A STUDY GUIDE

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Finding a Spiritual Home: How a New Generation of Jews Can Transform the American Synagogue Jossey-Bass by Rabbi Sidney Schwarz Study Guide by David Franklin, MSW   Read a review from Reform Judaism magazine

Extending the conversation of Synagogue 2000 and the Experiment on Congregational Education, this book makes an important contribution to the synagogue change discussion taking place in many congregations.

This discussion guide explores Schwarz's key arguments and challenges the reader to reflect upon his or her own personal and communal spiritual aspirations.

1. According to Schwarz, what's missing for the spiritual seeker in synagogue life? What can congregations do to help their congregants find more spirituality in worship?

2. Do you agree with Schwarz that synagogues need to be more spiritually engaging? Or do you think the synagogue needs to focus on other aspects of community building and transformation?

3. Finding a Spiritual Home interweaves the personal stories of ten congregants. Take five minutes to write down your own story as a congregant. Ask for volunteers to share their writing with the group.

1. Schwarz divides the synagogue community down into synagogue loyalists, returnees, and dropouts. Explore how congregations can address the needs of these diverse groups.

2. Do you agree with Schwarz's depiction of baby boomers as spiritual seekers? Why do you think most people joined your synagogue?

3. The boomer generation generally holds a high level of interest in spirituality, yet maintains a low level of attachment to things religious. How do you think synagogues can reconcile this paradoxical situation?

1. According to Schwarz, there are four characteristics to a successful synagogue-community: an organizational culture that promotes a high level of participation and engagement of large numbers of members; a strong spiritual leadership; an ability to articulate the mission of the institution; and the willingness to promote a serious and challenging version of Judaism.  Discuss the degree to which these characteristics are present in your congregation. Which of them do you think need improvement?

2. Schwarz describes how each rabbi was essential in shaping the "communal culture," which he defines as "an attitude of mind and spirit that permeates a community and comes to animate all areas of institutional functioning." What is the communal culture of your congregation? What is it that draws you in? What would you consider changing?

3. Explore the competing tensions in contemporary synagogue between congregants' aspirations for anonymity and low commitment and Schwarz's claim that baby boomers want intimacy and inclusiveness in highly structured settings.

4. Articulate Schwarz's description of the spiritual needs of "new American Jews." Do these dovetail with your own needs? Why or why not?

5. What do you notice about your congregation's organizational culture that might foster or inhibit the spiritual cultural and spiritual leadership described by Schwarz?

1. In Chapter 5, Rabbi Lawrence Kushner distinguishes between primary religious acts: holy study, communal prayer and good deeds; and secondary acts: building buildings, raising money, running the fiscal aspects of the congregation, etc. Compare Beth El to your own congregation along these lines. What helps congregations strike a successful balance between these often competing tensions?

2. Kushner coaxes a congregant to start a social justice group with the premise that starting the project will "welcome the Messiah?" What one project would you take on in your congregation? How might you inspire others to join your cause?

3. Describe Kushner's effectiveness as a leader. Does his style remind you of other Jewish leaders? What might Buber or Heschel think of his approach?

4. At first glance, some of Beth El's membership practices, such as capping membership or promoting inclusive elitism, might be counterintuitive. Explore the community involvement approach to "in reach".

5. What avenues exist in your congregation for expressing dissent?

    

6. What aspects of Beth El's worship experience speak to you?

7. Wolf describes "mitzvot" as a path of precious and semi-precious stones which "call to us." (p. 87) Does this image help you connect to mitzvot. Explore the competing notions of mitzvot as good deeds and as commandments.

1. For Weiss, " outreach is a mutual interaction in which both parties are elevated to a higher level of Jewish consciousness as they learn from each other." What experiences have you had in your life both within and outside the Jewish community that support this kind of mutuality?

2. Weiss promotes a flexible notion of communal inclusivity, rare in Jewish communal life. Discuss the value as well as the constraints of this notion of community.

3. Weiss's passionate advocacy for his beliefs inspires his community to follow him. What values as Jewish communal leaders would you place front and center in your ideal synagogue community?

