World

Transformation
Scorecard

Which fixes are
working for
synagogues?

Richard Greenberg
Jewish Telegraphic Agency

New York

S

ynagogue transformation
programs exude good
intentions,.but do they
actually work?
The record is mixed. They are
no panacea; but they sometimes
benefit participating congrega-
tions — at least temporarily — by
attracting newcomers, energizing
existing members and perhaps
forcing the synagogues to re-exam-
ine themselves.
For example, Rabbi Shawn
Zevit, a spokesman for the Jewish
Reconstructionist Federation, says
participating congregations in his
movement have enjoyed "mod-
est success" in luring unaffiliated
Jews, although getting them to
participate in synagogue activities
has not always been easy. On the
other hand, he adds, some exist-
ing members have become more
deeply involved in congregational
life thanks to transformation ini-
tiatives.
Those initiatives include
Synaplex, whose core mission is to
strengthen Jewish identity and cre-

ate a sense of community largely
by making Shabbat meaningful.
Turnout at synagogues that have
participated in the program for at
least two years generally doubles, •
triples, or even quadruples on
Synaplex weekends, accord-
ing to Rabbi Hayim Herring, a
spokesman for Synaplex's parent
organization, Star, or Synagogues:
Transformation and Renewal.
What's more, Herring adds,
membership has either stabilized
or increased at 17 pilot congrega-
tions evaluated by his organization,
even those that had been losing
members.
But a boost in headcount does
not necessarily translate into
meaningful change, according to
representatives of both transfor-
mation projects and participating
synagogues.
"The goal of a synagogue is
not simply to get people to use it,
although that may be the initial
goal',' says Rabbi Jerome Epstein,
executive vice president of the
United Synagogue of Conservative
Judaism. "The ultimate goal is to
effect change in the person and the
congregation. I'd look at the situ-
ation two years from now and see
how many people have had con-
tinuous involvement, or did they
become involved only because this
is something new."
The success rate of these
experiments varies dramatically,
according to Epstein. Without
offering percentages, he says he

has observed "large numbers" of
congregations that seek a "quick
fix"; and, therefore, have achieved
only limited success — and "large
numbers" that have been able to
reinvent themselves and become
more vibrant institutions.
Benchmarks of congregational
transformation come in many
forms — some of them concrete
and easy to quantify, but many
more of them abstract and difficult
to attach numbers to. They maybe
manifested by congregants who
now take Jewish learning seriously.
Or who have inculcated Jewish val-
ues into their lives. Or feel prayer in
their bones for the first time. Or it
may be reflected in a once-imper-
sonal synagogue that now has a
warm, friendly atmosphere and
makes newcomers feel at home.
Whether these innovations
actually take root is the product of
many factors, according to Epstein
and others, including the quality of
leadership at individual congrega-
tions, and that can vary widely. The
consensus: The best leaders are
visionaries who cultivate congre-
gations that creatively and boldly
pursue long-lasting change rather
than simply add new programs.
Ideally, such an approach is so
firmly implanted in the congrega-
tional culture that it will survive
changes in synagogue personnel.
"You have to be ready to look at
yourself objectively and critically
and really be honest about what
your strengths and weaknesses

are',' says Rabbi Daniel Freelander,
vice president of the Union for
Reform Judaism.
"You need to create rising
expectations and break your
sense of complacency. It's very dif-
ficult:' Freelander says only about
one-half of the congregations he
has monitored have been able to
create a climate that is conducive
to profound change. "But when it
happens," he adds, "you can see the
light bulbs going off and the con-
gregation is better for it."
The point at which change
becomes "meaningful" or even
"profound" is subject to inter-
pretation, of course. Herring of
Synaplex, for one, says an impor-
tant threshold has been crossed
when a congregation "moves from
using Synaplex as a program to
using Synaplex as a way of doing
business in the synagogue:'
However it is defined, fashioning
a truly transformative approach to
congregational thinking and deci-
sion-making "is incredibly hard to
do and we still have a lot to learn
about how to do it',' says Lawrence
Hoffman, the co-founder of
Synagogue 2000, an initiative that
was launched in 1995 and recently
evolved into a leadership-training
program known as Synagogue
3000. The goal of Synagogue 2000,
in part, was to help congregations
become more spiritual, adult-cen-
tered and welcoming.
Amy Sales, associate director
of the Cohen Center for Modern
Jewish Studies at Brandeis
University, says that about half of
the Synaplex synagogues she sur-
veyed could legitimately be called
success stories.
A third major shul-overhaul
program is the Experiment in
Congregational Education, which
focuses on Torah study as an

important entry point into Jewish
life."On one level, transformation
seems daunting',' says ECE direc-
tor Rob Weinberg. "But on another
level, we're just asking congrega-
tions to do the best of what they
already do, but on a regular basis."
Stressing he considers success
to be a "continuum, rather than
a yes-no proposition:' Weinberg
estimates that roughly one-half to
three-quarters of the synagogues
that have participated in his pro-
gram for several years have in fact
transformed themselves.
Temple Shalom of Newton,
Mass., is one of them. Under
the ECE aegis, the 1,000-family -
Reform congregation spent five
years coming up with five core
Jewish values — lifelong learn-
ing, enriching spirituality, creating
community, tikkun olam (social
action) and Jewish continuity.
Ideally, every new synagogue
event or program exemplifies
one of those values. For example,
when three of the temple's aging
Torah mantles disintegrated, more
than 330 members, from nursery
school children to grandparents,
needlepointed decorative covers
for the new mantles, illustrating
the values of kedusha, or holiness,
and kehillah, or community.
Meanwhile, the congregation
has become active in its local fed-
eration and the national Reform
movement and has sent two large
groups to Israel this past year.
"That's what it means to us to
be a learning congregation',' says
Temple Shalom education director
Julie Vanek."Not just creating pro-
grams, but helping people reflect
on who they are and what they
want to be." 11

The second in an occasional series

on the synagogue.

ra, rlerrer:77

Synagogue Toolbox

Programs that grab
congregants where
they pray.

N

ational synagogue revital-
ization programs that have
arisen since the early 1990s:
• The Experiment in Cbngregational
Education was created in 1992. It

strives to popularize Jewish learning
among congregants while encouraging
synagogues to embrace fundamental
and long-lasting change.
Fifty-five synagogues have partici-
pated. in ECE. Contact: Rob Weinberg,
(847) 328-0032 or rweinberg@huc.edu .
• Synagogue 2000, which began in
1995, developed a wide-ranging cur-
riculum that more than 100 synagogues
have used to rethink their overall

approach and to deepen their congre-
gants' spiritual engagement.
This influential program recently
morphed into Synagogue 3000, whose
mission is to train synagogue and
academic leaders in order to better
implement the goals of Synagogue
2000. Contact: Ron Wolfson or Joshua
Avedon, (310) 553-7930 or
info411@synagogue3000.org .
• In 2003, a Minneapolis-based ink
tiative known as Star, or Synagogues:
Transformation and Renewal, created
Synaplex, which helps synagogues

supplement regular Shabbat services
with diverse programming, including
films, music, meditation, lectures and
arts and crafts. Synaplex is based on
the principle that some of today's Jews
need a variety of entry points into
Jewish involvement, and that those
portals – artistic, academic, activist
and ritual – are equally valid vehicles
for engaging Jewishly. Contact: Rabbi
Hayim Herring, (952) 746-8181 or
shherring@starsynagogue.org . Ii

- Sue Fishkoff

October 26 • 2006

27