Your board installation provides you with a wonderful opportunity to showcase
the vision, values, and mission of your leaders. This process works best when
the installation takes place during a Shabbat service, with other appropriate
forums being the annual meeting or the first board meeting of the new temple
year. Some synagogues conduct an inclusive installation, during which Brotherhood, WRJ, the School Board, and other leaders are also
installed. Others prefer to use this installation as an opportunity to showcase
only the Board of Trustees.
Try to create an installation that reflects the significance of the board's
role in the future of your temple and highlights the model of leadership that
you would like board members to exemplify. Consider asking board members to
conduct the Torah service: Have them sing the blessings, chant the portion, and
present a d'var Torah. Ask the board members to create or research
appropriate readings on leadership and responsibility. Invite the rabbi to bless
the leaders under a talit or chupah in front of the Ark.
The board of Temple Chai in Phoenix,
AZ, composed a Covenant of Leadership during several brainstorming sessions.
This document specifically delineates the responsibilities of temple board
members with regard to attendance at board-related events, board involvement,
participation in the temple's religious life, committee work, and financial
responsibilities and lists what a temple board member can expect in return.
Every year the president reviews the terms of the covenant with each new board
member, who is then asked to sign it.
Whether your installation takes place during a service or a meeting, consider
asking the board to take an oath or make a public pledge of responsibility to
your congregation. At Temple Chai, the
Covenant of Leadership was published in the temple bulletin. President Nora
Perlmutter noted that the membership expressed pleasant surprise at the array of
expectations listed in both the spiritual and fiduciary areas. Publicly
delineating the board's responsibilities highlights the fact that the board's
mission is to serve the congregation.
SUMMER STUDY: HOME AND AWAY
Kids shouldn't be the only ones who get to have fun in the summer time. Use
your season without meetings to go to camp, visit HUC-JIR in Cincinnati, or curl up with a good book.
You can do all those things and develop yourself Jewishly by using the tips
listed below. Then plan to share your summer experiences with your board in the
fall. Consider the following possibilities:
Attend a UAHC-sponsored Kallah
(Assembly) : Experience five days of exploration, study, worship,
and song. This year's theme is Multiple Dimensions of Prayer: I Am Ever Mindful
of God's Presence. Choose from four locations: Roger Williams University,
Bristol, RI, June 28-July 2, 2000; the University of California, Santa Cruz, CA,
July 19-23, 2000; the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, CO, August 2-6,
2000; and the Canadian Kallah, Camp George, Parry Sound, ONT, Canada, August
23-27, 2000.
Take part in the Para-Rabbinic Program at the HUC-JIR campus in
Cincinnati, OH (Level One, July 7-16; Level Two, July 19-26): Learn to lead
Torah study and worship services, assist in life-cycle events, create synagogue
programming, and much more.
Read a book: Get a head start on the Reform Movement's newest list of
Significant Jewish
Books and consider organizing fall discussion groups in your synagogue.
Choose from the following:
- The Last of
the Just by André Schwarz-Bart: A "classic" work that relates the
history of the Lamed-Vovniks and culminates in the Holocaust. Published in
France in 1959, this novel is still a powerful depiction of the heart of a Jew.
- Broken
Tablets: Restoring the Ten Commandments and Ourselves, edited by
Rachel S. Mikva: A collection of short essays on each commandment. Take
advantage of an opportunity to study Torah with some of the most renowned
teachers in Reform Judaism, as well as other Jewish scholars.
Also consider Moses on Management: 50 Leadership Lessons from the Greatest
Manager of All Time by David Baron. Learn about leadership from Moses, the
master, as Rabbi Baron draws surprising parallels between Moses' world and our
own and illuminates areas of particular relevance for today's business managers.
For detailed information about any of these programs, please contact the UAHC
Department of Adult Jewish Growth by telephone at 212-650-4087 or by e-mail at
ajgrowth@uahc.org. Also visit the department's Web site at
http://uahc.org/growth.
CELEBRATE ISRAEL'S INDEPENDENCE
BY
LEARNING FROM ITS LEADERS
This year Yom Ha-atzmaut falls on Wednesday, May 10, 2000. Use the
fifty-second anniversary of Israel's Independence to have your board members
consider the leadership styles of people like Theodor Herzl, Golda Meir, and
David Ben-Gurion. During each critical time in Israel's recent history, leaders
with a singular vision arose to guide the people. Would these leaders be
successful today? Are their styles appropriate for dealing with the issues of
the twenty-first century? Would they even recognize today's Israel?
Invite one of your congregation's teenagers who has spent time in Israel
either with NFTY in Israel or the Eisendrath International Exchange to speak to
the board about the leadership training aspect of the program in which he or she
participated. Then consider the following: What values are being transmitted to
today's youth? What does Israel expect from its future leaders?
Think about how you can build on the styles of and challenges faced by
Israel's past and present leaders to chart a leadership course for the future of
your congregation.
For more information about Israel opportunities for teenagers, please contact
UAHC NFTY in Israel by telephone at 914-987-6300 or by e-mail at
NFTYIS@warwick.net.
SYNAGOGUE BOARDS:
A SACRED
TRUST
New from the UAHC Press, Daniel S. Schechter's paperback is a
practical road map on how to be a successful synagogue board member and how
synagogues can create thriving boards. It addresses such issues as:
- How to improve and evaluate board performance
- Preventing trustee "burnout"
- Ways to improve working relationships with religious leaders
- How boards can act and make decisions Jewishly
- How best to build a "synagogue community"
- Development and long-range planning
- The board and the budget
Synagogue Boards: A Sacred Trust is available at a bulk discount rate for
your board by contacting the
UAHC Press
by telephone at 888-489-8242 or by e-mail at
press@uahc.org.
RABBINIC REVIEW:
ENGAGING IN AN ONGOING
MUTUAL DIALOGUE
Among the most important factors in a well-functioning
congregation is the b'rit or partnership between the rabbi and the
congregational leadership. One way to develop this relationship is through an
ongoing and frequent process of lay and rabbinic mutual review that assumes the
form of continuing, unofficial dialogue.
The synagogue president and rabbi should initiate and encourage
this review process by meeting weekly. They might consider meeting outside the
temple, which would result in less formal interaction and minimal interruptions.
These meetings could form the basis for a continuing conversation
between lay leaders and the rabbi. Since board leadership changes frequently,
continuity can be maintained by insuring that at least some leaders
participating in this process remain involved in the mutual dialogue over the
course of a period of years.
Appropriate topics for discussion include:
- Available opportunities for professional rabbinic growth and lay leadership
development
- The setting of mutual goals and priorities
- How the lay and rabbinic leadership could change their methods of
functioning in order to help the congregation become more effective, spiritual,
and relevant
For more detailed information on the process of mutual dialogue and to obtain a
copy of the National Commission on Rabbinic-Congregational Relations' brochure
The NCRCR Guidelines for Ongoing Mutual Review in the Synagogue, please
contact the
UAHC Ida and Howard Wilkoff
Department of Synagogue Management by telephone at 212-650-4040 or by e-mail
at
synagoguemgmt@uahc.org.
Share Your Ideas and Input
Do you have
- Programs that have worked well in your congregation?
- Topics about which you would like more information?
- Suggestions for future Inside Leadership articles?
For our May-June issue: During the past year, which
Inside Leadership articles did you
find most useful?
Contact the
UAHC Ida and Howard Wilkoff
Department of Synagogue
Management
633 Third Avenue
New York, NY 10017
Tel: (212) 650-4040
Fax: (212) 650-4239
E-mail: Synagoguemgmt@uahc.org
