RJ Blog

Do you want to know the worst-kept synagogue secret? It is not about politics at the pulpit or the fact that most Jews do not regularly attend Shabbat services. No, the worst-kept synagogue secret is that almost 90% of the young people who become bar or bat mitzvah in our synagogues are absent from our programs by the time they graduate high school. Elsewhere, I have written about Congregation Or Ami’s recent attempts to rethink the whole enterprise of youth engagement. We have kvelled about early indications that our efforts are raising our community’s youth engagement by 20% (and we [...]

I recently saw the video “I am Brianna Couture” (with thanks to the Ruderman Family Foundation blog Zeh Lezeh for bringing it to my attention). It’s a video meant to open our eyes to the notion of invisible disabilities. After watching, I got to thinking: This is a great, eye-opening opportunity to re-frame our perceptions of disability. I want to ask you to engage in an exercise. Say (or think) the word “disability” and write the first five words that come to your mind (or draw what you think of, or say five words into a recording device – whatever [...]

by Rabbi Erin Polansky Our temple president just turned 40 – but those are not words commonly heard in synagogue boardrooms. In his second year of leadership and our congregation’s second year of existence, Neshamah Congregation’s president has just celebrated his fortieth birthday. Why is this noteworthy? Because while other congregations are bemoaning the disappearance of young people from its ranks, our congregation’s board is governed almost exclusively by leaders in their 30s and 40s. Like many of our board members, our president, Jeremy, does not consider himself a religious person. In fact, he was not a shul-goer before volunteering [...]

by Nechama Namal When my husband and I made aliyah, we set a goal of finding ways to be a bridge between the American Reform movement and the community in Israel. This has led to some of our most meaningful experiences in Israel. Last June, we went to Shabbat dinner at the home of a friend who is a tour guide. He, his wife, and their daughters opened their home to a tour group from Temple B’nai Or of New Jersey, and they invited us to meet and greet these visitors. As soon as we walked onto the patio, a [...]

Despite the fact that summer, with its hopefully slower pace, is just around the corner, the last few weeks have been packed! At the end of April, I joined 117 congregational presidents who had gathered in Atlanta for the annual Scheidt Seminar, the URJ’s unique leadership training initiative specifically designed for current and incoming presidents. During the gathering, we honored with an aliyah those participants whose parents or grandparents also had served as presidents. In a moving tribute to these former leaders, 25% of the participants stepped forward, not only to recite the Torah blessings, but also to carry on [...]

It’s May. Can you believe it? Every year it seems to sneak up on me. But here it is. Most synagogues and Jewish professionals are at the point in the year that I typically call the “race to the finish line.” We are busy completing our program years, winding down religious schools and looking toward Shavuot as a point where we might briefly catch our breath; all while planning for next year by finalizing calendars and budgets. We can probably agree that the much anticipated summer months will allow us a chance to regroup, reflect and start it all over [...]

by Ron Wolfson It’s that time of year, when Jewish institutions pull out their 2013-14 calendars and fill them with events. Many of the programs are very good, with clever names and slick marketing: Jews and Brews for young Federation leadership; L’mazeltov for expectant parents; Torah and Tacos for synagogue members who favor a certain southwestern cuisine with their Bible study. And yet, after all this well-meaning effort, membership in synagogues and JCCs is declining, federation campaigns are flat and a generation of young Jewish adults is in no hurry to affiliate. The 20th century model of programmatic engagement is [...]

I was thrilled to participate in Reform Judaism magazine’s winter cover story, “Forum for the Future,” a symposium that provides Jews in their 20s and 30s a platform to speak candidly about what young adults want and need to find their home in the Jewish community. Historian and Brandeis University professor Jonathan Sarna sets the stage, shedding light on what history can teach us about the challenge of engaging the next generation of Jews and what to make of young Jewish leaders who are questioning and disrupting the establishment. And then, the panelists:

A few months back I saw “Moneyball,” a film about a creative reimagination of Major League baseball. In my favorite scene, Billy Beane, the legendary general manager of the Oakland Athletics, challenges his scouts to think differently about the game if they are to have any chance at success. Beane declares, “Adapt or die.” These words haven’t stopped echoing in my head. In this new era of Jewish life — an era defined for many by the abundance of choices we face in every aspect of our lives — our synagogues must adapt or risk becoming ossified. Synagogue life is [...]

by  Jocelyn Sontag For the past few years, I served on the Membership Initiative Task Force at Westchester Reform Temple (WRT) in Scarsdale, New York.  Many of our meetings were spent discussing, among other things, how best to engage families with young children.  Specifically, we talked about engaging the families in our Early Childhood Center (ECC), as these are families that chose to send their children to a synagogue preschool (as opposed to a secular one down the street), so their desire for an early Jewish education was apparent.  We heard a constant message from the ECC liaisons that these [...]

by Evelyne Klein When our (fabulous) Membership Director asked if I would host a Shabbat dinner at our house, as a way to have long-standing members meet new members, I thought:  What a terrific idea!!  There were so many new members we did not know, and members we saw at temple events only.  What better way to bring old and new together, get to know other members better, than around the Shabbat dinner table? I was amazed at the synergies between the old and new members who came: the conversation flowed around the table, with everyone introducing themselves, and topics [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]