Despite it being the morning following Selichot (the only Jewish religious service of the year which traditionally takes place between midnight and dawn), and on the same afternoon as the first Philadelphia Eagles game, dedicated lay leaders and professionals from Philadelphia area synagogues nevertheless came out for a full day of training on September 9 led by Rabbi Kerry Olitzky, Executive Director of JOI, as part of the Call Synagogue Home project.

Philadelphia, PA is one of the three pilot communities (along with Atlanta, GA and Los Angeles, CA) participating in this new initiative to engage interfaith families in synagogue participation through important lifecycle moments. JOI’s work on this project is made possible by the Samuel Bronfman Foundation and is part of our partnership with STAR (Synagogues: Transformation and Renewal). Participants who attended this training will now embark on a year-long process as members of a team that will examine the current practices of their congregation, and work to make their synagogue a more welcoming and inclusive place where more inferfaith families can feel at home.

Upon our review of the training day’s evaluation forms, we at JOI were very pleased to learn that participants were inspired by the training to think in new ways and to begin this very important work. Among the list of aspects of the program that participants found most useful:

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At JOI, we are constantly looking for ways that people can share in Jewish experiences with few or no barriers to entry. We are very happy to see proof of a trend of more free High Holiday services being offered throughout North America this holiday season. We have read articles, announcements, and advertisements about free services, and we have heard from the professionals on our Jewish outreach listserve that many communities allow newcomers to join them for services without a commitment to membership.

Lowering or eliminating the financial obligation is a great way to start, but it takes a genuine and concerted effort to make High Holiday services truly welcoming to those on the periphery. Rabbi Leo Abrami, a retired rabbi in the Greater Phoenix, Arizona area, is hosting free services aimed at the Paradise Valley’s unaffiliated Jews. Rabbi Abrami’s services will be “Reconservadox, a post-denominational approach to Judaism” with egalitarian services chanted in Hebrew but interspersed with English explanations, comments, and readings. By making sure that there is no prior knowledge necessary for someone to understand what is going on, uninitiated participants will surely have a more valuable experience.

Through the generous support of our funders, JOI was able to offer a free training conference call to help Jewish professionals maximize the outreach impact of their High Holiday programs. One organization that participated in the call was Congregation Kol Ami in Salt Lake City, Utah. Congregation Kol Ami is offering complementary tickets for High Holiday services to nonmembers. Danny Burman, Kol Ami’s President, actively invites people and made clear the community’s intention to include everyone in his announcement of this initiative: “At Congregation Kol Ami, every person counts and everyone is welcome. Jews by birth, Jews by choice and interfaith families are all invited to join with us as we worship, learn and celebrate Judaism in a dynamic and caring community.”

As these examples show, there are many levels of program design that contribute to attracting newcomers to the Jewish community and helping them to have a meaningful Jewish experience including cost, marketing, and program content, to name a few. The most important element of outreach, though, is the personal relationship that is begun by welcoming people into a comfortable environment and nurtured through further, personalized invitations and opportunities for connection. This holiday season and the Jewish New Year are wonderful and natural opportunities to take the first step toward inclusion.

Here at JOI, we believe that in order for Jewish organizations to attract those on the periphery, they must lower “barriers” to participation. One congregation in Cleveland, Ohio, has gone so far as to eliminate the physical walls of the synagogue altogether. As reported in the Cleveland Jewish News, “Informal study groups, Shabbat observances in members’ homes, and doing myriad acts of tsedakah and outreach to others will be the cornerstones of The Shul.”

The rabbi of The Shul, Rabbi Edward Sukol, aims to create experiences that are responsive to the specific needs expressed by each segment of the population. For instance, he has found that synagogue life and traditional services are not at the “center of religious identity” for the baby boomer population in Cleveland. Rabbi Sukol is trying to help them find new points of connection with participatory and interactive celebrations such as an intimate potluck Shabbat each Friday night in someone’s home, complete with singing, prayer, and learning. The Shul also seeks to be open and inclusive of interfaith families. Rabbi Sukol sought the help of a local minister to help him coordinate study sessions for interfaith families. Recognizing that building genuine, personalized relationships is the key to motivating people’s engagement, The Shul seeks to provide each participant with “individualized gateway experiences.”

