Creating Community Through Volunteerism
I visit many synagogues and have the opportunity to talk with men and women across North America. While I hear wonderful success stories about finding fulfillment within the synagogue, far too often I also hear from community members who still feel alone or alienated.
Professor Arnold Eisen, chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary, has repeatedly challenged Conservative Jews to build communities and lead lives of Torah. In his book The Spirituality of Welcoming, Ron Wolfson said that “the lifeblood of a synagogue of the twenty-first century is small spiritual support groups that members join to explore an interest or to pursue a purpose.”
I am convinced that volunteering can build community and create a meaningful spiritual home for each of us. While my experiences are largely within the Federation of Jewish Men’s Clubs, ample opportunities exist across the board in every shul.
Let me share a bit of what my involvement with FJMC has done for me. Besides developing lifelong friends, it has given me the means to grow as a person and as a Jew. I have played roles in bringing tefillin programming, keruv awareness, and the Hearing Men’s Voices programs to synagogues and men’s clubs. I have learned to be a ba’al tefillah and can lead a variety of services. I teach Hebrew literacy and understanding prayer to adults and I help gimel students (5th and 6th graders) understand and appreciate the gift, magic, and holiness of Shabbat.
I tell you this to explain why so many members of Men’s Clubs are willing to be involved in the FJMC. Through their efforts, our volunteers strengthen communities. FJMC began by encouraging volunteers to teach Hebrew literacy to adults. As laymen teaching laymen, we refused to concede that only professionals would be proficient in the language of our texts. FJMC introduced the Art of Jewish Living series, with books written by Ron Wolfson, to facilitate and reinvigorate home practice and observance. The program, once again, focused on laymen teaching laymen.
When our professional leadership had all but given up on the laity practicing the mitzvah of tefillin, our Ties That Bind and World Wide Wrap initiatives infused this mitzvah with a contemporary sensibility. Recently, we have been exploring ways to bring heightened spirituality to congregational services. We call this “passionate davening.” Again, education is the key. We encourage learners’ minyanim to enable congregants to become more comfortable with the prayers. In congregations around North America you can sense the change in the air. Often volunteers are leading the way.
What attracts volunteers today? What are the hot-button issues? This year, FJMC introduced an energy awareness and conservation initiative, encouraging synagogues to think about using renewable energy rather than fossil fuels and other environmentally unfriendly resources. This project, called Shomrei Haaretz (Guardians of the Land), will be an innovative approach to increasing awareness and decreasing energy usage in the Jewish and secular communities.
It is apparent that the FJMC’s volunteers and the many volunteers in our congregations have caused a paradigm shift in the Conservative movement over the past three decades with such innovative programming as the Yom HaShoah commemorative yellow candle campaign, the Shomrei Haaretz energy program, and keruv programs. The FJMC relies almost entirely on volunteers, and it is from a shared spirit of commitment that the FJMC derives its strength and vitality. Each member is welcomed and encouraged to participate.
I believe that every reader of this magazine can find meaning and personal fulfillment by volunteering time, energy, and expertise to his or her synagogue. Help us fulfill Chancellor Eisen’s vision of strong communities with men and women committed to authentic engagement with the Jewish people and the Jewish tradition, heart and soul and mind, as well as full engagement with the society and culture of which we are a part.
Norm Kurtz is president of the Federation of Jewish Men’s Clubs.
