Archive for February, 2014

 

Rough Realities of the Rabbinate

Posted on: February 24th, 2014 by Hayim Herring

 

 

“There’s something happening here, But what it is ain’t exactly clear…”
Why Keeping the Faith in Rabbinical Education

 

Someone asked me, “Why are you working on Keeping the Faith in Rabbinical Education (KTF Rabbinical), a book about 21st Century rabbinical education?”

 

As I take a call from another rabbi in crisis, hear another lament about a rabbi from a congregant, read an additional mean-spirited attack in the Jewish Daily Forward against a denomination and generally observe congregations around the country, I keep thinking of the refrain from a song titled “For What It’s Worth,” popularly known as “Stop Children What’s that Sound.” (Trivia buffs: according to Wikipedia, Stephen Stills wrote this song in November 1966, and the band that he was then a part of, Buffalo Springfield, recorded it a few weeks later.)

 

There’s something happening here
But what it is ain’t exactly clear…

It’s time we stop
Hey, what’s that sound?
Everybody look – what’s going down?

 

People kvetching about rabbis in whatever capacity they work, and rabbis complaining about their constituents is an old story. But the rate at which I’ve seen some really outstanding rabbis lose their jobs for no good reason, or the depth of dissatisfaction that lay people have with some rabbis for good reason, seems to be more pervasive than only a couple of decades ago.

 

“There’s something happening here
But what it is ain’t exactly clear…”

 

Is it that:
• As American Jews, we are very far removed from the time where the rabbi was the most educated person in the community, and therefore the rabbi is not respected automatically?

 

• Clergy scandals tainted the expectations that lay leaders have of rabbis as exemplars of morality?

 

• The “What have you done for me lately mentality?” that has eroded longstanding business relationships, has crept into relationships with rabbis?

 

• The culture of disdain for authority figures has expanded to include rabbis?

 

• The extent to which social media’s ability to dispense global gossip on momentary notice fueled tensions between volunteers and rabbis?

 

• Rabbis rightfully expect to be treated as professionals, but we did not understand that meant evaluations, performance reviews and measurable outcomes: a skill set that most rabbis don’t have, and a mindset that often recoils from this kind of orientation toward the sacred.

 

• The consumerist mentality of shopping, combined with the Internet and the mainstreaming of Jewish culture, means that shopping for rabbis, Jewish education, Jewish ritual is an “anyone, anytime, anywhere” option?

 

I’m working on Keeping the Faith in Rabbinical Education because I want to help rabbis and their respective constituents grow together at a time when they seem to be growing further apart. Nothing less than the quality of Jewish life in the United States is at stake. And by exploring the education and continuing education of rabbis, I believe that we’ll gain clarity on which of the above dynamics are immutable and which are amenable to positive change. If you know a rabbi, are a rabbi or educator of rabbis, click here to learn more about submitting an essay for consideration to this volume. And volunteer leaders who care about high-quality rabbinical education—stay tuned, you’ll soon be receiving an invitation, too.

 

 

KTF team: Rabbi Hayim Herring, Andrew Barron, owner/publisher Avenida Books, co-editor, Ellie Roscher.

KTF team: Rabbi Hayim Herring, Andrew Barron, owner/publisher Avenida Books, co-editor, Ellie Roscher.

 

I Never Knew I Had it Within Me – Do You?

Posted on: February 19th, 2014 by Hayim Herring

I never had aspirations to write an article or book and have it published. I couldn’t even see it on my long-term horizon. But at a rabbis’ retreat in the 1990’s, in a session where we were asked to explore our dreams, I wrote the words, “I want to write a book.”

 

To this day, it’s still a mystery where this urge emanated from, but subsequently, I slowly began to own the possibility of authoring a book. I guess that was a shorthand way of intuiting that I had something within me to say that I needed to see in writing, although I was skeptical that anyone else would really care. While years passed before I published my first article, that session catapulted my unconscious thoughts into concrete realities.

 

Today, the tools of publishing have been democratized and are easily accessible to just about anyone who wants to be an author. But making the leap from teacher and preacher, to writer with a permanent record, can still be emotionally daunting. I asked my friend and co-editor of Keeping the Faith in Rabbinical Education, Ellie Roscher, to share her thoughts on making that transition. We’re doing so with the hope that rabbis who have a story to tell about their rabbinical education will feel empowered to finally liberate that story within them for our forthcoming publication or, for that matter, to share their wisdom and spirit with the world in a way that suits them.

 

And Ellie’s Advice….

“Let me live, love, and say it well in good sentences.” ~ Sylvia Plath

I have always loved writing. I was surprised, then, when it was time to publish my first blog post. My palms got sweaty. My heart started to race. I learned in that moment that writing to publish is vastly different than writing to write. It is shockingly vulnerable to send your work, what feels like your life out into the unknown abyss. There is no controlling who will read it and what they will think. But when my thoughts and stories inspire something completely unexpected in a stranger, something new is born. The text comes alive. And all the work– the notes, the word choice, the deleting, the doubt and research is all worth it. Here are a few simple tips to get you started:

 

1) Don’t try too hard to create a style. Your style is simply what you notice about the world. Pay attention and then write what you see and think about. Your style will emerge effortlessly from that.

