Sunday morning's lecture

Rabbi Block opened his remarks by telling about “a congregation at war with itself.” He said the war was carried out in the receiving line every Friday night after the 8 pm service. “Agh!” someone would say. “That music! Those gentiles with high church music!” Another person would say, “You carried the Torah around the synagogue? the person next to me wore a kippa!” People who weren’t there commented, too, he said, based on what they heard.

Fast-forward 10-12 years. Hundreds of people come to the auditorium at 6:15 for kabalat Shabbat. The rabbi wears a talit. There’s a lot of Hebrew, a keyboard, a hakafah, and a d’var torah. In the sanctuary, there’s a classical Reform service with more formality, an organ and choir and a sermon. Then all the people come together for kiddush. Everyone enjoys the coming together and unified socializing. Peace, harmony and unity now reign in a congregation with many who want classical Reform and many who want more Progressive worship.

His temple, Temple Bethel in San Antonio, TX, avoided the worship war. It can only be avoided by finding something that meets everyone’s needs. What really worked was moving the two services to the same time. You can’t please all the people all the time, but you have to CARE about them. We also need to be patient with people. Note that in any organization there are “pathological personalities,” and we must not be ruled by them.

Friday nights at Bethel there are few parents with young children, so not yet is everyone in the congregation well served. Yet the place is bustling with them on Sunday mornings. They now had a “Hot” Shabat and a Tot Shabat. At the “Hot” Shabat, after the hakafah, a college student takes the younger children out for activities, which is good for both parties. Is everyone yet well served? There are more than two forms of service. With success, partly measured by the numbers, and the unity of the Kiddush, God is served, and the Jewish people is served. And it’s easier to see what you’re missing. Now we can work on that.

What are the measures and results? We started having lay leadership in services. At one time, the congregation wouldn’t accept this. Now we have a few dozen volunteers including soloists and song leaders, and a one-hundred-fold increase in Jewish knowledge among them. Remember, the first paid professional in Jewish congregations was the cantor, not the rabbi, and this was in the Middle Ages when the piyuttim became part of the service and a skilled, fluent chazzan was needed, but an ordained intermediary wasn’t needed. Ten years ago at Bethel a cantor was controversial; now everyone’s excited.

When everyone feels cared about, you reduce the level of angst. At Bethel, on high holy day evenings, there’s a classical Reform service. In the mornings, there are two different services. They now have enhanced leadership. Congregational boards often have members thought to be wise but who don’t want to work. Boards need people who want to work, and maybe they don’t need to be so wise. They certainly don’t have to have toxic personalities; those people shouldn’t be nominated or retained.

How can KAMII do this? Remember, God said to Moses, “Build me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them.” He didn’t say in it or live with them. Founders of congregations have build magnificent sanctuaries to be the foundation of truly great synagogues; this is part of the tradition of great rabbinical leadership. But they built not only for themselves but for all. ALL of us need to be sure that we permit God to dwell among ALL of us. How do we do this?

Experiment. Take down the anxiety level about experiment. KAMII is a congregation in transition (not crisis). It’s moving may be from crisis and division to what it’s going to be. We have to create it. Try something new. Maybe some ideas that have nothing to do with worship. Come together about something else. 1) For example, what URJ calls “just congregations”, an effort to get congregations involved in community-organizing groups. It works bottom-up; motivated members work together to talk about what matters.

2) “Vestibule ministry” to make people feel really welcome here. Aggressive greetings for a higher purpose—engaging people. 3) Volunteer activities help people get to know each other.

Rabbi Hoffman argues for transformational change—not adding new things but transforming what you are doing. You can’t take away from what you have until you build something new. If you do something new, you have to stick with it for a while, make a commitment to it. If it’s a change in worship, you have to do it each week to allow the worship community to grow. You want to build a worship community.

The people who apply for the rabbi post at KAMII will know about Rabbi Wolf and his long tenure, and they’ll know the congregation went through two rabbis in a short time. They’ll probably talk to those rabbis. This is tough, because today’s rabbi looks forward to a lay-rabbinic partnership. That means we must be ready to be partners with a rabbi. The candidate must be assured of a partnership, but also responsibility and authority, and he or she can’t discharge responsibility without authority. The congregation needs to be ready, but it takes time. Consider an interim rabbi, trained in helping a congregation ready itself. One who can correctly say, “This congregation is healed.”

So, who and what will KAMII be? What worship patterns, what organizational structure? And move out any toxic people. Soon we’ll read in the Torah that when the children of Israel came to the sanctuary, they brought too much in gifts. Likewise, KAMII has a plethora of gifts—human, physical and also commitment. So can the congregation say “be strong and of good courage to lead us to the promised land”?

