Generally, I am no fan of name tags. Too many conferences reduce me to a plastic tag stating my name and affiliation. So when someone first suggested that we offer name tags to people attending services at Micah, and that board members routinely clip them on, I resisted. Aren't we a small enough community to allow us to talk with one another without the institutional badge? Don't name tags suggest that we are transient, coming and going with no sense of connectedness? Ultimately, however, I was convinced that name tags would actually enhance our sense of community and connectedness. I am ready now to clip it on when I walk into our galleria.

Putting aside the benefit of an identifier when many of us struggle for the name associated with a well-known face, a name tag invites others to make contact with us. My name tag might encourage visitors to approach me with questions. For example, I try to call new members to welcome them to Temple Micah. My name tag allows people to make good on my suggestion that they introduce themselves to me when they spot me. And frankly, I want members and visitors to know as many people as possible at Temple Micah, including the board of directors and all of the staff, because our community is strengthened by the familiarity and comfort that we feel with one another. I am hoping that members of Temple Micah can always find a couple of friends to mingle with at an oneg or to sit with during services. But perhaps offering name tags will encourage us to enlarge that circle, to move beyond the "default" social group to a wider circle of community.

Thanks to Ruth Schimel and Greg L., there is now a basket of name tags on the table as you enter the galleria. New members, veteran members and visitors alike have the opportunity to use name tags. Of course, as with so many things at Temple Micah, this is voluntary. And it is also perfectly OK to be anonymous when that is what you are seeking.

From building community to building connections, here's where we are on the expansion as I write this column. We continue to explore ways to reduce the cost of the planned expansion. As I wrote previously, recent estimates show the cost of construction will exceed our $ million budget by almost 50 percent. All the core features of the renovation --more classrooms, office space for our professional staff and expansion of the social hall--compete for dollars. As the architects explore ways to cut costs, the board is examining how best to manage the project to deliver as much as we can for the least amount of money. Collaborating with Robert Weinstein and Judith Capen, our Micah architects, has already led to the elimination of several hundred thousands of dollars of construction costs, and we hope that we will see even more savings when we receive more detailed bids from the subcontractors.

We are also working to create a construction schedule that will let the renovation proceed efficiently while still allowing us to use the existing building to the greatest extent possible. These two goals are usually at odds, but we hope to undertake the most disruptive phase of the construction during the summer, when the building is used least. In any event, we will experience a certain degree of disruption, and will have to be creative and resourceful in how we use space. We will provide more details when we receive more specific information.

Finally, I wanted to wish Rabbi Zemel a restful and restorative sabbatical. I am forever amazed at his endless energy and engagement at Micah, and I know that these periodic breaks enable him to come back with more ways to strengthen our communal Jewish lives. This well-deserved respite benefits us all. In his absence, I am grateful to the rest of the staff who care for our community. During Rabbi Zemel's break, everyone has stepped up to fill the void with humor, energy, and a great deal of thought. I am grateful to them all--Rabbi Manewith, Meryl Weiner, Debra Beland, Susie Blumenthal, Teddy Klaus and our hard-working office staff, Leonard Tow and Mariana Balgurevich --for the graceful way they make everything work so well.

Wishing you all a very happy and light- filled Hanukkah.