Love In The Time Of Corona

Meetings
Written By Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley

MEETING FOR THE WEEK OF Nov. 20, 2023

This Meeting at a Glance:

Program: Love In The Time Of Corona

Speaker: Rabbi Sanford Akselrad

Is this your first time to visit us? If so, welcome to our weekly online meeting! To complete our meeting, please continue reading from here to the bottom of this page. Each Monday our week’s meeting is posted early in the morning, U.S. Pacific Time. These meetings are designed so that you can read and watch what we post anytime during the week. The entire meeting takes about 60 minutes to complete, with the video conference recording of the program being the bulk of the time. Note that you can easily read this meeting with your favorite device, so feel free to take our meeting on the go with you. Please also make sure to complete the attendance form at the bottom and leave a comment. Enjoy!

To properly attend this meeting, please:

  1. Read and watch the content below in its entirety.

  2. Complete the attendance survey.

Everyone is also encouraged to leave a comment in the Disqus section at the bottom of the page.

Message from our President

Greetings Members and Friends of Rotary e-Club of Silicon Valley. As President of our Club, I want to welcome you all today.


WEEKLY FUNNY WITH SHAGS

We believe laughter is an important part of life, and we should all make time to laugh a little. This segment of our meeting is meant to tickle you just enough. These funnies are curated by member Steven "Shags" Shagrin!

First Time on Patrol

A rookie police officer was assigned to ride in a cruiser with an experienced partner. A call came over the car's radio telling them to disperse some people who were loitering.

The officers drove to the street and observed a small crowd standing on a corner. The rookie rolled down his window and said, "Let's get off the corner."

No one moved, so he barked again, "Let's get off the corner!" Intimidated, the group of people began to leave, casting puzzled glances in his direction. Proud of his first official act, the young policeman turned to his partner and asked, "Well, how did I do?"

"Pretty good," replied the veteran, "especially since this is a bus stop.

INSPIRATION

Every week we share a short video highlighting innovation, education, entrepreneurship, or whatever we think might inspire you to see the world in new ways.

It's Thanksgiving time in the U.S., and this story about how one community brings seniors together regularly for meals seems a good match. Thanks to Shags for the share!

LEARN SOMETHING NEW

Portable Device for Eye Exams

No more need for large, stationary equipment! This is truly amazing technology.



Club News

Members

  • Is your latest information posted on our ClubRunner Members site at: https://portal.clubrunner.ca/8370/Page/ShowHomePage. After logging in, please be sure to access the MyClubRunner tab, and select My Profile. Please update your personal information here, which automatically updates our club directory.

  • Your Service Hours reporting will now take you directly to your ClubRunner Login and Entry for Volunteer Hours. From this point forward, your Service Hours will report to Rotary from ClubRunner.

  • TRF and EREY - It’s time to consider your gift to Rotary for the annual TRF Fund. There are several ways to give: outright payment (Check or Credit Card), monthly payments billed to your credit card, allocation to several funds, etc. Our TRF Chair, Phil Dean will be in touch with us soon regarding your pledge and methods for collecting. Our Club is striving to be designated as “Every Year, Every Rotarian”. Your gift matters, either a small amount or a large amount (that is up to you - we will never tell you how much to give). A portion of our Annual Fund giving will come back to us for our DDF usage.

  • TRF THOUGHT OF THE WEEK: 20 NOVEMBER 2023

    What is the Rotary Foundation? - The Rotary Foundation is the economic engine for Rotary International. It is a non-profit corporation that is supported solely by voluntary contributions from Rotarians and friends of Rotary who share its vision of a better world. Its sole mission is to enable Rotarians to advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through the improvement of health, the support of education, and the alleviation of poverty. We accomplish that through our local and international humanitarian and educational programs.

Here is why EREY is important to our Club: Did you know that Rotary conveys a special honor to each Club that achieves 100% member participation contributing to TRF? The award is called Every Rotarian, Every Year (EREY). This year, we ask that you consider a pledge to the TRF Annual Fund in November of at least $25 which will qualify your participation and count towards our Club achieving this honor. Also, please note that the District will have two drawings to encourage donations to the Annual Fund. For the first drawing, each Club will get chances in the drawing based on their total giving. The more each Club donates the better the chance of winning. The prize is significant as it is $5000 in DDF, worth $9000 when used in a Global Grant. In order to support smaller Clubs and promote EREY, there is a second drawing where each EREY Club has an equal chance at a prize of $2500 in DDF, worth $4500 when used in a Global Grant. As you may remember, District 5170 had a record setting year in 2021-22, with over $1 million to the Annual Fund, followed by almost $1 million in 2022-23.

Your generosity is always voluntary and very much appreciated. This year why not help our Club achieve the EREY honor, and perhaps, as a result, we will have a shot at some extra DDF funds to continue funding our great service and work as Rotarians.

