This month, it was my turn to present a D’var Torah at the TAS Board Meeting. The parasha was Noach, and as I wrote it during the Golf Tournament, I was struck by the preventive maintenance Noah did before loading the ark. MoTAS  is intimately familiar with preventative maintenance as we are often called upon to do it, both at the temple and at our homes.

Preventive maintenance can involve hand and power tools, but it can also involve tools as simple as a smile and a greeting. Everytime you greet and welcome someone to a MoTAS meeting or at a TAS Shabbat or event, you are performing preventive maintenance. Everytime you say “thank you” to a volunteer, you are performing preventive maintenance. You are maintaining the relationship of that person with MoTAS and with TAS, and possibly bringing it to the point where they will become more involved and more active (or they will stay active). This is critical: for if you ignore the preventive maintenance, as with equipment, you pay for it later.

My goal, with MoTAS, is to create a culture of preventive maintenance. If you haven’t participated in a MoTAS activity, we would love to have you join us. If you have volunteered to help us, we really appreciate your time and effort. Oh, and if you still want to do that physical preventive maintenance (this time, for the world), come and join MoTAS on Mitzvah Day, November 1, 2015.