• Concentrate on Substance and Policy: Refocus Your Board Meetings as Temple Kehillat Chaim Did
• Transform Your Synagogue Into a Caring Community: Send a Delegation to the New Healing Conference
• A Tool for Ethical Jewish Living
• Shalach Manot: A Mitzvah Project for the Board
• Send a Board Delegation to the Consultation on Conscience

Concentrate on Substance and Policy
Refocus Your Board Meetings As Temple Kehillat Chaim Did

Are your board members bored with your meetings (and not showing up)? Do you find that an inordinate amount of board meeting time is spent on minutiae? Do committee reports dominate your agenda?

Consider the quiet revolution that has taken place at Temple Kehillat Chaim in Roswell, GA. Several years ago, the congregation’s president at the time, Richard Oppenheimer, instituted a plan to discuss only substance and policy at board meetings. He eliminated most of the "rote" part of the meeting agenda that required chairs to present routine reports.

The current president of the congregation, Mark Silberman, attended the UAHC-sponsored Scheidt Seminar for new presidents last May and "got the real drill from Dale Glasser" (director of the UAHC Department of Synagogue Management) about how to conduct board meetings. He came back inspired and determined to build on the changes initiated by his predecessor. Together they have implemented a system that is engaging and productive and, most important, one that works. Because board members know that they will not be bored and that their work makes a difference, they are attending meetings in record numbers.

How was this transformation accomplished? The presidents recognized that meetings had to be businesslike, time sensitive, and fun but also focused on the synagogue’s mission, namely, to build a vibrant and dynamic Jewish community that is aware of the Divine Presence during every meeting and every encounter, as well as at worship services.

Toward that end, they have implemented the following changes in preparation for each meeting:

• Three days after a board meeting, minutes are e-mailed and comments are requested and returned via e-mail.
• The agenda is then e-mailed to members before each meeting.
• The substantive and policy matters that are on the agenda are e-mailed to board members in advance, along with supporting data, so that they can prepare themselves for the discussions.
• Committee reports are circulated via e-mail.
• Financial reports are distributed quarterly, not monthly.

The meetings contain an element of camaraderie (at least a joke a month) and the following:

• Each meeting begins with a d’var Torah that is based on the weekly parashah, songs, current events, etc. The d’var Torah is presented by a different board member every month to afford each of the members the opportunity to study and present Jewish text.
• Jewish "current events" (sometimes emanating from the d’var Torah) are raised and the discussion always includes input from the rabbi. Topics range from Rabbi Yoffie’s Worship Initiative and the situation in Israel to the current Boy Scouts dilemma.
• The board reads three Jewish books a year and has a short, pointed discussion early during each board meeting (when everyone is fresh) about some aspect of the current book.
• Nothing is distributed at the meeting that cannot be circulated and digested beforehand so that meeting time is not wasted on reading handouts.
• Only matters that require a policy or procedure discussion and action by the board are included in the agenda.
• Meetings start and end on time (two hours only), with a request for Good and Welfare information made five minutes before the scheduled time for adjournment.

The president will frequently conduct pre-meeting conversations with members who have a particular interest in an agenda item to deflect any potential controversy. If the issue is one about which everyone wishes to speak, the president will set a per speaker time limit and encourage members not to repeat what others have said. Members are told that if they wanted to know what was going on at the temple, they should read the bulletin! Board meetings should not be used to "catch up" on what’s happening.

Specific events are planned exclusively for board members in order to encourage them to become a more cohesive group. For example, the board members and their families participated in their own Mitzvah Day (which took place at their regional camp); the board members took part in a songfest on the bimah at services; and they attended a board dinner at which past presidents were honored.

One hundred percent attendance at board meetings is just one indication of how much Temple Kehillat Chaim board members appreciate their refocused agenda.

For more information on the UAHC-sponsored Scheidt Seminar: A North American Training Institute for Congregational Presidents and Presidents-Elect, which will be held on May 17-20, 2001, at The Lodge at Hamburger University, Oak Brook, IL, please call 212.650.4087 or e-mail ajgrowth@uahc.org .

