JUMP-START YOUR YEAR AND YOUR BOARD
WITH A BOARD RETREAT

Temple Beth Orr in Coral Springs, Florida (650 households), holds a mandatory board retreat each January at the beginning of its board year. The retreat is an integral part of the temple’s board development program, which has been in effect for twelve years. The kickoff for the retreat begins with a Friday night Shabbat dinner and installation service for the new board. Then the board members return to the temple bright and early on Saturday morning to begin two intensive days of study and workshops.

A Union for Reform Judaism professional is invited to teach and facilitate at the retreat, which focuses on a particular temple goal. Last year, Rabbi Richard Address, the director of the Union’s Department of Jewish Family Concerns, helped the board focus on creating a Caring Community. This January, Dru Greenwood, the director of the Union’s Outreach and Synagogue Community Department, worked with the board on membership issues. Each retreat culminates in the creation of an action plan for the year and the signing of the b’rit, the board members’ commitment to their responsibilities.

In addition to this retreat, the board development program consists of two other events: a mandatory one-day summer meeting that frequently focuses on a particular committee and its charge and features board and self-evaluations that offer insights into board progress and performance; and a new board member orientation that is usually held on an evening during the week before the January retreat.

Jay Gellman, the temple’s second vice president and creator of the board development program, observes that “attendance at these meetings is considered so important to the well-being of the board that a proposed board member’s failure to agree in advance to attend reflects negatively on his or her consideration for a board position.”

The Union for Reform Judaism’s Ida and Howard Wilkoff Department of Synagogue Management (DSM) assists member congregations in all areas of synagogue management and administration, including board training and leadership development. Visit our Web site and download the following publications: Managing the Sacred: A Guide for Synagogue Board Members* and L’Dor Vador: Creating a New Generation of Temple Leadership*.