Why We Give

Hi. I'm Ryan Sterling and, this year, I am the Midbar Kodesh Temple Annual Giving Campaign Chairman. I just celebrated twenty years in Las Vegas, and this year, Rina and I will celebrate our fifteenth wedding anniversary, after meeting as teenagers in USY.

In April 2017, my son Lev will be called to read from the Torah as a bar mitzvah. Recently, we found out that Lev has the opportunity to celebrate his bar mitzvah in Jerusalem with his cousin, Mia, as she celebrates her bat mitzvah. The whole family, me, my wife Rina, Lev and his younger sister Tzofiya, said yes to a trip to Israel, and we are very excited. But there was never a doubt for us - this would be a second celebration, and we will celebrate the occasion at home, at Midbar Kodesh, first.

I volunteer as much time as I can to Midbar Kodesh because it's a home for three generations of our family.

We give financially to Midbar Kodesh what we can, because when the Board of Directors gets together one Sunday morning each month, I wish we could stop talking about money, and only talk about what we do as an organization. My dream is that someday, we won't have to talk about financials and budgets, but only about spirituality, programming and a vision of Jewish practice, secured for generations.

So please join me. Consider how you can give to Midbar Kodesh, and then share your talent, time and resources. Also join me in the conversation. In the coming months, we will share with each other the stories of why we give to MKT. The dialogue will be uplifting and enlightening, and it will give us all a renewed connection to our congregation and each other. Join me in giving what you can today to Midbar Kodesh Temple. And if you want to talk about the future of the synagogue (or about the Lakers!), please join us at Shabbat services on Saturday mornings.

Interested in volunteering your time to Midbar Kodesh Temple? Call Andrew Spivak at 702 355 5695. You can also donate financially here.