RJ Blog

by Vicky Farhi Synagogue dues can be difficult to understand if you weren’t raised in a family that maintained a synagogue membership. Without knowledge of the variety of mechanisms that all religious institutions use to sustain themselves financially, some charge that synagogues require you to “pay to pray.” What follows is one way that you might explain synagogue dues to those who raise this objection.

by Rabbi David Fine Changing demographics, declining religious school enrollment, troubled finances-a sure formula for frustration (to say the least). It could also be the prompt for thinking anew about the way we do business. This may not only be happening in our congregation, but also in our neighboring Jewish congregation. There will be those who will shrie (yell), “oy gevalt!” and want to walk away, and those who will shrie for merger. Before resorting to one or the other, let me offer several considerations:

by Lindsey Sadler This summer I experienced my first membership commitment recertification at Temple Sinai, Atlanta. As we operate on a fair share dues model, this is the time of year when we send our membership materials to congregants and ask them to strive towards contributing 2% of their annual gross household income minus costs such as alimony and child support. Simple, right? Members and their families do the math; a household earning $200K per year would contribute at the $4000 level, and a household earning $80K would contribute at the $1600 level. The distribution of wealth will balance out; [...]

by Rabbi Howard Jaffe Okay, it is not so modest. It may be a bit too ambitious. So how about this: can we at least rethink how we fund our synagogues? We need a new financial model in North American Jewish life. Once upon a time, Jews grew up, became young adults, almost always married other Jews, and within a few years, joined a synagogue. Whatever that synagogue asked for in dues, they paid (and did not see it as a contribution, but more of a Jewish tax). No more. Even so, the vast majority of our congregations still operate [...]

(originally posted on the Camp Newman Blog) Our 11th grade program is described as the first step in our camp leadership programs.  The three pillars of the program include personal growth, service to the community, and service to the world.  These full summer campers participate in service blocks helping around camp by sorting mail, picking up trash, finding lost & found articles, and helping in the dining hall.  As service to the community, they worked on a project to benefit camp building a mud oven and organic garden at our sustainable village, Kibbutz Yarok.  They also built a mosaic floor [...]

by Rick RosenbergExecutive Director, Temple Emanu-El, Dallas, TX Why Budget “Men plan; God laughs.”        – Hebrew Saying A budget is nothing more than a plan. A Synagogue budget is a financial plan for the operations of the congregation.  Numbers and statistics can be frightening to some people. But numbers are simply the end product of a budget process. The primary aspect of the Synagogue budget process is to understand the short-term and long-term goals of the congregation, determine the resources available to achieve those goals and generate a plan to use the resources in an optimum manner to accomplish [...]

Twenty-eight years ago, Temple Aleph Bet (TBA), a 120 member congregation in a small city in the Northeast, decided it was through with renting space and was very desirous of a permanent home. TBA purchased its first building, and after a few years, funds were raised to pay off the initial mortgage as well as to renovate and make TBA’s new home a sacred space. Along the way, as “things needed fixing” (painting, new carpeting, a new refrigerator), specific congregants were asked to make one time contributions of no more than a few thousand dollars, and gladly did so. Fast [...]

by Rabbi Edwin GoldbergTemple Judea, Coral Gables, FL Especially with the Jewish High Holy Days coming soon, it is appropriate to stop and consider the challenges confronting mainstream religious institutions. Looking at the present, it is not a surprise that American religious institutions are going through a crisis of identity. The old rules no longer apply. People do not grow up with a sense of obligation to support their church, mosque or synagogue. For such institutions to thrive, let alone survive, they need to address serious questions about who they are (their core values) and what they are willing to change [...]

by Rob BerkovitzURJ Congregational Finance Specialist The truth is… that there is no perfect formula for dues! There are many possibilities for dues models from fixed minimum models to fair share. All the models can be successful and can be unsuccessful. When the topic of dues comes up many congregational leaders struggle with the issue of congregants who feel that dues are cost prohibitive, that it is too expensive to be a member of a congregation or question when someone needs an abatement whether it is truly a financial need or just that the synagogue is not a priority. We [...]

by David KatowitzURJ Congregational Financial Resource Development Specialist. “It’s like one giant family reunion!” That is how Rabbi Mari Chernow of Temple Chai in Phoenix, Arizona described the High Holy Days in a You Tube video sent to her congregants last year a few weeks before Rosh HaShanah. Congregants at synagogues throughout North America and the world will soon be coming together for prayer and community. With aspirations and hopes for a year of continued good health and personal fulfillment. At this time of year, so many people are really in a “synagogue state of mind”. What amazes me is [...]