Rabbi Sukol insists that “this non-traditional approach to Judaism is just another option to live a meaningful Jewish life that speaks to our members’ hearts, spirits and souls.” In other words, it is an augmentation not a replacement for physical synagogues, which continue to provide great meaning to many Jews. While the concept of a synagogue-without-walls may not be entirely new, it is still certainly an endeavor that will add tremendous value to the Cleveland community, as it promises to reach out to those on the periphery and share Jewish experiences with those who have not otherwise been able to access all that Judaism has to offer.

The Coalition for the Advancement of Jewish Education (CAJE) recently published their first online Jewish Education News journal, including an article by JOI’s own executive director, Rabbi Kerry Olitzky. Diversity and Informal Jewish Education, Rabbi Olitzky’s article, calls for recognition of the value of what he calls “episodic education.” In addition to formal and informal Jewish educational programs, Rabbi Olitzky, and all of us at JOI, are advocating that a third kind of methodology is needed for effectively reaching those on the periphery of the Jewish community.

“Episodic education” combines characteristics of both formal and informal Jewish education, with informal learning activities meant to lead to programs of greater depth. The greatest difference and essential element of episodic education is that programs are designed to be “low-barrier” entry programs for which no prior knowledge is necessary. While programs of informal Jewish education deliver valuable lessons through experiential learning, they are limited in their reach because, as Rabbi Olitzky states, “those on the periphery are increasingly unwilling to venture into even the informal environments of Jewish education.” The alternative that JOI’s outreach methodology offers is to take Judaism out to where people are, rather than waiting for them to come to us. One example of this methodology is a program model that JOI teaches, called Public Space Judaism.

As Jewish educators, it is our responsibility to make sure that Jewish education is not only offered to those who are already deeply involved and affiliated with the Jewish community. Public Space Judaism provides the opportunity for those on the periphery to find Jewish learning in the secular community that they live and interact within. This approach creates the possibility of engaging with unaffiliated Jews who otherwise may miss out on Jewish experiences. A combination of formal education, informal education, and episodic education, each with its own significance, presents a more complete and reliable variety of educational methods to ensure that everyone is afforded the opportunity to share in Jewish learning and experiences.

As I was reading the Metro, a free daily newspaper, on the subway on my way to work last week, I saw an ad for a summer camp for adults that looked really fun. I looked at their website to learn more and check the available dates, when I noticed that one of the weekends is a “J-weekend.” Upon further investigation, my assumption was confirmed that the “J” was for “Jewish” and this was a weekend exclusively for Jewish professionals.

If I was not already an “insider” in the Jewish community, would I have been intimidated or turned off by this weekend, and clicked on the details for a “Summer Sports and Fun” weekend instead? Maybe, but maybe not. I called Club Getaway’s toll free number and spoke to Rob, to ask more about the J-weekend. Rob did a wonderful job at making me feel welcome and didn’t make any assumptions about whether or not I was Jewish, observant, or knowledgeable. He answered all of the questions I asked about what makes the weekend Jewish aside from the marketing to Jewish professionals, while he focused on the main pitch of the weekend, which was the 35 different sports and activities, parties, and all-inclusive package. When I tried to get off the phone, Rob asked for my contact information and sent me an e-mail right away thanking me for calling and saying that he hopes to see me at camp.

The argument can be made that someone who purposely attends a Jewish weekend is looking to meet other Jews, and is therefore at least somewhat engaged enough to feel that’s important. In this case, Rob estimated that approximately 60% of his “campers” are singles who come on their own, to meet people. Even if this turns out to be a weekend full of totally engaged Jewish community members, the way that Club Getaway is attracting its customers and selling the weekend package can be useful for other organizations in getting the word out about events in creative ways and inviting people to participate with openness, sincerity and follow-through:

• I stumbled upon the information about this Jewish event when I wasn’t looking for it because it was advertised in a secular (and free) newspaper. In order to reach those who are unengaged, it is important to expand marketing efforts to include the secular media.