1. Schwarz suggests that one indicator of the strength of a community is how often its constituents are in each other's homes. Is this a useful measure for us? What other indicators can we suggest? How are we doing if we accept this indicator? (p. 155)

2. For Adat Shalom, commitment to serious Jewish education was a guiding principle. What guiding principles exist in your synagogue? One way Adat Shalom actualized this principle was through their extensive Ben/Bat Torah program. Do your synagogue's programs reflect its guiding principles? Are congregants encouraged to take on more commitment than they otherwise might have? Would a newcomer readily perceive what your synagogue's guiding principles are (by looking at the programs offered, the services, the building, the ways in which they are greeted, etc.)? What changes might need to take place to bring your synagogue in line with its highest principles?

3. Schwarz sees the commitment to community decision-making as something that sets Reconstructionism apart from the other movements. Do you accept his claim? How does your congregation make decisions?

4. Adat Shalom, like the other three congregations, used a mission statement as a central tool to organize. What aspects of their Statement of Principles appeal to you? Compare this document with your congregation's mission statement, if your congregation has one, or with the synagogue bylaws. How does the congregational leadership utilize these principles in its decision-making process?

5. Do you think participation requirements for membership would work in your synagogue? Why or why not?

1. While everyone may not be ready to dance in the aisle of the synagogue, there is undoubtedly vibrancy here, which we may wish to recreate. What can you apply from the BJ model to your synagogue?

2. B'nai Jeshrun has enjoyed success under Meyer and Matalon, two rabbis with different personality styles. What role has each rabbi played in developing this institution? Explore the transition from Meyer to Matalon. How does Matalon navigate both internal and external communal politics to bring about systemic changes in the institution. Discuss the power of the rabbi to influence decisions.

3. Schwarz describes BJ's core principles on pp. 205-209. How do these principles vary from the other three congregations depicted in Finding a Spiritual Home?

Part Six

The Spiritual Possibilities of the American Synagogue
Creating the Synagogue-Community

1. Discuss Schwarz's contention that "there is no authentic Jewish spirituality without reaching beyond the self and making a commitment to act on behalf of those who are in need of our help."

2. Many of these synagogues advocate informal dress for services in contradistinction to the traditional model. How might you bring more informality to your congregation? What are the limits of informality for your community?

3. Each of these congregations has specific practices towards creating a warm, welcoming congregation. What are some of the techniques these congregations use and what techniques can you employ to create a more welcoming atmosphere?

1. Identify synagogue transformation efforts in your congregation, in the Reform Movement, in the general Jewish community.

2. What changes in your congregation would foster a more spiritually rich experience for you and your community?

3. American Jews constitute a diverse group in terms of ideology, belief, life styles, etc. What kind of Jewish household did you grow up in? Which identities do you own today?

4. How can the synagogue integrate havurot into the fabric of the synagogue?

Epilogue. If You Can't Find it, Create It: Ten Strategies to Transform Your Congregation.

1. Each of these congregations had the advantage of implementing a vision of synagogue transformation from the ground up--when the congregation was just forming. How can this model be applied to already existing congregations?

2. Pick two congregations described in the book and explain what they have done socially, interpersonally and organizationally to foster their success in building community.

3. Schwarz describes different models of leadership. Are any of these models applicable to your synagogue or are they unique to the individuals described? In particular, consider Kushner's and Weiss' use of advocacy, consensus, empowerment, relationship-building, and community-organizing.

4. Identify several challenges faced by your congregation. Which of them could be amended quickly and which require wholesale systemic changes?

5. In Robert Bellah's classic study Habits of the Heart, he argues that modernity might best be described as having created a "culture of separation . . . Greater mobility, technology, and the pursuit of material success have all conspired to cut individuals off from the families, communities and social context that give life meaning." How might our synagogues help restore the social fabric?

6. In the epilogue, Schwarz summarizes ten approaches to synagogue change in the following list. In terms of importance for your congregation, divide these projects into intermediate short term and long term projects. What project is most appealing to you? What is missing from the list?

Rabbi Sidney Schwarz is the founder and president of The Washington Institute for Jewish Leadership and Values. He is the emeritus rabbi of Adat Shalom Reconstructionist Congregation, Bethesda, MD.

To order Finding a Spiritual Home: How a New Generation of Jews Can Transform the American Synagogue
Jossey-Bass