Rabbi Block was asked about the distinction between having a “mission” and adopting a consumerist strategy. He said he thinks the consumer approach is at the heart of the illness that plagues many congregations. The congregation has to stand for something, it can’t be a service station. It has to have a mission, but it has to pay attention to the needs of the members. One example: Bethel had mid-week Hebrew on two days plus Sunday religious school. It was too much for the parents, often making long drives. A poll of needs was taken and the result was longer religious school, with time for Hebrew and only one day of Hebrew in the afternoon, which is offered at two different locations.

Rabbi Block urges providing “fanatical” consumer service. Answer the phones pleasantly, welcome people, listen to needs, but remember we’re here to provide what God, our tradition and Reform Judaism demand.

Lenore Mass asked if the two different services break down along generational lines. At Bethel, younger and middle-age empty nesters mostly attend the Progressive service. They asked themselves if the b’nai mitzvah should stick to classical Reform. Actually, many people move between the two services; they may like the sermon or another element. Tot shabat is in the auditorium, and teens and college kids aren’t enamored of the Progressive service.

Joe Marlin asked what the involvement of board and committees had been in all the changes; he also wondered if the KAMII board members not attending the Weinstein weekend sessions might not be fulfilling their responsibilities. Rabbi Block said Bethel has a long history of rabbis in charge of worship, and a lot of deference is given. He himself frequently cedes to the Religious Practices Committee (which he actually initiated). He consents to suggested board members and to agenda items. He as rabbi had the power but gave it to the committee; one has to be in a secure position to do that, and his partnership is very strong.

Clive Kamins asked about “the donkey in the room”, KAMII’s current situation. He said it was a privilege to serve on the Special Committee and that its report deals in detail with the roles of professionals in the synagogue, but now he wants to hear the board’s view of the report. It recommends a partnership and collegial relationship. He emphasized that being a lay leader means accepting a responsibility, not obtaining certain rights. He feels the Nominating Committee must recognize that we don’t just need people who know governance, or people who are smart.

Rabbi Block says he retains oversight of all programs and services. The committees are responsible to him. The Executive Director reports to the board, which is appropriate because a lot of the issues are financial. But at KAMII, he said, once we have a long-term rabbi, the rabbi will have to be involved in finance and the future of the congregation and facilities.

He later mentioned that the Executive director is responsible to the rabbi; the board doesn’t supervise, but there’s constant 3-way communication. He also said anyone who micro-manages other professionals is out of line. He has monthly supervisory meetings with all professionals, as well as annual reviews. Before the annual review, he meets with the appropriate committees.

The rabbi and Executive director should be co-supervisors of programs and services. This varies, but the rabbi supervises the cantor. (Doesn’t tell the cantor what to sing or not, but they coordinate.) The rabbi reports to the board via the president at Bethel. The board reviews and evaluates the rabbi. Rabbi Block mentioned that Bethel is quite old (1874). It has moved, from the downtown to the early north suburbs (1928). In the 1990s another move was considered, since many members have long drives from two different directions, but they decided to stay where they are. The building is a landmark, and the congregation felt there should be a significant Jewish presence in the city. It has1150 member households. The board has 18 members plus officers, two past presidents and three organization reps, totaling 31. JFS has an office at the temple. There are two other congregations nearby: an ailing Conservative one and a growing Orthodox one. The congregations do things together.

Larry Joseph asked Rabbi Block to elaborate on issues relating to expectations of new rabbis. The answer was that the big handicap, of course, is about going through two rabbis in a short time. A rabbi will take a huge leap of faith in taking the job this summer. We would have to take the leap with that person. An interim rabbi would be better than not getting the right person. And the right person has to want to enter a congregation that’s in transition. Larry also said we’re struggling to understand what’s happened; we have different views of what’s happened. He agrees that there’s a real question whether we’re ready to make the decision by June.

Lenore Mass wondered whether we could try experimenting with an interim rabbi. And could we undertake major fund-raising with an interim rabbi? Rabbi Block said yes, experimenting is feasible, but undertaking major fund-raising would be a mistake. We raise funds because we have hope about the future. With an interim rabbi, we would work on what you need to do, including experiment, to help figure out who we are.

Judy Kamins said that KAMII has turned down outside offers to assist with leadership development, preferring to work from within. She asked what Rabbi Block thinks about URJ or Federation assistance. He replied that the Commission on Synagogue Management of the URJ is great. There is also good help available with management issues from NCRCR. There is also the Alban Institute. Rabbi Block recommended a visit by the URJ rabbinic placement director.

Jerry Meites said there’s been discussion of an interim rabbi, even with URJ, and it would be better than a wrong choice. There are 17 or 18 applicants, and some seem quite good on paper. The Search Committee is sorting through; maybe there’s a really good candidate. There’s a feeling among board members that we need to hire a rabbi before a cantor, though if there’s an interim rabbi, a permanent cantor could be hired. Rabbi Block mentioned that in the past the cantor was expected to leave when a new rabbi arrived, but that has changed. You don’t have to call a halt to everything while seeking a rabbi, though it can be delicate when things are in flux.

Prepared by Jane Heron