Remember, to achieve EREY, each Club member needs to make a contribution of at least $25.00 to the Annual Fund. We are happy to accept your check or credit card for the Annual Fund.

District 5170

Read the latest news from District 5170 - https://rotarydistrict5170.org

SERVICE REPORT

Tell us about the service you’ve done recently for the Club or in your community. Also, post here if you attended another Rotary Club meeting this week

Click here to post your Service Hours directly to ClubRunner

SERVICE PROJECT OPPORTUNITIES

For upcoming club projects in District 5170, check out the District 5170 website. Also, if you have some time available for projects, be sure to let your local area Rotary Club know that you are available to volunteer for their upcoming projects.

HAPPY DOLLARS: Do Good by Sharing Something Good

Each week we ask our members to share stories with the club and toss in a few dollars to support our efforts. The primary goal of this section is to provide a fun way of getting to know each fellow members and guests, while giving back to a good cause.

Happy dollars is an opportunity to share something positive that has happened in your life whether it is personal or business. Think of it as your opportunity to brag a little, but also put a little bit into a karma jar. The money donated through happy dollars is put to charitable use.

PROGRAM: Love In The Time Of Corona

SPEAKER: Rabbi Sanford Akselrad

Every week we bring to you a new program on innovation, entrepreneurship, and education, and how those contribute to service to others.

The Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley seeks to explore perspectives on service from across the world. The views of the speakers in our programs are their own, and unless stated otherwise, are not necessarily reflective of the views of our eClub or Rotary International.

If you have an idea for a cool speaker, please feel free to reach out to them directly or submit THIS FORM so our Program Committee can contact them!

Rabbi Sanford Akselrad has served as the spiritual leader of Congregation Ner Tamid in Las Vegas, Nevada since 1988. During this time, the Synagogue grew from approximately 60 to more than 600 families, becoming the largest Reform Jewish Synagogue in the State of Nevada.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, he turned his congregants' fear into faith with weekly messages focusing on calm, courage, resiliency, and strength, reminding them that CNT is "a special place to belong."

Love in the Time of Corona was the title of Rabbi Akselrad's first essay and it's now the title of his new book. The collection of meaningful COVID-era essays was lovingly edited and compiled to share comfort and hope and the singular statement that we are stronger together, not only in the time of Corona but always and forever.

In his 35 years of service, Rabbi Akselrad established himself as a leader in creating a vibrant Jewish community in Southern Nevada. He has served on a wide variety of community boards and served as president of the Pacific Area of Reform Rabbis, one of the largest rabbinical organizations in North America. Rabbi Akselrad is married to Joni and has two children, CJ and Sam. His daughter-in-law is Ana and his granddaughter is Genevieve.

Members and guests, please welcome Rabbi Sanford Akselrad!

Important Announcement - “Weekly Rotarian” Full Meeting Podcasts

Announcing: Our main program speakers are now available as audio podcasts in addition to YouTube videos! Each week they are available on Spotify, Google, and Apple podcasts.

Or you can simply click below for this week’s speaker:

And our original podcast, featuring Some of the best of our previous speakers is still available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts,  and Google Podcasts 

UPCOMING PROGRAM RECORDING SCHEDULE

All of our guest speakers and programs are recorded live online over Zoom video conference. We welcome members and guests to join us in one of these upcoming recordings. Recordings are approximately 30 minutes long and are subject to change without notice.

Our online video conference room link for these recordings is always http://zoom.siliconvalleyrotary.com/. You are welcome to join us! Please note the timezone listed for all recordings is US Pacific Time (San Francisco, California, USA).

If you can’t join the live recording, please send your questions for an upcoming speaker to programs@siliconvalleyrotary.com.

THE ATTENDANCE SURVEY

Thanks for reading and watching this week’s meeting. You have two last things to do before you’re done.

We have a very short attendance survey below for you to fill out to record your attendance.

Visiting Rotarians, this is how you can get an email receipt to pass along to your club’s secretary as proof that you’ve attended our meeting if you need it for makeups.

Non-Rotarian Guests, we would love to see who is dropping by our meetings! This part is optional for you. If you think you may want to join our eClub at some point in the future, we would strongly recommend you fill out the attendance form as it will improve your chances of success for your membership application.

For all members and guests — we strongly recommend and ask that you leave a comment in our comments area below. Tell us how you enjoyed the program. Ask this week’s speaker any questions you might have. Or just stop by and say hello and tell us where you’re from!

Important: Once you submit the Attendance Survey below, please make sure you see the confirmation message. If you get an error message instead, please try the 'submit' button again, and if that doesn't work, please refresh the page and fill out the form again. Thanks!

Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley
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