 

2) Never sit down to a blank screen without an idea. Talk to friends about your idea until you can articulate it verbally with ease. Write sentences in your head while you are driving or walking. People tend to be braver about deleting bad sentences in their head than once they are typed out. If you have a few ideas and sentences in your head when you sit down to type, you may be more playful, and less nervous about writer’s block.

 

3) When output feels hard, change your input to output ratio. Read great books, listen to stimulating podcasts, take in nature, put on fantastic music, sip your favorite wine. Take in a ton of beauty and then try again.

 

4) Read your work aloud when you think it is finished. If a sentence sounds forced coming out of your mouth, it may read forced as well. If you can read your writing aloud without strain, that means it is clear, conversational, effective communication that is distinctly “you.” Great way to find typos and listen for rhythm that feels natural.

 

Writing is hard work, but it’s good work. Write to find out what you really think about something, to deepen your own self-reflection. Be unabashedly selfish in writing for your own self-improvement and for fun. Find the beauty of your story. Send it to one person you trust when you think it is ready. Listen to how the sentences feel in your mouth. Send it out into the world and see where it chooses to live. Let yourself be surprised and deeply proud of your courage.

 

 

Mission, Marketing and Media—Inseparable, Invaluable (Part 3)

Posted on: February 10th, 2014 by Hayim Herring

 

Welcome to the third in a series of guest bloggers from my friends and colleagues — all experts in their respective fields. As I wrote last week, these three words — mission, marketing and media — can begin to sound like empty buzzwords unless they are clearly defined and then made actionable for congregations. The content of what they mean is easy. The key is in understanding the context. Rounding out the series, I’m delighted that my friend and colleague Rabbi Jason Miller, President of Access Computer Technology and all-around rabbinic entrepreneur, is this week’s guest blogger. He provides real-world examples of what happens when the bricks and mortar of a congregation meet the bytes and clicks of the digital age, and why social media channels for engaging people are not optional, but integral to congregational work.

 

“The Social Networking Synagogue of the 21st Century”
Rabbi Jason Miller – Access Computer Technology

 

Rabbi Jason Miller of Detroit, MichiganAsk a typical Jewish man or woman if they belong to a synagogue and you’re likely to hear, “Yes, but we only attend on the High Holidays.” Nothing new there. We all know the twice-a-year Jews who only show up in the pews on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, just as we all know Christians who only appear in church on Christmas and Easter. However, something has changed as of late.

 

That same individual who once described their synagogue attendance in such sporadic terms might now explain that she is an active member of the congregation. Has she all of a sudden begun attending the bricks and mortar synagogue building any more than she did in the past? No. So what has changed that her answer is so vastly different? She now finds herself engaging with her congregational community in Cyberspace. She is a fan of the congregation’s Facebook page and while she was able to ignore those monthly event flyers that arrived in her mailbox on various colors of copy paper, she now sees each program the congregation offers in her Facebook feed (which she spends an hour a day on average reading!). As she’s following the lives of her friends and family, she’s also tracking the weekly happenings at the synagogue. She can see which friends are attending classes, she is learning from the rabbi who posts some thoughts on the weekly Torah portion, and she closely scrutinizes the photos that were uploaded from the last Sisterhood function (which she didn’t attend in real time, but she now feels as if she was there).

 

That same individual who felt so out of touch with his congregation because he only engaged the services of the rabbi a few times in the month leading up to his daughter’s bat mitzvah is now subscribed to the congregation’s weekly Constant Contact newsletter. He knows which congregants passed away, whose children became engaged, and who just became grandparents for the first time. He can now keep up with what his children are learning in the religious school because he follows the education director’s tweets during the school hours (wow, he thinks, this is way more interesting than my Hebrew School experience!). He learned from uploaded photos on Instagram that there is a monthly study session just for men at the local pub led by the rabbi and he already added the next month’s session to his calendar.

 

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Mission, Marketing and Media—Inseparable, Invaluable (Part 2)

Posted on: February 4th, 2014 by Hayim Herring

 

Welcome to the second in a series of guest bloggers from my friends and colleagues—all experts in their respective fields. As I wrote last week, these three topics are integral to today’s successful synagogues. Yet, contextualizing them for congregations is not always so easy. But this week’s guest blogger, Rose McKinney, founder and C.E.O. of Pineapple Reputation Management, provides a congregational-friendly framework for thinking about marketing (hint: think “story telling”).

 

Have Faith in the Merits of Marketing
Rose McKinney, Pineapple RM

Rose-Mckinney_profile

Mention marketing within a corporate setting and heads nod excitedly and knowingly as executives with MBAs toss about buzz words like metric dashboards, sales funnel and lead conversion.  Mention marketing during a non-profit board meeting and committee people get giddy with possibilities for fundraising and membership drives.  Mention marketing within faith communities and wrinkles appear on peoples’ brows and then the comments of indignation:  “Oh, no, we don’t believe in selling.”

 

That’s when I know there is a disconnect.  Marketing and sales are often lumped together because good marketing creates an environment in which sales can take place, but make no mistake – marketing is about relationships and storytelling, it’s about community, and sales is about monetary transaction.

 

No worries, faith communities are not alone in confusing the merits of marketing.  If you’re leery as to where this is going, let me mention a few familiar types of groups that now market themselves yet previously were diametrically opposed to such a notion.

 

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