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As reported in last week’s New York Jewish Week Newspaper, Commandment Keepers synagogue in East Harlem has closed its doors after serving generations of New York City’s black Jewish families for 88 years. The building has been sold, the leadership and congregants are feuding, and many remaining community members feel there is nowhere left for them to worship. The loss of this synagogue may has affected the black Jewish community significantly, but is not necessarily felt at all by the mainstream American Jewish community, even locally in New York.

Commandment Keepers was one of about ten congregations in New York with rabbis ordained by the Israelite Rabbinical Academy. The members of these congregations refer to themselves as “Black Jews,” “Black Hebrews” or “Black Israelites.” There are somewhere between 50,000 and 150,000 black Jews in America, according to Gary Tobin, a demographer who studies the black Jewish community (though not all identify with one of the above-mentioned groups). Some Black Hebrews adhere fairly closely to mainstream Jewish rituals and practice, and others follow their own interpretations of the Torah according to the teachings of their leaders.

When I visited Congregation Temple Beth’El in Philadelphia, I witnessed their strict observance of Jewish law. Visitors there were asked to dress modestly; they have their own mikvah, kosher butcher, and use a traditional Jewish liturgy during prayer. The biggest difference I found was that their singing—and the music to which they set the liturgy—was much more soulful than any I have heard elsewhere, as it draws on the African-American gospel tradition.

The definition of “legitimate” Jewish identity in the mainstream community always depends on whom you ask. The New York Board of Rabbis, whose vision statement is “to be the primary forum for rabbis within New York’s diverse rabbinical community,” repeatedly denied the application of Rabbi Matthew of Commandment Keepers (who passed away in 1973), a West Indian immigrant born to an Ethiopian Jewish father—officially because he was not ordained by one of their affiliated seminaries.

There is, however, growing collaboration taking place between some congregations in the black-Jewish community and “mainstream” Jewish organizations and synagogues. Members of Congregation Temple Beth’El’s Choir will be singing at the Jewish Outreach Institute’s Annual Conference in October 2007. As the American Jewish community becomes increasingly complex and diverse, let’s embrace our differences while we celebrate our common love of Judaism and the desire to contribute to its continuation.

Last week, I attended a dinner given by a pharmaceutical company in New York City. During dinner, a physician presented a study which showed that the majority of patients only comply with their prescribed course of medication to the extent that they feel the effects of their symptoms, rather than following their “doctor’s orders” exactly. This news seems shocking but may offer important insight into the current mind-set of individuals in our society. People feel free to make choices about what they want to include in every aspect their lives, and they exercise this freedom in decisions about everything from their health to their religious and communal participation.

An understanding and acceptance of this widespread state of mind can be helpful in creating programs and measuring the value of our efforts in Jewish communal service. Just as physicians prescribe medications and develop treatment plans for their patients to have the best possible outcomes for healing, Jewish communal professionals offer a multitude of “elixirs” for spiritual direction and a complete Jewish life. Yet most people are still going to do what they feel is best for them.

If we “prescribe” the ingredients for a healthy Jewish community and offer only the programs that we deem important, we can expect participation only from those in our target audience who share our same vision for them. If our intended outcome, however, is to help ensure that all of our community members live meaningful and fulfilling Jewish lives, we may reach more people if we also listen to what they want, and cater a percentage of our services to what they will actually choose to include in their lives.

Representative community members can assist professionals in developing programs that meet their needs. At JOI, we recommend going out to meet people where they are. For example, if an organization wants to reach the young, unaffiliated segment of the population, they could consider going to a popular bar and conducting informal interviews about which programs would interest the Jewish patrons they meet there—with a promise of a free drink as a thank-you for their ten minutes of time. (Ideally, this kind of networking research is conducted by members of the target audience’s own peer group that may already be involved in your community.) Their program interests and suggestions may be considerably different than those of a sub-committee of current synagogue members. This wider communal outreach to key stakeholders may be the medicine we need to ensure the future vitality of the Jewish community.