Cultivating “Belonging” in our Synagogues
Editor’s Note: This article first appeared in eJewishPhilanthropy on September 25, 2024
Synagogue staff and volunteers are busy preparing to welcome hundreds, sometimes thousands, of congregants 
over the course of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. The most attended synagogue days of the year, the High Holidays are a time when congregants who are otherwise infrequent participants make a special effort to show up. Cultivating a deeper sense of belonging will help these congregants connect more with our synagogue communities while they are with us.
Since 2022, over 5000 respondents from over 30 synagogues have taken Clal’s Congregational Belonging Survey, designed to measure congregants’ sense of belonging. We’ve learned that there is a dramatic and significant difference between how high belonging congregants (those whose answers put them in the top third of respondents on belonging scores) experience synagogue community, compared to low belonging ones (those in the bottom third).
Two years ago, I wrote how a high sense of belonging dramatically increases congregants’ likelihood to donate their money, time, and talents to the community. This year, I share five data-informed tips with suggestions for helping shift your congregants’ experience from one of “low belonging” to “high belonging” over the High Holidays. They are based on the survey answers with the greatest difference between congregants with low belonging and high belonging.
- Create more opportunities to greet people by name
Remarkably, being greeted by name is a major indicator of belonging. Almost all high belonging congregants reported being greeted personally (99%) and feel others remember their name (97%) within their congregation, compared with fewer than 15% of low belonging congregants.
- At check-in stations, greet each person by name. There’s a big difference between “Welcome!” and “Welcome Janet and Howard, it’s so good to see you again! Are Jonah and Maya also checking in with you today?”
- Incorporate printed name tags as much as possible. Print high holiday tickets on the back of name tag stickers. Pre-print name tags and a sign encouraging people to wear them and greet each other. Ensure that your board members and volunteers have name tags.
- Create moments to ask each other about our lives
How can you incorporate more visiting, sharing, and meaningful conversation into the High Holiday experience? Almost all high belonging congregants report that fellow community members acknowledge them and ask them about their lives (94%), whereas low belonging congregants only experience this 2% of the time!
- Structure one of the dvar torah slots as a small group discussion, with guided questions about what people have learned this year or their hopes for the coming year.
- Create a socializing space with snacks for people taking breaks from services, and have a social shadchan (match-maker) help introduce people.
- Find a time to offer the whole congregation refreshments, even if only apples and honey.
- Create a Rosh Hashanah meal exchange where new members can be paired with hosts.
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Rabbi Julia Appel is the Senior Director of Innovation at Clal – The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership and director of Clal’s Belonging Project. Click here to sign up for more information or to bring the Belonging Project to your synagogue.
