RE HERE!!!! Thank you so much to everyone who made today a reality! The move was splendid - with everyone's help (including our salaried friends), we were able to make our move with time to spare. Special thanks to Jonathan Gershater for organizing the move. We couldn't have done it without you! Be sure to check out the pictures (left nav)!
2004-08-13	Friends- Many of you were in shul this past week, when we briefly touched on the timeline till our move to the new location at 4102 El Camino Real. In fewer than 4 weeks, we'll be moving in! Our plan is to conduct a community move on Labor Day. You'll find here a more extensive building report (sorry for the size of the attachment). It covers the scope of work, finances, architecture, and even the colors! Feel free to email me with questions or comments. As always, we need your support - please be in touch if you'd like to become more involved. We're all looking forward to the big day! Warm regards, Jonathan
2004-05-03	We're finally there! Tomorrow morning (IY"H), our transaction for the new building will be completed. Funds from our bank accounts and from the bank are in place. It's just a matter of recording the sale. Yiyasher Kochacha to each of so many people who made this possible (and this list is likely incomplete!): Rabbi Feldman and Stan Sussman for leading building campaign. Saman Shemtob for organizing our efforts to raise funds from our members and our alumni. Miriam Ayala for keeping our records in order and our acknowledgements prompt. David Boxerman and Phil Deutsch for working through our many loan options. Larry Marton, Jen Burney, and our friend Jim Baer for putting our best foot forward with the local neighborhood associations and ensuring our Conditional Use Permit. And, of course, to all those who gave, continue to give, of both their time and resources, to our worthy project. When we first got together in late December, we talked of meeting in the spring to gather input on our new facility. On Sunday morning May 9th (Lag BaOmer) at 10AM, the improvements committee will host an open meeting in our current facility to solicit input from our members and friends. Agenda: * LeChaim (or the equivalent over bagels) * Where are we in the process? * Review of mandated decisions (due to regulations and or budget constraints). * Ground rules and approach to input * Solicitation and capture of input on the new building We're looking forward to seeing you there! Sunday, May 9th, 10 AM 260 Sheridan Ave.
2004-03-02	After weeks of tireless work by David Boxerman and Phil Deutsch, we are pleased to announce the reciept of a loan committment from our partner, The Private Bank of the Peninsula (http://www.the-private-bank.com). The officers of this new Palo Alto-based bank custom-tailored a loan to work with our plans for the years ahead. We're delighted with the service, attention, and understanding we've received and the committment and dedication they have extended to us as an organization. And if you're looking for a customer-focused bank for personal or business banking, you've just found one. With our financing plan in place, the list of activities in the weeks ahead is short and sweet: 0. Join in - send in a contribution. Every day the future looks brigher (literally, there are plenty of windows at the new facility). If you haven't made a committment to be a part of this "paradigm shift" for our community, don't procrastinate another minute! Send in a check today! 1. Redeem current pledges. We're going to be in touch soon to remind everyone to get their funds in promptly. Beat us to it by mailing your check, wiring the money, or transferring the stock. Why wait another minute? The time is NOW. Redeem your pledge as soon as possible to avoid any delays in our escrow closing. 2. Last chance for the downpayment. We're also hoping that we can collectively make one last stretch for more funds -- both personally and from friends and family. Every dollar makes a difference -- and no time is more compelling than now to ask for the support of those outside and inside our community. 3. Sustaining committments. Controlling our destiny (minimally, our air conditioning and lighting) requires us to step up and plan for the future. Think about how you can contribute monthly, quarterly, or annually in addition to your membership committment. Let's take pride in the new facility! 4. City approval. Our zoning/occupancy team is hard at work organizing community meetings and working with City Hall to arrange for the necessary approvals. 5. Transition planning. With everything moving along, we're starting to pull together the plan for the necessary improvements and steps in moving to our new facility. Our thanks again to everyone -- for the generosity, committment, support, energy, and enthusiasm. Keep it up - we're almost there!
