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High Holy Days Review Questions That Don’t Suck

High Holy Days Review Questions That Don’t Suck

Blog, Practical Rabbinics
Many of you will be doing a High Holy Days review and thinking about next year already. I am actually a huge fan of this. It is fresh in our minds, we have feelings, opinions, and experiences that can guide us to do well moving forward. I’ve outlined some High Holy Days review questions that will help you think through the past month or two and help you think about what you want to do better. I also believe you're already successful, but we always want to and can do better. Ideally, In planning for the holidays, it can be helpful to outline a few things in advance. In case you didn’t, I still think it is worthwhile to go back and answer the questions anyway. Write them down or…
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It is Time to Move the Wedding Intake Form Online

It is Time to Move the Wedding Intake Form Online

Blog, Practical Rabbinics, Top Posts
  There are a ton of ways to improve the method we gather information from people for their lifecycle events. A good first step is to move our wedding intake forms online. When couples first sit down with you, you listen to their stories, and you ask them questions. You try and glean all of the important information you need to do a good job! Many rabbis have a list of questions and write down the answers as they come up in the conversation. However, I think there is a better way. I think you should send an online wedding intake form to the couple and it should be after the first meeting. The purpose of the first meeting. Your first meeting is all about getting to know them. Who…
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Four Reasons to Befriend Your Maintenance Staff

Four Reasons to Befriend Your Maintenance Staff

Blog, Practical Rabbinics, Top Posts
As with most jobs, the unseen portions are often the most important. Behind office doors, tucked away in far parts of a building, or in quiet moments with your phone, there are many aspects of our work that are not seen by others. This is true for all of us. It is that much more important to recognize the work of others. In schools, hospitals, synagogues, non-profits, federations, and countless other organizations, one of the most overlooked teams are the maintenance team and janitorial staff. They do countless hours of labor, rarely recognized, and mistakes publicly named. It is incredibly important that we befriend them and recognize their work for a myriad of reasons. 1. It shows that you value their humanity. As we learn in Buber’s I and Thou,…
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The Six Questions to Ask Before Taking on Projects

The Six Questions to Ask Before Taking on Projects

Blog, Practical Rabbinics, Top Posts
The most precious resource you have is your time. As a result, you need to be selective when you take on projects and programs. It is easy to come up with an idea and get excited about it, but that doesn’t make it something you can implement. There are important questions to ask before taking on projects become part of your portfolio. This is relevant if you work at a synagogue, day school, non-profit, or really any type of organization. 1. What is the goal? This is probably the most important question of all of them and the one most frequently skipped. Therefore we should ask, what is the goal that you are trying to accomplish? Without this important sign post, it is hard to measure forward movement. This goal…
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How to Track the Attendees of your Programs

How to Track the Attendees of your Programs

Blog, Practical Rabbinics
Our data tells stories We live in a new age where data is everywhere. Jewish institutions can and must use the information better to tell important stories. Tracking the attendees at your programs is an important part of that process. To start, one of the powerful pieces of data we have is, who are attending our events. This information is valuable so we can better understand who we serve and then work towards serving them better. It is also a part of many grant processes, a part of reporting to our respective boards, and testing new programming to see if we succeeded. This can be useful at synagogues, non-profits, day schools, and all sorts of Jewish institutions. What does the end result look like? In my institution, Congregation Beth Shalom,…
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