A Thank you to Jack Jacobsen from Rabbi ari sunshine

At the Annual Meeting on Wednesday, June 5, Rabbi Ari Sunshine thanked outgoing President Jack Jacobsen for his exemplary  service. Here are Rabbi Sunshine's remarks: 

Jack, Pirkei Avot offers us another teaching that speaks of the derekh tovah, the good path in life to which one should cleave.  Among the characteristics that are listed, we find “chaver tov,” a good friend and colleague, “ha-ro’eh et ha-nolad,” foresight, and “lev tov,” a generous heart.  All three of these characteristics befit you to a "T." 

Throughout your presidency you have partnered and collaborated expertly with your fellow officers and lay leaders and with our Klei Kodesh and staff team, making  for an extremely smooth two years that has seemingly flown by in the blink of an eye as our congregational life has flourished.   You have the gift of foresight, trying to stay one step ahead of things and plan for our congregation’s exciting future with the development of Ma’alot, our new strategic plan, during your tenure. 

And you most certainly have a generous heart.  You are generous with your time, always finding ways to carve out the space for meetings or to deal with an issue on the phone or via text or email amidst your incredibly busy professional commitments with your day (and night and weekend!) job.  You are generous with your resources, leading by example both a couple of years ago, and again last month, with your meaningful and significant donations to our Burn the Mortgage Campaign.  You never seek accolades or credit for your efforts, you’re comfortable just doing what needs to be done, because our community needs it.  And you are generous with your friendship, the nexus between chaver tov and lev tov, caring and unwaveringly loyal to those you care about. You readily make space for them to be a part of your life, as you have done so warmly for me and Jen and our family over these past two years since we arrived here in Dallas.  It has been a real honor and a pleasure and, quite frankly, a lot of fun. Jack, working with you during your tenure, I’m personally grateful for all of your support and for your friendship which I know will long outlast these two years of our partnership.  I’ll miss my Chai Tea Latte and Blueberry Muffin on Wednesday mornings, but I know there will still be many shared l’chaim’s in our future.
 
On behalf of the Klei Kodesh, I’d like to present you with this gift of a beautiful wine fountain.  We know how much you like to host others in your home for Shabbat and holidays, and with this fountain you can easily share kiddush wine with all of your guests just as you have shared with us so much else as president of our shul.  We hope you will enjoy this and use it often in the months and years ahead.
 
Jack, we extend a hearty and heartfelt yasher koach to you for all of your efforts as president of Congregation Shearith Israel over these past two years, and we know you won’t be a stranger as you continue to be an integral leader in our community.  With that, I now formally discharge you from your position as president of our congregation and welcome you to the “past presidents club!”

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