Transform Your Synagogue
Into A Caring Community
Send A Delegation To The New Healing Conference

The Synagogue As a Center for Healing and Caring, a two-day conference for congregational professional and lay leaders, will be held on April 22-23, 2001, in Colorado Springs, CO, immediately following the UAHC Small Congregations Convention.

At this exciting conference, your professional and lay synagogue team will:

• Learn how to transform your synagogue into a caring congregation--one in which all your congregants can worship, celebrate, mourn, and find community.
• Discuss ways in which you can develop structures that address the need for bikkur cholim (visiting the sick), bereavement support, mental health awareness, critical illness support, and end-of-life decision making.
• Explore model healing services and discover new program ideas.

Discount hotel rates are available, so book early since space is limited!

To obtain a brochure, register, or receive more information, contact the Department of Jewish Family Concerns by phone at 212.650.4294, by fax at 212.650.4239. or by e-mail at deptjewfamcon@uahc.org .

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A Tool For Ethical Jewish Living

Who May Abide in Your House? Jewish Ethics and Decision Making is a new publication now available to congregations that wish to explore ways to incorporate Jewish ethical principles into their institutional life. The guide, three-hole punched for easy use, describes the major areas of synagogue life in which Jewish ethics should be operative, including leadership, clergy and staff relations, finances, communication, and confidentiality. Designed to raise and encourage ethical questioning and institutional scrutiny more than to offer solutions, this booklet outlines some of the basic ethical principles of Judaism. It offers several simple techniques for approaching ethical dilemmas and presents many sample ethical dilemmas for study and discussion. It also provides some thoughtful guidelines for resolving serious disagreements, as well as an extensive synagogue ethics audit.

A project of the Ida and Howard Wilkoff Department of Synagogue Management of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations. Who May Abide in Your House? Jewish Ethics and Decision Making is available, free of charge, by calling 212.650.4040 or e-mailing synagoguemgmt@uahc.org .

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Shalach Manot
A Mitzvah Project For The Board

	They were to observe them as days of feasting and merrymaking and as an occasion for sending gifts to one another and presents to the poor.
	-Esther 9:22

The feast of Purim, which will be celebrated on March 9 this year, obligates everyone to send gifts or "portions" of food to friends and give charity to the needy. In the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 142:1, it is written, "The more gifts one sends to one’s friends, the more praiseworthy one is. Nevertheless, it is better to give charity to the needy than to make a great feast and to send gifts to one’s friends." Why not spend a few minutes during your February or March board meeting preparing food packages for the poor or elderly in your temple or your community and then giving yourselves the pleasure of delivering them?

While you are preparing the packages, enjoy some commentary about how "portions" were interpreted by the rabbis. According to the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 142:1-2, because the term “portions” is plural, the obligation is to send a minimum of two gifts of food to at least one person. "Portions" have been interpreted to mean gifts of food that can be eaten without further preparation, such as boiled meat, fish, confectionery, fruits, or wine. According to Talmud Megillah 7a-7b, Rabbi Judah Nesi’ah sent to Rabbi Oshaia the leg of a third-born calf and a barrel of wine! This gift was joyously welcomed. Rabbah sent to Mari ben Mar a sackful of dates and a cupful of roasted ears of corn. In return, Mari ben Mar sent Rabbah a sackful of ginger and a cupful of long-stalked pepper. Rabbah responded, "I sent him sweet and he sends me bitter!"

Just to be on the safe side, consider packing more traditional items like hamantaschen, fruit, nuts, hard candy, and juice in your Shalach Manot packages; include the above-quoted line from Esther; and enjoy the opportunity to provide nourishment for the body and soul to people who are in need.

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Send a Board Delegation to
the Consultation on Conscience

The Consultation on Conscience, March 11-13, 2001, in Washington, DC, is a unique opportunity for rabbis, cantors, educators, lay leaders, and youth to study, pray, and take action on matters of justice, fairness, and human decency. It is an opportunity for social justice leaders, government officials, and Jewish social activists to exchange ideas and pursue shared priorities. Participants will determine the role that Jewish values play in current issues, understand hotly debated and timely political issues, exchange programming ideas with people from across the country, and meet with members of Congress.

The Consultation on Conscience is organized by the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism. It will be based at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Washington, DC. For more information, please contact the RAC by phone at 202.387.2800, by e-mail at consultation@uahc.org.