Leading Successful Synagogue Change

Join our full-day leadership conference for synagogue leaders, movement leaders, synagogue renewal professionals and researchers, and federation planners. Participants will learn from current research, take part in forums to identify new approaches to synagogue growth, and consider strategic direction for future partnerships.

Date: Monday, May 12, 2008, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Location: UJA-Federation of New York, 130 East 59th Street, New York City

Space is limited and registration is required. Register online to reserve your space.

Program

8:30 a.m. Registration and Light Breakfast

9:00 a.m. Opening Remarks

• John Shapiro, President, UJA-Federation of New York
• John S. Ruskay, Executive Vice President and CEO, UJA-Federation of New York
• Rabbi Charles Klein, Chair, Conference Steering Committee, Merrick Jewish Center, New York
• Sarene Shanus, Chair, Synagogue Task Force, Commission on Jewish Identity and Renewal, UJA-Federation of New York; Chair, Conference Steering Committee

9:15 a.m. D'var Torah

• Dr. Arnold Eisen, Chancellor, Jewish Theological Seminary of America

9:30 - 10:30 a.m. Defining Success: The Visionary Congregation

• Dr. Steven M. Cohen, Research Professor of Jewish Social Policy, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, New York; and Director, Florence G. Heller/JCC Association Research Center

10:45 a.m. - 12:15 p.m. Breakout Session 1

Exploring Pathways to Change: Torah, Avodah, Gemilut Chasadim
Each workshop will give an overview of what visionary congregations have accomplished in one area of synagogue life, followed by an in-depth look at the change journey of one congregation and reflections on the accomplishments of others. General discussion will include the issues and challenges congregations face as they seek to transform worship, learning, or the acts that define their kehillah.

1. Avodah (worship): Dr. Lawrence Hoffman, Barbara and Stephen Friedman Professor of Liturgy, Worship, and Ritual, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, New York City; Rabbi Amy Katz, Congregation Beth Shalom, Kansas City; Rabbi Rachel Cowan, Executive Director, Institute for Jewish Spirituality
2. Torah (learning): Dr. Isa Aron, Professor of Jewish Education at the Rhea Hirsch School of Education, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Los Angeles; Sorel Loeb, Director of Education/Lifelong Learning, and Lisa Messinger, Vice President, Westchester Reform Temple, Scarsdale; Dr. Rob Weinberg, Director, Experiment in Congregational Education
3. Gemilut Chasadim (justice): Dr. Ari Kelman, Associate Professor of History, University of California, Davis; Rabbi Jonah Pesner, Founding Director, Just Congregations, Union for Reform Judaism; Lisa Vinikoor, Temple Israel, Boston; Ben Ross, Director of Organizing, Jewish Funds for Justice
4. Gemilut Chasadim (caring): Dr. Steven M. Cohen, Research Professor, Jewish Social Policy, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, New York; Rabbi Robert Levine, Sally Kaplan, and Ruth Kobrin, Congregation Rodeph Sholom, New York; Jonathan Katz, Director, Rita J. Kaplan Jewish Connections Programs, Jewish Board of Family and Children's Services

12:15 p.m. Lunch

1:15 - 2:00 p.m.

• Dr. Isa Aron, Professor of Jewish Education at the Rhea Hirsch School of Education, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Los Angeles
• Dr. Lawrence Hoffman, Barbara and Stephen Friedman Professor of Liturgy, Worship, and Ritual, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, New York

