The Festival of the Sea, Revisited

Aug 30

I had intended to share the final report of the Festival of the Sea 2026 with you last weekend but because of the painful antisemitic incident that took place during the Dog Day Race, I postponed it until this week.

But before I get to the report, I do want to share with you that the response to last week’s letter was very encouraging. The amount of people who reached out in support of our 13-year-old Jewish brother, either through our social media accounts, emails, or texts, was truly tremendous.

Rabbi Michael Jay, from the JCC of LBI, also sent a beautiful email to the clergy of the Interfaith Conference of LBI. I want to share part of his email with you.

Rabbi Jay wrote: “I have often wondered about two pieces of text in the Torah. At Exodus 33:11 it is reported that "The Lord would speak to Moses face to face as one [person] would speak to another,” and at Numbers 12:8, God said: "With [Moses] I speak face to face, plainly and not in riddles..." How lucky Moses was for this incredible privilege. But for the Jewish people, after the prophets, connection to God has not always been easy. Indeed, how does one see, connect, or speak with God? Our liturgy attempts to help facilitate this connection, but I don't think it is always effective. Certainly, there are moments in each of our lives that we have felt close to God, but face to face?

“The notes you sent me were really the voice of the Holy One calling out to a person eager to be in conversation, and I can now say that, through you and your notes, I have been face to face with God and I thank you.”

Indeed, all of us, even the clergy, struggle to connect with God. There are so many distractions. It has also been my experience that, like Rabbi Michael, we do encounter God in those moments when we experience that unvarnished, authentic love and support from another. As I have shared with you before, although the members of our Interfaith Conference of LBI come from different traditions and even religions, we are all aware of the fact that we are in this together working to build a better world where we can encounter God all the time.

Thank you for your support, for your outrage at the manifested evil, and for your desire and effort to continue, with and through God’s Grace, to build the Kingdom of God in our midst.

As to the Festival of the Sea.

This was a spectacular year for the Festival. Although the crowds are certainly not what I remember from 30 years ago, this year’s Festival brought in the largest profit that I can recall. After all of the bills were paid and the financial dust settled, this year’s Festival contributed $101,407.11 to the parish coffers.

As a point of reference, the profit from last year’s Festival was $80,970. The $20,000 + increase can be contributed to a few things. Although our expenses increased by about 5%, our income increased by a bit over 12%. For the most part we believe the increase was due to some creative additions to this year’s Festival.

Once again, we all owe a great thanks to everyone on the Festival Committee, all the volunteers that worked the Festival, and everyone who came out to enjoy some good summer fun. I continue to be amazed by the wonderful and generous spirit of our parish community. Thank you all!

May God continue to bless us with peace and all good.