I recently joined the education committee at my synagogue. The board and the professional staff have all voiced a commitment to, and a glaringly obvious need for, some major revitalization of the way we “do” education. However, I’m not sure that any of us have any idea how to make it happen, nor do we have the funds to bring in any experts to help us.
I’ve been poring over the recent Avi Chai report “Supplementary Schools that Work” and skimming the web for other examples of great schools, great shuls, and great programs, since the school is only piece of what the shul should be offering us. In my opinion, there’s almost nothing at our shul that doesn’t need to be revamped, even if it takes a lot of work and a very long time.
Although I’m a committed homeshuler, I’d love to be tempted to spent more time in shul with my family – so I’m turning to you, my beloved and inspiring readers. What’s great about your shul (or someone else’s shul?) What programs really succeed, especially for kids and families? What’s made you and/or your family excited to go to shul, or inspired you to return?
I’m all ears (or should I say, all eyes.)
I’ve been feeling very separated from my shul for a while. In fact, I’m starting to look at new shuls to see if I can feel the sense of community that I’ve been looking for in a shul.
Two things that have been impressing me at neighboring shuls: at one, they set up a young fathers’ group (a way to get young families to participate in shul life at an older, more established shul); at the other, there is a “Training Wheels” program (sort of a Hebrew School pre-school for kids and parents on Sunday afternoons to learn about the holidays and do crafts).
Of course, those events are great, but all focus on families. What about married couples who don’t have kids yet? That’s one of the reasons that my husband and I have felt so isolated. Not sure if there’s an answer out there, just putting in my .02.
i think the key to a “good school” is one that works for your congregation. it’s hard to say what the ONE thing is that makes a school great. …it’s really all about bringing people together and creating community. making it a place that kids want to be together.
i also think that there are great resources out there – scholars and teachers, who you could bring in to help you or to give you advice…it might be worth it to bring in a scholar from HUC for example, enjoy him/her as a scholar-in-residence, and spend a day getting “professional” opinions.
or gather a team from your congregation of all the master teachers – even if they’re not “jewish educators” – knowing education can be a good thing.
i think it’s great that you want to invest in your shul – you have to find like-minded people who are willing to put in the time and effort to make it great.
I wholeheartedly agree with you, Phyllis.
I think we’ve assembled a really talented, knowledgeable ed committee, so that’s a good start. I hope we can engage the whole congregation (as well as potential congregants) in a conversation about what education can and should look like for our community. Still, it would be great to hear about the random great program that anyone wants to rave about.
As the Program Director of my synagogue outside of Philadelphia, I can tell you a few things that engage our members in small groups and brings us together as a community:
1) Torah To Go – a new initiative that my rabbi came up with to bring Torah to our members. One family takes home a Torah and invites friends and family to a study session that takes place in their home led by a member of our clergy. The clergy person gears the Torah portion to the audience: adults, families, interfaith, etc. We ask the family to bring the Torah back to the synagogue at Fri. night services. It is a wonderful program that has taken off.
2) The Mother’s Circle – A national program from JOI (Jewish Institute for Outreach) that provides an educational and supprotive program to non-Jewish mothers raising Jewish children. A curriculum is already in place. The program is free to members. Topics include Jewish parenting & values, life cycle events & holidays.
3) Cocktail parties for new members – we invite our new members to the rabbi’s house for a cocktail party. They get to meet the clergy, staff, and some of the lay leaders. It give us a chance to get to know our new members without the formality of a large membership dinner in the synagogue.
I think that all synagogues could benefit from a program director – someone who thinks about the programming needs of all demographics. In my position, I connect members who want to be connected to our community. It is a very fulfilling job and synagogues can become more vibrant with a staff person whose primary focus is programming, membership & communications.
I hope I didn’t go on too long….:)
Elisa
Thanks, Elisa, I really appreciate your taking the time to share your ideas. I wish we had someone in your position-
Although I really, really like the list of characteristics that “Schools That Work” provides (it’s always nice to have a set of criteria that one can use as a check-off list), I think the part of the report that might be most useful is the “enabling factors” that Wertheimer describes in the Executive Summary.
I’ve worked with a large number of schools in the past 10 years (I’m a Jewish ed consultant), and frequently had difficulty identifying *why* a particular school was more successful than another.
After reading SSTW, I’ve taken another look at the enabling factors in each place and generally have found 1 or 2 of them lacking in the institutions that weren’t “successful.”
Good luck – it’s an important task you’ve signed on for!