A message from OVS President Michael Bouhadana

The last time we all met as a congregation, in person, was the weekend of March 14th. It was a special weekend for us, as we had the privilege of meeting Rabbi Hearshen and his family as they vied for the opportunity to join the OVS family. Last weekend, the Hearshen’s moved from Tampa and joined us here at OVS. Last Sunday, many of us attended a drive-by parade in front of the Hearshen home to welcome our new Rabbi and his family into our community.

I was overjoyed to see such an outpouring of support and pleased to see so many people whom I have been unable to see these last 15 weeks.

If you were unable to join in, don’t despair, there will be many opportunities to interact with Rabbi Hearshen in both educational and social settings over the next few weeks, starting tomorrow night with Kabbalat Shabbat services and this coming week with a welcome Zoom  (read on in The Weekly 
for more information).

On behalf of the entire Keilah, I would like to thank Dan Dinur, Morris Maslia and the Future of OVS Committee, Bryan Lavine and The Rabbinic Search Committee, Shelly Cooper and the Transition Committee, our Immediate Past President, Michael Bouhadana, and our Executive Director, Adam Kofinas, for all of their time and effort in getting us to this point.

Shabbat Shalom.
Semon Akbashev
President