Lay and Professional Leadership
An Ever-Revitalizing People?
by Dianne Ashton
Jonathan D. Sarna, American Judaism: A History (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2004) $35, 465 pp.
THIS LONG-NEEDED VOLUME weaves the complex history of American Jewish religious life into a graceful narrative that moves well beyond the intellectual constraints of earlier one-volume histories. Absorbing the best of recent and older scholarship, Jonathan Sarna explains [...]
Whither the Professional and Lay Leadership?
A recent Sh’ma Round Table discussion on the lay and professional relationship brought the following communal leaders to the table: Bob Aronson, President of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit; Beryl Geber, Director of the University of Judaism’s MBA Program; Rabbi Shoshana Boyd Gelfand, Vice President and Acting Director of the Wexner Heritage Program; Nate [...]
Embracing Conflict and Practicing Respect: A New Choreography
By Shifra Bronznick
IMAGINE AN EMPTY STAGE. The space has been cleared of all scenery and props, costumes and scripts. The curtains have been parted, the space is well-lit. Picture this stage as an invitation to volunteers and professionals to design a new choreography of our partnership. What will it take to create this new composition, [...]
We Need Leadership, Not Leaders
By Richard Hirsh
I ONCE WORKED for a congregation that invited members to hold forth for five minutes on a topic of their choice on Yom Kippur afternoon, during what was known as “open microphone.” In my second year with the congregation, two minutes before Kol Nidre, a member handed me a copy of his presentation [...]
Treating Volunteers Well
By Alana Suskin
WHAT ARE THE ETHICS to guide our treatment of Jewish communal volunteers?
Over the past 40 years, the pool of volunteers has dropped as the number of women working outside the home has increased. One might think that the shrinking pool would spur institutions to value their volunteers more and, therefore, treat them with [...]
Discussion Guide – Lay and Professional Leaders in Relationship
How do we employ “vision,” as Jewish lay and professional leaders, to create vibrant Jewish communities?
What are the most salient features that draw you into community? What impinges on that involvement?
What are the most compelling answers to the question: Why be Jewish? And how has this changed over the last decade?
