Last night, I was lucky to attend a dinner sponsored by the Pittsburgh Business Times to honor the top CFO's of the Year.  Milo Averbach, our CFO, was one of the finalists.  We are so proud of what our staff people like Milo do for our organization and our community.  This morning, the Pittsburgh Jewish Communal Network, an organization for all the professionals in the Jewish community, will be having a breakfast session with Dr. Steven Windmueller of the Hebrew Union College (thanks to Rabbi Aaron Bisno for his helping to make this happen).  Thank you and congratulations to Milo for being recognized for all of his contributions to our Federation and to all our professionals who dedicate themselves to make Pittsburgh into a "thriving, vibrant, engaged Jewish community" (these words are part of the Federations new vision statement). 

Finally, my family had a wonderful simcha last Shabbat as my daughter became a Bat Mitzvah.  As I watched her lead the Torah service and read several Aliyot and the Haftorah, I recognize that this community has helped her become who she is today.  From our congregation (Beth Shalom) and Community Day School to her involvement at the JCC and now in the Samuel M. Goldston Teen Philanthropy project of the AJL, our community has impacted and will continue to impact my daughter's life.  I am grateful for not only what I am able to give to this community, but for what I am able to take, as well.

Shabbat Shalom.