RJ Blog

With Yom Ha Atzmaut (Israeli Independence Day) on April 26th, and the first Reform Israel Shabbat immediately following, we know that Israel is on a lot of people’s minds right now. The easiest, most basic way for a Reform Jew to support Israel and its democratic, inclusive nature is to join ARZA! By belonging to ARZA with your $36 yearly dues, you help grow the Reform Zionist movement in the United States and the Reform Movement in Israel.  Our members and their dues, collectively, make ARZA the single largest funder of the Reform Movement in Israel and its Israel Religious [...]

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 [...]

by Rabbi Wendi Geffen Much of the 20-30 year old Jewish population described instudies finds the synagogue unappealing because, in their minds, it translates toan institutional culture that previously proved unable to address their variedneeds/beliefs/values as individuals.  Assuch, not only is the future of synagogue affiliation a problem, but the dearthof an enduring line of synagogue leadership proves, in many ways, an evenlarger obstacle.  In early 2011, NorthShore Congregation Israel (NSCI) in suburban Chicago was awarded a URJIncubator Grant to create a program to address these challenges. B&B (Beyond and Back) is NSCI’s multi-facetedvalues and leadership development program for Jewish [...]

by Suzi NeftTemple Sinai, Pittsburgh, PA I was scared to death! Coming from a violent marriage with a young son, Alex, who I was trying to protect and educate Jewishly. We practiced Jewish traditions at home and attended High Holiday services at my mother’s Conservative synagogue. Alex’s father, a non-Jew, agreed before marriage that our children would be raised Jewish, and Alex had been, until the end of the marriage. His father, who practiced no religion, suddenly began taking our child to church. Alex was confused and upset because he felt Jewish.   I had little money and was looking for [...]

by Maggie Anton ParkhurstBeth Chayim Chadashim, Los Angeles, CA When asked to write a post about my “experience belonging to a diverse community” for the RJ Blog, I took this as asking for my experience as a straight woman at Beth Chayim Chadashim (BCC), the world’s first gay synagogue. Although more than 90% of the congregation identifies as LGBT, my husband and I, along with my daughter and son-in-law, have been members since 1999, making us the “odd man out.” So what are we doing here? What Jews do in other synagogues – only more so, because for many of our [...]

by Stan NotkinBeth Chayim Chadashim, Los Angeles, CA The June 1969 Stonewall Inn riots in New York’s Greenwich Village jump-started the modern gay/lesbian rights movement. (Now, in part to commemorate Stonewall, Gay Pride Month is celebrated every June.) Shortly thereafter, Beth Chayim Chadashim (BCC) was founded in Los Angeles in 1972, and two years later the fledgling congregation joined the UAHC, now the URJ. While the Stonewall riots put an end to the police raids of gay bars in New York, enactment and enforcement of anti-gay laws continued elsewhere, including Los Angeles. Plainclothes police still entrapped unsuspecting victims, who were [...]

by George Rosenbaum Many Reform congregations struggle with membership renewal as the proportion of their older members increases. Aging members gradually become less active in the congregation as energy or health wanes and travel becomes more difficult. Although members are living longer now than prior generations, congregations face difficulty in retaining members who are reaching an advanced age. With declining participation, some elderly drop their memberships. At the same time, attracting younger members is becoming more difficult than in prior generations. The size of Reform congregations is thus impacted at both ends of the life cycle. Congregations need to be [...]

by Dave OneyMember of Beth Orr, Coral Springs, FLVice President, Men of Reform Judaism My family joined our synagogue in 1989. Even though I was not Jewish at the time, the men in our Brotherhood were among the first to welcome me and make me feel part of their community. Shortly thereafter, our Brotherhood began a serious decline for a variety of reasons. While I was able to maintain the friendships I had made in Brotherhood, I missed the camaraderie of the organization. In 1996 I converted to Judaism and the next day, as I felt Brotherhood was such an [...]

by Hope ChernakDirector of Youth and Informal Education at Temple Shaaray Tefila, New York, NY For those of us in the field of Informal Jewish Education, we face the uphill battle every year recruiting students for our youth programs. We spend a good deal of our energy on retaining our students and another chunk of our time trying to get new members. While many of our congregations have fancy membership brochures, membership recruitment budgets and gimmicks, most of our youth programs’ budgets are small or have fewer tools to focus on membership. Some youth professionals are even part-time and only [...]