2:15 - 3:45 p.m. Breakout Session 2

Leading Change

1. So You Want to Change: Weighing the Choice to Start
2. So You've Picked the Low-Hanging Fruit: Maintaining Momentum Toward Change
3. Sustaining Change in a Visionary Synagogue
   Presenters include: Rabbi Moshe Edelman, Director, Leadership Development and Congregational Planning, United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism; Rabbi Nancy Epstein, Director of Congregational Relations, Jewish Reconstructionist Federation; Dale Glasser, Director, Department of Synagogue Management, Union for Reform Judaism; Rabbi Daniel Gropper, Community Synagogue of Rye, New York; Rabbi Hayim Herring, Ph.D., Executive Director, Synagogues: Transformation and Renewal; Rabbi Richard Jacobs, Senior Rabbi, Westchester Reform Temple, New York; Robert Leventhal, Senior Consultant, Alban Institute; Rabbi Marc Margolius, Director, Legacy Heritage Innovation Project; Rabbi Perry Rank, Midway Jewish Center, New York; Rabbi Jodie Siff, Reconstructionist Synagogue of the North Shore, New York; Rabbi Alan Silverstein, Congregation Agudath Israel, Caldwell, New Jersey

3:45 p.m. Break

4:00 p.m. Concluding Panel

Extending the Cycle of Growth: The Next Frontier

Moderator: Rabbi Aaron Panken, Vice President for Strategic Initiatives, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, New York
Discussant: Ethan Tucker, Co-Founder, Mechon Hadar, New York

4:50 - 5:00 p.m. Reflections and Next Steps

• Dr. Alisa Rubin Kurshan, Senior Vice President, Strategic Planning and Organizational Resources, UJA-Federation of New York
• Rabbi Charles Klein, Merrick Jewish Center, New York

Keynote Speakers

Each keynote speaker and presenter Dr. Ari Y. Kelman are currently engaged in a study of the long-term impact of synagogue-change efforts, funded by UJA-Federation of New York, the Nathan Cummings Foundation, the Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Boston, Synagogue 3000, Arthur Winn, and The Esther F. and William J. Bushman Beth Shalom Endowment Fund of the Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Kansas City.

Isa E. Aron, Ph.D., is professor of Jewish education at the Rhea Hirsch School of Education (RHSOE) at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Los Angeles, where she teaches courses in teaching, philosophy of education, and organizational change. She was the founding director of the Experiment in Congregational Education, a project of the RHSOE, now in its 15th year. She continues to serve as the senior consultant to that project, which works with synagogues throughout the United States, helping them become congregations of learners and self-renewing congregations, and helping them to reimagine their religious schools.

Dr. Aron is author of Becoming a Congregation of Learners and The Self-Renewing Congregation, senior editor of A Congregation of Learners, and has published widely in journals.

Steven M. Cohen, Ph.D., a sociologist of American Jewry, is research professor of Jewish social policy at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, New York, and director of the Florence G. Heller/JCC Association Research Center. Dr. Cohen divides his time between New York and Jerusalem, where he served 14 years as professor at The Melton Centre for Jewish Education at The Hebrew University. He currently serves as research consultant to the Andrea and Charles Bronfman Philanthropies, the Charles H. Revson Foundation, and Synagogue 3000.

Dr. Cohen is well known for his 2000 book, The Jew Within: Self, Family, and Community in the United States, co-authored with Arnold Eisen. He has authored and edited more than a dozen books and countless articles exploring patterns of Jewish identity and community in the United States and elsewhere.

Lawrence A. Hoffman, Ph.D., is Barbara and Stephen Friedman professor of liturgy, worship, and ritual at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, New York. His research, writing, and teaching focus on the history of Jewish liturgy, ritual studies, and contemporary worship and modern Jewish spirituality. Dr. Hoffman is a founder, with Ron Wolfson, of the Synagogue 2000 initiative for synagogue spirituality and is currently senior academic fellowof Synagogue 3000. He is the 2004 recipient of the North American Academy of Liturgy Berakah Award in recognition of his singular scholarly contribution to the field of liturgy. His many publications include the multivolume Minhag Ami: My People's Prayer Book, The Journey Home: Discovering the Deep Spiritual Wisdom of the Jewish Tradition, and Rethinking Synagogues: A New Vocabulary for Congregational Life.

UJA-Federation of New York is grateful to the Joyce and Irving Goldman Family Foundation for underwriting this conference.