RJ Blog

by Lisa Colton What is a synagogue? A congregation? A community? We are more than a nonprofit organization, or a local center, or a collection of people who share certain practices or get together for holidays. It feels significant to me that words like “congregation” and “community” are grammatically singular but inherently refer to a multiplicity. The duality of meaning here is so critical for how we lead, congregate, and self-identify. A rhizome is an organism that shares DNA across what appears to be a big, diverse group of organisms. Bamboo is a great example of this: What appears to [...]

A group of five or six girls sitting around, talking, laughing to the point of tears. The scene could be anyone, anywhere, and it has repeated itself countless times over the years: on a bunk bed at Greene Family Camp, around the campfire under the stars, in dorm rooms, and now, a few years after college, in front of our computers in a Google “Hangout,” Google’s multi-person video chat.

Shabbat is a time to unplug. Otherwise, there will be no Shabbat. Many, many Reform Jews have had no Shabbat for a very long time. Even when we want to be attentive to the holy, we can’t seem to do it. In our sophisticated, highly educated community, the pace of our lives has long been cranked up to a level that could not have been imagined 50 years ago. Shabbat is usually a time for more work, or a time to engage in a hectic whirlwind of errands. And then technology came along and made everything worse. Technology stalks us. [...]

by Rabbi Peter Rigler As a rabbi, I believe that we need to recognize the sanctity in same sex marriages and monogamous relationships in the strongest possible way. The key issue in the sanctity of a relationship is a commitment to exclusivity and to elevating the relationship to a state of kedusha, holiness. When two individuals arrive at that point in their relationship when they have felt the bonds of love, they deserve a place under the chuppah in the presence of a rabbi and in the presence of community to celebrate that love. The joy they share will, we [...]

by Istvan “Isti” Bardos On an episode of Seinfeld, the character George Costanza and his girlfriend are breaking up. The girlfriend says, “It’s not you. It’s me.” George replies incredulously, “You’re giving me the ‘it’s not you, it’s me’ routine? I invented ‘It’s not you. It’s me.’ Nobody tells me it’s them, not me. If it’s anybody, it’s me!” Memo to congregations: When you use social media, or any communication platform for that matter, think of the words in that scene. Then, make one very important change and know this: Social media is not about your congregation, it’s about your [...]

by SooJi Min Every Wednesday morning, the senior staff of Temple Beth Emeth meets for a couple hours. The structure is usually the same – d’var torah, highlights from the week, cholim (a discussion of those who are ill), and updates. It was on one such morning – April 18, 2012 to be exact – that our senior rabbi, Bob Levy, sat in his usual spot (a black leather recliner) and looking at me, made two requests: (1) Can you find out how we can optimize our website for smartphones? and (2) I’d like a QR reader for TBE. QR [...]

by Rabbi Gary Glickstein Rav A.I. Kook, the former Chief Rabbi of Palestine, often remarked that our role as Jews is to fulfill the vision that “The old shall be renewed, and the new shall be made holy.” (Letters vol. I, p. 214) Last month The New York Times reported on a high-tech High Holiday service led by a young rabbi, Amy Morrison, in Miami Beach. I am proud to say that Rabbi Morrison is a relatively recent addition to our rabbinical team at Temple Beth Sholom. The service, which took place at the Jewish Museum of Florida, was one [...]

If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, does it still make a sound? More importantly, does the sound it makes matter? Such is the case with social media. Active, fantastic social media accounts are nothing without followers and fans. Here are a few tips for driving traffic to your online presence(s): Add your social media account info to the bottom (or top!) of all printed congregational communications, including brochures, FAQs, and other handouts. Ask your clergy and staff to include a uniform message to their e-signatures with links to your online presence. [...]

by Rabbi Adam Grossman “Bond, James Bond.” Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the film series this past October, this famous introduction – expressed in the initial film, Dr. No, and uttered in every movie since – personifies pure confidence and sophistication. This leads the fictional character to be calm, cool, and collected no matter the circumstance or pressure he faces. While Bond’s self-assurance is intoxicating, what many fail to realize is that behind 007’s poise, success and adaptability sits the fictitious Q – the head of research and development for the British secret service. The character Q helps to ensure [...]

So you’ve set up a Twitter account for your congregation. Mazel tov! But… now what?! No need to stare blankly at your computer trying to figure it out. Here are a few suggestions to get you started and to keep you going. Ask questions. The more interaction you generate with followers, the better. Ask what their Shabbat plans are, ask what their favorite Jewish holiday is, ask what they like best about your congregation – anything to get the conversation rolling. Answer questions. If a follower tweets at you – say they want to know what time services are or [...]

In “Shabbat Home Ritual,” originally published in Ten Minutes of Torah, rabbinical student Sarah Fishman writes of her family’s Shabbat traditions, including nerot, lighting the candles, saying kaddish, the blessing over the candles, and eating braided challah. “As life’s daily commotions permeate our homes,” Fishman writes, “home-based Shabbat rituals become increasingly valuable. This morning, we tweeted a link to Fishman’s post from our Twitter account, asking our followers, “What are your favorite Shabbat memories?” The responses began to roll in:

In just a few years, the use of social media has gone from being the exclusive domain of a few innovative organizations to a required aspect of any organization’s communication plan. One of the greatest challenges, and what has kept many synagogues from greater engagement with social media, has been the lack of guidelines. With the Social Media Policy Workbook for Jewish Organizations, congregations now have at their fingertips the resource for creating those guidelines. The Union for Reform Judaism is proud to be one of the sponsors, along with other leading Jewish organizations, of this Workbook. Partnering with experts [...]

At the start of Sukkot, we asked all of our social media friends, fans, and followers to share a photo of their sukkah. We received some great submissions, which we couldn’t resist sharing more broadly. Check out the thumbnails below and click through to see a larger version of each picture. Want to add yours to the mix? There’s still time. Post your photo to our Facebook wall, and we’ll update this post to include it. Chag Sukkot sameach!

When the Jewish High Holy Days arrive, is it necessarily more appropriate to log out of our social media apps, or can social media enhance the spiritual experience of these traditional days? Must Twitter, Facebook, and texting just pull us back into our own private (even narcissistic) world, or can they provide individual connections to a communal religious experience? Recently, the New York Times reported “For Young Jews, a Services says ‘Please Do Text’” on one synagogue’s experimentation in a service for Jews in their 20s and 30s. Congregation Or Ami, always open to innovation, similarly experimented with Facebook, Twitter, and texting [...]