Exodus 18:18

נָבֹ֣ל תִּבֹּ֔ל גַּם־אַתָּ֕ה גַּם־הָעָ֥ם הַזֶּ֖ה אֲשֶׁ֣ר עִמָּ֑ךְ כִּֽי־כָבֵ֤ד מִמְּךָ֙ הַדָּבָ֔ר לֹא־תוּכַ֥ל עֲשֹׂ֖הוּ לְבַדֶּֽךָ׃

You will surely wear yourself out, and these people as well. For the task is too heavy for you; you cannot do it alone.

Before the Torah is given at Mount Sinai, Yitro,  Moses’ father in law, implored Moses to empower those Israelites who show a willingness to serve and have leadership potential. As far as I can tell, this is the first time lay leaders are empowered to help run a Jewish community. Once the lay leaders are in place, and only once they are in place, the Torah can be given to the Israelites. The message is clear: without solid lay leadership, there is no Torah.

To all our lay leaders who make our community happen: those on the board who make decision on behalf of the congregation, those who write grants, roll Torahs, run programs, call and visit the sick, teach our children, stuff the envelopes, organize the parking, raise funds for our future, design our building, greet at the doors, read Torah, roll the Torahs, lead our services, print the Torah readings, clean and organize our communal spaces, manage our endowments, edit the emails, build our furniture, bake challah for Shabbat, pack and deliver purim gifts, organize our super bowl party, clean and kosher our kitchen for Passover, blow shofar on the Rosh Hashana, set up chairs and tables, unpack boxes – and believe it or not,  I am only scratching the surface…to all of our lay leaders, there is no community without you, there is no Torah without you.

It takes lay leaders, and lots of different kinds, to make a community thrive. This advice has held true in every generation. To our lay leaders, thank you for everything you do. It is not merely icing on the cake. It is the very foundation that makes community possible. Yitro told Moses that he cannot do it alone. I know I couldn’t, and I‘m grateful every day to those with whom I share this task of building community.