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Synagogues and Federations: from Rivals to Partners

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Synagogues and Federations: from Rivals to Partners Synagogues and Federations: From Rivals to Partners Rabbi Richard Jacobs Back in the late 1960s, there was a popular bumper sticker that read, “America: Love It or Leave It.” It was addressed to members of my generation who were critical of our parents’ version of America. In response, we came up with our own bumper sticker: “America: Change It or Lose It.” Both overstated the truth but in so doing indicated two options regarding the status quo. In refl ecting on syna- gogues and federations, taken separately and together, because we love them both, the mandate must be, “Change Them or Lose Them.” Since World War II, federations have devoted most of their energy and funds to “sacred survival.” UJA-Federation led this sacred task of rescuing and resettling, protecting, and sustaining our people from the Former Soviet Union, Buenos Aires, and Addis Ababa to Ashdod and Bensonhurst. Where was the synagogue in federation’s core mission? For decades, Jewish power and leader- ship rested in federations, not in neighborhood congregations. Synagogues with their focus on prayer and study were widely viewed as not nearly as important as federations’ work of saving and protecting our people. In a February 2006 inter- view with the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, John Ruskay said it plainly, “Ten years ago, synagogues were relevant to us only because we raised money there.” So much has changed over the past ten years. UJA-Federation has come to understand that synagogues are not just local tzedakah boxes but rather the pri- mary address for kindling Jewish identity and commitment. Without vital syna- gogues, federations will not thrive. Without federations, synagogues will fail to care for the widest Jewish community. Mutual respect and interdependence in- form the new model of the synagogue–federation relationship. Mutual respect and Actually, the situation began to change more than ten years ago, in the mid- interdependence 1990s. My congregation, Westchester Reform Temple, was participating at the inform the new time in the Experiment in Congregational Education (ECE), a project of the Rhea model of the Hirsch School of Education of the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of synagogue–federation Religion. ECE taught us new ways to imagine our synagogue as a congregation of relationship. lifelong learners, though it did not provide us with funds to reshape our pro- grams. We applied then to UJA-Federation’s Continuity Commission for a grant to redesign our high school education program. Some must have questioned giv- ing a grant to a congregation in the affl uent New York suburb of Scarsdale. But clearly, UJA-Federation was expanding its role beyond physical survival to in- clude seeding Jewish renewal here and abroad. As a condition of the grant, we had to evaluate our educational experiment, a discipline synagogues rarely prac- tice. With UJA-Federation’s help, we dramatically improved our retention of post-b’nai mitzvah students by providing multiple tracks of arts, social action, and text study in the high school. Rabbi Richard Jacobs is the rabbi at Westchester Reform Temple in Scarsdale, New York. Journal of Jewish Communal Service, Volume 85, No. 1, Winter 2010 67 SYNAGOGUE RENEWAL Shortly after receiving our fi rst grant from UJA-Federation, our congrega- tion was invited to be a pilot site for Partners in Caring. UJA-Federation through Westchester Jewish Community Services brought to our congregation a part- time social worker who helped us offer bereavement support to our members (see the article by Sherry Birnbaum in this issue). When members faced Job-like pain, I could call upon the social worker’s sensitivity and expertise. Members were far more comfortable seeking support through their synagogue than ven- turing into a local Jewish social service agency. A critical area of our congregation has been strengthened by this bridge of caring. Today most congregations in our community have a social worker assigned to them through Partners in Caring. In 2001, UJA-Federation committed $2 million over three years to strengthen Westchester synagogues through Synagogue 3000 (S3K). At that time, it was the largest grant ever made by any federation to synagogues. Several retreats and thoughtful curricular materials for our S3K teams plus regular interactions with a S3K staff consultant opened the congregations to new ways of building sacred community. Our congregation had already participated in S3K’s prayer curricu- lum, but our participation in the Westchester cohort was transformative, espe- cially with regard to our functioning as a larger Jewish community. Synagogues that had felt rivalry with one another grew closer as we refl ected candidly on our successes and failures in renovating aspects of congregational dysfunction. As we built more solid sacred communities within our synagogues, UJA-Federation also made it possible for us to create a more sacred community across Westchester. When the funding ran out, our synagogues, our larger Jewish community, and our relationship with UJA-Federation had been changed for the better. Following such an unprecedented grant, UJA-Federation might have re- treated from new partnerships, but it has not. Presently there is a dizzying array of UJA-Federation-funded programs that are strengthening synagogues in Westchester including the following: Synagogues as Communities of Jewish Spiritual Practice (with the Institute of Jewish Spirituality); Synagogue Consul- tancy Project (with STAR [Synagogues: Transformation, and Renewal]); ReImag- Creating inspired ine (with ECE); Synagogue Leadership Development (with the Alban Institute); Jewish communities Synagogue Inclusion for Special Needs (with Ramapo Camp); the Leadership Institute for Congregational School Principals (with the Jewish Theological Sem- begins with inary, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, and Bank Street Col- synagogues. lege); and Campership Initiative (with the Foundation for Jewish Camp). The newest collaboration between our synagogues and UJA-Federation is taking place within a structure called Synergy, in which UJA-Federation and synagogues are together building community, spirituality and learning under many roofs. As opposed to the “rich uncle” who shows up with pocketfuls of money to hand out, UJA-Federation is a convener and catalyst for communal responsibility and excellence. Few colleagues regularly attend our local board of rabbis meetings unless our UJA-Federation partners are present to call us to tasks of vision and action. Our communal practice of klal Yisrael has been strength- ened by working regularly with both the most traditional and liberal institutions in our midst. Because UJA-Federation must serve the entire Jewish community, some of its transformation projects have been less successful. UJA-Federation allowed every synagogue in Westchester to join its S3K project regardless of readiness or 68 Journal of Jewish Communal Service, Volume 85, No. 1, Winter 2010 SYNAGOGUES AND FEDERATIONS commitment to change. Not all boats have risen equally on the rising tide of the new partnerships, but UJA-Federation’s essential message is that no community will be left behind. There has been no quid pro quo for UJA-Federation’s investment in our congregations, and it is still a challenge to have synagogue members accept re- sponsibility for the physical and spiritual well-being of Jewish communities spread out over the globe. But UJA-Federation’s commitment to strengthening our synagogues with best practices has helped us make the case for support of the annual campaign. The partnership with UJA-Federation can help broaden the synagogue’s mission beyond the health of its immediate members. It can also keep synagogues connected beyond their denominations to the full breadth of klal Yisrael. The teacher of Musar (ethics), Rabbi Israel Salanter, taught that it is “easier to learn the entire Talmud than to change one character trait.” The same might be said for the ingrained cultures of synagogues and federations, but the stakes are too high for us to bow out of transforming these central pillars of contempo- rary Jewish life. Seventy-fi ve percent of American Jews are members of syna- gogues at one point in their lives. Creating inspiring Jewish communities begins in synagogues. Sometimes programs like Jewish camps and Birthright Israel can shore up the gaps in Jewish education and identity, but we dare not write off anemic synagogues as inevitable. Federations cannot build their support only on trauma and crisis; a much stronger base fosters vibrant communities of lifelong learning, inspires spirituality committed to tikkun olam, and promotes loving re- sponsibility for the Jewish people and God’s many other needy children. Ten years after John Ruskay began leading UJA-Federation, synagogues are no longer just places for the annual campaign to host events. Because of the fun- damental shift he has helped engineer, synagogues and federations can leave behind their tired rivalries in favor of partnerships, building an inspiring Jewish future together. Journal of Jewish Communal Service, Volume 85, No. 1, Winter 2010 69.
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