Synagogues Are Not Helpless

Rabbi Joshua Rabin 0 Comments

Synagogues make easy scapegoats. For over a generation, the synagogue has been propped up as a symptom and symbol of everything not working about Judaism today. At the same time, unless Jewish communal leaders, professionals, and philanthropists consider the opportunity cost of speaking about synagogues as institutions incapable of redemption, far too many congregations will lose the ability to approach the challenges of the stormy present with an optimistic and resilient mindset. I travel across North America to work with synagogue leaders in my role at the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism (USCJ).  While I am always energized to meet synagogue leaders who feel optimistic and energetic about the future, sadly collective optimism is the exception, not the rule. Of course, it is difficult to […]

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Look for Best Principles, Not Best Practices

Amy Asin 0 Comments

(Editor’s Note: This post originally appeared on the Union for Reform Judaism’s blog, Inside Leadership.) Everyone wants an easy answer: “Tell us what to do, and we’ll do it!” synagogue leaders often plead – but given congregations’ varied histories, cultures, demographics, physical spaces, and resources, no single solution will work for every community. Even if it did, given the complex challenges presented by a fast-moving and rapidly changing world, a simple plug-in solution is unlikely to work for long. Instead of trying to replicate best practices that seemed to work for another community, congregations should seek “best principles” to guide them in the work specific to their community’s needs. This shift from seeking practices to seeking principles is one of eight principles that drive strong […]

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Makom NY: A New Model of Jewish Community

Rabbi Deborah Bravo and Sherry Gutes 0 Comments

Long Island, NY is one of the quintessential suburban Jewish outposts, developing in the years following WWII. There are many synagogues of varying denominations, committed clergy and people in lay and professional leadership who do great work and are passionate and committed to serving this community. We all know that the Jewish landscape has changed and continues to evolve, yet many synagogues are simply not set up to address these changes as rapidly as needed. Local demographics have changed, most especially over the past 10 years. Every year, there are synagogues that merge or have had to close their doors completely. While there are notable exceptions in this area, most synagogues report diminished numbers of students in their religious schools, reduced membership rosters and lower […]

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Pharoah in your Zip Code: Bringing Some Chesed to Prisons

Rabbi Michael Lezak 0 Comments

“From out of the meitzar, from out of a very narrow or confined space, I called out to God. You God answered me from a place of vast expansiveness.” -Psalm 118:5 It’s two days before Pesach here in Marin County. The Mitzvah Kitchen volunteers at Congregation Rodef Sholom are feverishly preparing matzah ball soup, brisket and all the fixings for 110 men at San Quentin Prison, three miles south of our congregation. It’s a massive effort, with last minute trips to the market, feverishly purchasing food and containers. I get a call from Rabbi Paul, the chaplain at San Quentin, who says to me, “Michael, they found some weapons here and the entire prison is on lockdown. No one is allowed to leave their cell. […]

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Preparing Rabbis to be Change Agents

Rabbi Sid Schwarz 0 Comments

Last winter I was at a first-of-its-kind gathering in Austin, TX. The leaders of more than ten national religious denominations came together to explore why their congregations were losing membership so rapidly over the last decade. The gathering included leadership from the Methodists, Episcopalians, United Church of Christ, Lutherans, Unitarian Universalists as well as top leadership from the Union for Reform Judaism, United Synagogue for Conservative Judaism and the Reconstructionist Movement. There were also a handful of consultant/thought leadership types who have created programs designed to better equip clergy to get ahead of the curve on the rapid changes in American society that are at the root of the declining market share of conventional religious institutions. One of the most important presentations at the gathering […]

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How Your Congregation Can Transform Life for Its Members

Rabbi Esther Lederman 1 Comment

In 2013, four visionary congregations – Central Synagogue in New York, NY, Temple Emanu-El in Dallas, TX, The Temple in Atlanta, GA, and Congregation Emanu-El in San Francisco, CA – began to work together, in partnership with the Union for Reform Judaism, on a new strategy and vision for congregational life. That vision centers around “small groups,” a concept adapted for our purposes from the world of mega-churches. Temple Emanu-El in Dallas articulated the vision this way: “Imagine hundreds of Temple members gathering regularly in small groups to learn and laugh, to rest and rejuvenate, and to deepen connections to one another, to the congregation, to the Jewish people, and to the rhythms of Jewish time and life.” What exactly are small groups – and […]

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Leadership Humility

Rabbi Eric Solomon 1 Comment

I remember the moment vividly.  A few years ago, on a cold morning in mid-January, I approached a long line of marchers gathered to honor Martin Luther King’s birthday in downtown Raleigh, NC.  I soon spotted a “Beth Meyer Synagogue” banner and walked towards the small but lively group of congregants, huddled with signs, t-shirts, and hot coffee. I was feeling reflective on that MLK Day, trying to take in the power of marching in the streets of a thriving, yet once-segregated and sleepy Southern city.  I was also thinking about my rabbinate. Ten years had passed since I moved from the liberal haven of New York City to my politically-diverse, Conservative shul south of the Mason-Dixon Line.  In those ten years, I had fallen in […]

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How Free Ice Water can Save your Synagogue

Rabbi Michael Knopf 0 Comments

Much is being written these days about the attempt to rejuvenate struggling North American synagogues. I want to add my voice to the conversation by offering a transformative model that, I am sure, no one considered. That’s because not only does the model come from outside the religious world, it is also tucked away in a place no one would think to look: in a small South Dakota town called Wall. Wall, South Dakota is home to Wall Drug, a unique store that features everything from buffalo burgers to nickel coffee, the world’s largest jackalope, a Singing Cowboy Orchestra and a wall of news clippings about people standing at the wall of clippings reading about people standing at the wall. But more than this, Wall […]

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Theory of Change and Synagogue Innovation

Josh Fixler 0 Comments

Over the past few decades, many synagogues have worked hard to define their unique and compelling mission. Others have created vision statements of bold directions for their communities. These statements come from a self-reflective process of strategic planning and community conversation. But something is missing. We have a “what.” We lack a “why” and a “how.” We live in an age when the purpose of the synagogue is not self-evident. Baby Boomers and the generations that follow demonstrate daily that they will not join congregations unless they feel a compelling reason to do so. If we are going to attract these skeptics, we need a much more solid understanding of what synagogues are and how they work on the world. As part of this effort, […]

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Here I Show Up, Across Political Divisions

Rabbi Susan Talve 0 Comments

This article first appeared in Sh’ma Now‘s issue on “Hineni” – The complexities of being fully present (September, 2016). A local Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) organizer, Faizan Sayed, invited me recently to attend and speak at a rally to welcome Syrian refugees. Faizan invited me, a pulpit rabbi in St. Louis, knowing I believe that Israel has the right to exist — though I’m critical of Israel’s occupation and treatment of Palestinians. He invited me though we both know that the more radical pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel activists would attend the rally and would likely protest my presence. Last year, I was targeted as a hypocrite for not supporting the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) campaign while I stood in the streets of Ferguson fighting for the […]

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