There’s something happening at JCOGS. Actually, a lot of things.
This year’s High Holy Days were vibrant and deeply moving. Our sanctuary overflowed as we came together as one community. Our Sukkah was filled to the brim. Simchat Torah brought joy and celebration, and our Nefesh Mountain “Jew-grass” musical service filled the room with spirit and song.
By the end of last year JCOGS counted 232 member households, the largest growth in one year of members ever. That’s 500+ individuals formally connected to our community, willing to say: I belong. But it’s not really about the numbers. It’s about the Jewish story, talents and values each member brings to our community. It’s about the joy of creating relationships, care, connection, and shared purpose together.
As I mentioned on Yom Kippur, community is where we find meaning, where we are called not just to be together, but to show up for one another. At JCOGS, we do that in ways large and small every day. There are chesed calls and visits with our most vulnerable members, Rabbi David’s life cycle leading and pastoral care, and deep interfaith connections like the Greater Stowe Interfaith Civil Rights Trip, which departs with JCOGS members and six of our teens this Doneweek (follow their journey here).
If you joined us for any of the holidays but haven’t yet become a member, now is the perfect time. Remember your High Holy Day tickets are a benefit of membership, so you can even apply your ticket payment toward membership. Finances are never a barrier to being part of JCOGS. That is what it means to be in Jewish community: we welcome and look out for each other. Just reply to this email and we will get it done!
The High Holy Days, the unrolling of the Torah scroll on Simchat Torah, and a packed room for Nefesh Mountain—all of these take resources to create. JCOGS does this with a tight budget and a very small, dedicated staff. I ask for your support because I know JCOGS is worthy of it.
Help us keep building together, for today and for the generations to come. Join as a new member or renew your membershiptoday. If you are able, please consider making a contribution to our annual appeal which pays for all of the work JCOGS does for our Jewish community as well as our neighbors in rural Vermont.
And by the way, JCOGS is not slowing down for stick season. We’ve got services every Shabbat, a four-part class on antisemitism with historian and scholar Rabbi Dan Judson, weekly Mah Jongg, and much more. Hanukkah is right around the corner! So keep showing up.
Cyndy Wyatt President, JCOGS
Jewish Community of Greater Stowe 1189 Cape Cod Road Stowe, VT 05672 jcogs.org
