Our Shabbat with the Shir Chadash group in Florence was lovely. The group of about 15-20 active families started about 5 years ago, created, as one person explained, "by 4 American girls and two Italian men." They meet once a month on Friday nights and once a month on Shabbat morning. Erev Shabbat services begin at 8:30 PM and are followed by a pot luck dinner. We enjoyed the lay led service. The vivacious president, Sarah Rubenstein, did a lovely job of including members of the congregation and leading the worship. Debbie shared a D'var Torah. Mark said a few words about our trip. Dinner was delicious homemade Italian foods which we enjoyed. They're planning on about 60 people for Seder. Sarah had just returned from the WUPJ conference in Hanover. We spent time over dinner learning about the community and the challenges it faces--once again no subsidy, politics with other liberal synagogues in the area; website construction, creation of a tikkun olam program that would suit the diverse interests of the congregation, attracting members in a setting which is so thoroughly Catholic and Jewishly either secular or Orthodox. Fortunately, soon the congregation will have the benefit of retired Rabbi Robert Rothman from Rye, New York, who will spend a year with them. That should be a big help to the group. Mark and I were very impressed with the dedication and commitment of these folks who keep this small congregation going despite many challenges. Kol Hakavod to them! We hope they will stay in touch so that we can try to continue to be of assistance even from a distance.