Connecting with others can be awkward, so we seek out people like us. This strategy can limit our experiences and cut us off from others across lines of difference.

When our congregation wanted a coffin cover for families to use during funerals, I was one of 11 women who answered a “calling all quilters” ad in the temple bulletin.

We don’t often think about how our synagogue leaders stay fueled and energized – especially if they themselves are sad and grieving – to take such good care of us.

When I signed up for the URJ’s Congregational Finances Course to prepare for my new role as president, I never imagined I’d find sacred partnership in that online course.

This is a well-planned class with amazing staff, and I feel like a completely different person from when I started it. 

We all want change, but we usually want someone else to do it. In order to bring about change in a congregation, its leaders need to be ready for it.

Every successful Jewish organization is jointly supported by both professional leaders and lay leaders, all working to serve the community’s members.

Learn how a small synagogue with a reputation for being stodgy and predictable, sold its building and used the capital to reinvent itself in the community.

At my temple, small groups are a vital part of synagogue life. But groups alone are not enough to ensure connection to one another, Jewish life, or a spiritual community.