We are delighted to welcome Avianca Bouchedid to serve as our inaugural Acting Executive Director! Avianca joined The Preservation Society last August as a part time consultant focusing on administration and communication. Her responsibilities quickly expanded to include operations, strategy, and oversight of our Community Archive.
In less than one year, she has become an essential member of our leadership team significantly improving our organizational infrastructure and expanding our reach. Among her many accomplishments, she:
Consolidated our platforms, streamlined our operations, addressed several organizational vulnerabilities, and centralized our communications and recordkeeping processes.
Revitalized our Community Archive by redesigning the interface and identifying and locating over 400 descendants of our Founding Families.
Organized and completed our educational programming for distribution to local middle and high schools.
Nearly quadrupled the number of contacts in our database and tripled our email subscriber list with donors, grantors, and members of the interfaith community.
Achieved a 50% increase in website engagement and a dramatic 94% increase in Facebook reach.
Secured 2 grants, and identified additional funding opportunities.
The Board of Directors unanimously approved Avianca’s retention. Paula Bell, president, said: “Working with Avianca represents a new chapter for the Preservation Society. We are confident that she will play an important role in the pursuit of our mission.” Read her bio.
Coming Home for the Holidays
We spent last year's HIgh Holidays in exile as our beloved, historic building was undergoing repairs. Our friends at the Federated Church of Christ in Brooklyn, CT generously let us use their chapel for our services. After rededicatng the Temple last October, we are now ready to come home for the holidays. Please circle these dates in your calendar and plan to join us for:
Rosh Hashanah: October 3
Kol Nidre: October 11
Yom Kippur: October 12
All are welcome.
2024 Annual Appeal!
The Preservation Society has launched its 2024 Annual Campaign. These past several years have been filled with challenges including a pandemic, an old, leaking roof and a flood resulting from frozen pipes. Your generous help together with support from the State of Connecticut, enabled us to make repairs and continue our programming. Now we are ready to fill our historic building with new spiritual, educational, and cultural programs designed to advance our mission. Will you help us with a generous donation? Your support will enable us to keep a treasured and important part of Connecticut Jewish history alive. See this year's annual campaign letter.
Statement on Conflict in the Middle East
The Temple Beth Israel Preservation Society condemns the evil, horrific, and brutal attacks by Hamas that have left hundreds dead and thousands injured in Israel.We condemn the kidnapping of civilians. We urge the immediate and safe release of the more than 240 hostages; families, elderly, and children who have been taken to Gaza.
Our hearts break for all those who have lost loved ones and remain in terror and for the innocent civilians in Israel and in Gaza who will be injured or die in the coming days.Hamas has done nothing to advance the interests of the Palestinian people.This deplorable attack undermines efforts for a peaceful solution to this long-standing conflict.
We urge all parties to uphold international law and work together to create a pathway forward for peace and human rights for all who live in the region.
Our Mission
Our mission is twofold: 1) preserve our parents’ and grandparents’ stories of trauma, healing, and renewal and 2) use those stories to promote understanding of, and empathy for, the Holocaust and its enduring impact on humanity. We fulfill our mission by:
Offering programs designed to enrich appreciation of cultural, religious, and social differences. This includes contemporary celebrations of ancient rituals, interfaith celebrations, and educational programs addressing the dangers of prejudice, racism, and bystander indifference.
Maintaining an archive documenting the history of the community through books, letters, photographs, oral histories, and other historical artifacts that bear witness to the remarkable contributions of this particular Jewish community to life in Northeastern Connecticut.
Collaborating with schools, colleges, cultural institutions, and religious and civic organizations on creating valuable and unique learning opportunities.