The cornerstone of Rabbi Eric H. Yoffie’s Presidential Sermon, delivered on December 8, 2001, at the Union of American Hebrew Congregations Biennial Assembly in Boston, Massachusetts, was a blunt appraisal of Jewish education, in which he directed Reform synagogues to mobilize for a major overhaul of after-school education programs. He advocated drawing volunteer leaders into the work of religious education, observing, “Change is most dramatic in those synagogues where temple Boards make the tough education decisions and where Education Committees do policy and evaluation rather than classroom snacks and fund-raising.”

Rabbi Yoffie’s program calls for the implementation of standards because “even the youngest children should know that Reform Judaism makes demands on us; it does not mean doing whatever you please.” He declared that parents of religious school children should be required to be in school studying with their children six times a year. The comprehensive program, titled The Chai ("Life") Curriculum, includes a new Hebrew curriculum and teaching materials for children in grades 2-7 (and their parents and families) on Torah, avodah, and g’milut chasadim.

To help your congregational lay leaders implement this initiative, the UAHC Department of Jewish Education has created a handbook and discussion guides for the Board of Trustees titled The Role of Temple Boards in Congregational Education: A Discussion Guide.

The program is designed to facilitate the conversation on a wide range of subjects and, along with its appendix materials, provides a methodology for selecting additional topics that may be of particular interest to your Board. Each of the eleven sessions is scheduled to last twenty to thirty minutes and can be used

• At the beginning of every meeting throughout the year
• Clustered together in two or three sessions
• At a Board retreat

Download the Chai Learning for Jewish Life material titled The Role of Temple Boards in Congregational Education: A Discussion Guide from the UAHC Web site at http://uahc.org/educate/chai or contact the UAHC Department of Jewish Education by e-mail at educate@uahc.org, by phone at 212.650.4110, or by fax at 212.650.4129.

SHARE THE WEALTH
Bring the Boston Biennial Back to Your Board

Next month—more Biennial news:

Creating Sacred Partnerships, the Biennial initiative to encourage congregational discussions on how to move from a corporate to a covenantal model The newly redesigned UAHC Web site

From worship to workshops, from songfests to the moving tribute to Rabbi Alexander Schindler, the Boston Biennial was five days chock-full of activities from early morning worship and study until (very) late night entertainment. So how can the lucky members of your synagogue who attended transmit the joy and enthusiasm, the learning and camaraderie back to your Board? Plan a Biennial presentation at your next Board meeting, with participation by many of those who attended. Encourage the attendees to share the material they collected. Remember that tapes of the workshops are available (see below). As you prepare for your upcoming Board meeting, consider the thoughts of the following leaders.

Renee Nadel, the president of Congregation B’nai Israel in Boca Raton, Florida, hopes to entice her Board to attend future Biennials with a description of the ruach, the music, the incredible learning, the openness and willingness to share information among colleagues, and the wonderful feeling of community. She likened the Biennial to the special feeling one gets in Israel.

James Harris, the president of Congregation Bet Ha’am in South Portland, Maine, was also deeply moved by the spirituality of sharing Shabbat with 6,000 people. He is anxious to convey to his Board the messages from Rabbi Eric Yoffie and Chairman of the Board Russell Silverman, and he is planning a report on the workshops he attended, particularly the one on strengthening the partnership between the president and the rabbi.

Jonathan Barnett, the president of Congregation B’nai Shalom in Westborough, Massachusetts, was quite taken with his first Biennial. He had not grasped how much there was to learn, but now he will spend his next Board meeting encouraging as many temple leaders as possible to attend future Biennials so that they too can benefit from the workshops, worship, and spirituality. He found the workshops on becoming a better leader; leadership development and recruitment; the Boy Scout issue; rabbinic review, which he attended at his rabbi’s behest; and conducting a cantorial search (and his private discussion with the presenter afterward) particularly helpful.

Julie Knoll, the president of Temple Shalom in Chevy Chase, Maryland, was particularly impressed with the Presidential Sermon and the workshops. She found the distributed material so practical that she felt she could go back to her congregation with confidence about carrying out the programs she had learned about. She also found that the worship and spiritual experiences gave her an opportunity for personal growth and “recharging [her] Jewish batteries,” which is needed by all Jewish lay leaders.

Ron Rosenberg, the president of Temple Beth Shalom in San Juan, Puerto Rico, was impressed with the record turnout in Boston after September 11. He is especially interested in encouraging Board members to attend a Biennial so that they can experience the spirit of the event, be as inspired by Rabbi Yoffie as he was, and share ideas with other congregations both formally and informally.

For Jonathan Kosarin, the president of Temple Rodef Shalom in Falls Church, Virginia, this was his fourth Biennial. He found the question-and-answer session with Rabbi Yoffie and Russell Silverman and the Common Grounds Luncheons both wonderful opportunities and good sounding boards for learning about and dealing with issues facing all congregations.

Lynne Wasserman, the future president of Congregation Gates of Prayer in Metairie, Louisiana, was particularly interested in fund-raising and endowment information and took back a valuable wealth of material to share in these areas. She and her fellow Executive Committee members are already searching for funds to enable more congregants to attend the next Biennial so that the newer leadership can be moved, as she was, by the immense sense of spirituality engendered there.

Anne Van Prooyen, the president of Temple Emanu-El of Atlanta, Georgia, found the workshops—particularly those on how large congregations spend their money and the sessions dealing with integrating newcomers and at the same time reconnecting the founding families, the evolving relationship between boomers and synagogues, and “Making Your Congregation the ‘Place to Be’ for Young Adults”—so valuable that she took back tapes of them to communicate to her congregation.

If you were in Boston, by all means, share the experience with your congregation. If you were not, the Boston Biennial program is on the UAHC Web site at http://uahc.org/Boston, and tapes of the workshops are available by clicking Convention Cassettes. It is not too soon to start preparing for Minneapolis 2003!

NEW FROM SYNAGOGUE MANAGEMENT FOR THE SAKE OF HEAVEN:
COMMITTEES IN CONGREGATIONAL LIFE NEW FROM SYNAGOGUE MANAGEMENT
FOR THE SAKE OF HEAVEN: COMMITTEES IN CONGREGATIONAL LIFE

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