2004-02-19	Fundraising: Thanks to the generosity of our community and supporters, and to the hard work of the fundraising team, we have reached the threshold we set for funds needed for the down payment and our estimate of funds required for move-in upgrades (e.g., new roof, seismic improvements). Fundraising efforts are continuing, and if you have not had a chance to participate or would like to increase your contribution, your support is most appreciated. Loan: We have a signed loan commitment from our partner, The Private Bank of the Peninsula (http://www.the-private-bank.com).The officers of this new Palo Alto-based bank custom-tailored a loan to work with our plans for the years ahead. We're delighted with the service, attention, and understanding we've received and the committment and dedication they have extended to us as an organization. And if you're looking for a customer-focused bank for personal or business banking, you've just found one. Zoning/Occupancy: Discussions with neighborhood organizations and the City of Palo Alto are underway. To date, we have received strong support for our purchase of the building from the individual and group meetings we've had. A major meeting, hosted by the Barron Park Association, is planned for March 1st, at which we will have an oportunity to hear and respond to neighborhood concerns, if any. Discussions with the city are proceeding more slowly than we would like. We are expeditiously responding to the city's recent request for additional information to support the Conditional Use Permit we will need for occupancy. The city's process for granting the Use Permit will include a public hearing before the planning commission. City staff is also investigating the implications of removing planned housing from the site. The property is slated to convert to mixed density housing (RM-30) in 2005. Although the city already has enough new housing planned to compensate for the few units we would be removing, the city's comprehensive plan calls for a procedure in such cases that can include a city council hearing. With the support of city staff, we can hope to pass through that process with success but it will likely delay occupancy by a few months. We are working to clarify the situation and the timetable, so that we can evaluate the implications for the purchase. The Board of Directors remains committed to this project and we will do everything we can to make it happen as expeditiously as possible. We'll keep you posted on developments. Again, our thanks to the many, many people involved in the efforts to find Emek Beracha a permanent home.
2004-01-15	As of this evening, 1/14, we have a total of verbal and written pledges (redeemable within 30 days) and existing funds in excess of the $925k stipulated in our contract. In this phase of the building campaign (27 days), we have raised over $305k in pledges - despite the challenges of some significant donors electing not to fulfill their pledges. In the past few days, we were blessed to have anonymous donors step in to be part of this exciting project. A few words of recognition are appropriate. Rabbi Feldman's dedication, hard work, patience, and willpower has been an inspiration for all who interact with him. Yiyasher kochacha to Rabbi Feldman -- our own ma'yan ha'mitgaber (Avot 2:11) -- a spring flowing stronger and stronger. The fundraising team, with Saman at the helm, have been hard at work during this phase as well, and it is nice to see their efforts bearing fruit for our shul. And finally, toward this milestone, we also should thank Miriam Ayala for serving as the clearinghouse and tracking mechanism for all our pledges, working with our office staff, and making sure that our gifts are properly acknowledged. Rabbi Feldman's increasing strength will need to be matched by all of us. The first hurdle before us will be cleared early next week, but more daunting ones remain - a budget for improvements still requires funds to be raised and before we can reduce the impact on our operating budget (another very important effort), we must face another challenge - our loan. Three years of financial strain are decreasing our chances of securing a loan for the full 925k. We're working with 4 banks now and beginning to assess the impact of a larger downpayment. Stay tuned for more details. Thanks to everyone for their support. Keep it up - we're closing in!
2003-12-22	As many of you have already heard, we have signed a contract to purchase a facility for our shul. The facility's address is 4102 El Camino Real, corner of Vista in Palo Alto. (It's the former Blockbuster Video location). This is a very exciting, long-awaited opportunity for the shul and the greater community, and is the result of the the hard work of many people over many years. It is a key step in the growth and vitality of our community for the future. For more than 5 years, we have looked at many sites for a permanent location. Until this site, the combination of initial purchase price and costs to make the building suitable for our use has been prohibitive. The 4102 El Camino site is a new opportunity, the lot is substantial (about 0.6 acres), and the building is good size (about 5,700 square feet), and has a good configuration and layout for our use. One issue that deserves discussion is the location, which is slightly more than a mile south of our current location. As with any real estate purchase, our contract has a period (in our case, it's 60 days) for us to obtain a loan, do physical inspections, obtain occupancy permits from the city, raise the additional money needed for the down payment, etc. The purchase can only become final after all these issues are resolved. We have scheduled 2 meetings to apprise the community of the details of this purchase, and - most importantly - to obtain broad community input. These meetings are scheduled for Thursday, December 25 and Sunday, December 28 at our current shul site (260 Sheridan). Both will be at 10 am; light refreshments will be available. We also plan a meeting in the first week of 2004 for those who are now out of town. Please plan to attend one of the meetings so that you can learn more about this new site, provide your input, and consider how you can help make this dream become a reality. The building is located here

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