Jewish Community Center of West Hempstead

As the editor of The Bulletin prepares to take his leave (he’s not a leave, he’s a bow. He’s a bow to leave! :-), words of praise and gratitude pour (okay, drip) in:

 The Editor’s Letter to the Board

 Greetings from the Editor's Desktop --

After much consideration, and due deliberation, I have decided to take a break as editor of The Bulletin, this after the June, 2012 edition is put to bed in May.

Call it a hiatus, sabbatical, leave of absence or simply a long overdue rest (of indeterminate duration), my departure will, hopefully, give rise to a new generation of editors, scriveners and missive-makers, bringing new vitality and a renewed spirit for what, during 60 years, has served as the voice of our JCC of West Hempstead.

While the announcement of my exit, stage left, may be met with dismay in some quarters, and delight in others, there comes a time when each of us reaches a crossroad. Roadblocks, detours and the occasional dead end aside, my tenure as editor has been quite a ride.

I thank you for having given me the opportunity to serve our sacred kehillah for these many years, the latitude to freely express my thoughts, even when the sentiment was not necessarily shared by the masses, and the guidance to take The Bulletinwhere few such monthly newsletters have gone before.

With gratitude and humility, I do not bid farewell, but rather, adieu.

B'Shalom,
Seth Bykofsky

 The President’s Response

 Dear Seth —

 It  is with a lot of thought that  I am responding to your letter of resignation as the editor of our Bulletin.

 You have done a tremendous job in making our publication a reader-friendly light-hearted and yet extremely informative publication for many years. I understand that we all get burned out of some tasks and recognize fully the time and effort that goes into it each month. (I myself was the editor of my Knights of Pythias lodge bulletin for over 5 years. It was not only a huge task but many times it was thankless.) To keep up a project such as this I understand the time constraints  involved.

 If I may subject you to some humor, gallows or otherwise, on the heels of your imminent departure:

If it has anything to do with my shorter monthly missives, I apologize. If it is because I don’t thank you enough for doing the job,  I apologize. If I haven’t done my share of getting advertisers, I apologize. If I haven’t run to the post office enough to find out about the newest rules and regulations, I apologize. If it is that my sense of humor is as warped as yours, I apologize. If my picture in The Bulletin makes me better looking than you, I do not apologize. 

 And I hope you understand that with your resignation I am not obligated to give you a recommendation for you to continue this job for any of our competitors’ bulletins, newsletters or journals.

 In all seriousness I thank you from the bottom of my heart, and on behalf of the Executive Board, Trustees and the entire congregation for all that you have done these many years in making The Bulletin a great periodical and hope that we can count on you for contributions to it on  regular basis.

 Richie Selzer
President JCC West Hempstead