Parashat HaShavuah
(This Week's Torah Portion)
February 13
29 Shevat
Birkat Hachodesh
Shabbat Shekalim
Parashat Mishpatim
Exodus 21:1-24:18 (annual)
Exodus 23:20-24:18 (triennial)
Maftir: Exodus 30:11-16
Haftarah: II Kings 12:1-17
Torah Sparks
Two-Minute Torah

• Read This Month's eNews

Transforming United Synagogue

In recognition of the changing world in which we live, the new realities our synagogues face, the challenging economic landscape that surrounds us, and the new opportunities new knowledge and new technology give us, United Synagogue is restructuring. To best meet the needs of our congregations and of Conservative Jews across North America, we have begun the process of transforming from smaller regions to larger districts, and using our skilled staffers as consultants in their own areas of expertise across this vast continent. At the same time, we have begun ongoing planning and re-visioning in earnest with Hayom: The Coalition for the Transformation of Conservative Judaism, which represents a number of Conservative congregations.

How to Apply for a DHS Security Grant

David Pollock, associate director of the JCRC of New York, led a webinar where he explained how representatives of U.S. nonprofits – including synagogues and other Jewish institutions - can apply for security grants from the U.S. department of homeland security. Information varies by state. To learn more, you can look at a plain power point presentation or you can see the Rashi – the power point as part of the webinar that explained it. Either way, your synagogue can benefit.

Upcoming Teleconferences for Synagogue Lay and Professional Leaders

• 10 Ways to Raise $10,000 - On Wednesday, February 10, participants will hear about at least 10 ways to raise money for their synagogues. Lisa Harris Glass, our Mid-Atlantic district director, who specializes in board committee, and volunteer development, budgets and fundraising, membership, and synagogue operations, will speak. Synagogue leaders are invited to register for one of two calls, at 3 p.m. Eastern time and again at 8 p.m. eastern time. (This call was rescheduled from January.)
• Marketing Your Shul – On Thursday, February 11, Steve Rabinowitz, Jewish media consultant extraordinaire, talks, with his idiosyncratic wit and style, about new pr and marketing strategies for synagogues. Synagogue leaders are invited to register for one of two calls, at 3 p.m. Eastern time and again at 8 p.m. eastern time.
• Midyear Evaluations – Evaluating their performances at midyear allows synagogue lay leaders to create an atmosphere of ongoing trust that makes year-end performance reviews more productive. Rabbi Charles Savenor talks about four possible ways to conduct those reviews on Tuesday, February 16, at 3 p.m. Eastern time.

To register for any of these calls, email Ariella Brody. The email should include your name and synagogue position, the name and synagogue position of any other participant from your synagogue, email addresses, and your shul’s name, city and state. Be sure to tell us which session you’d like to join. We will reply with the call-in number.

February is Jewish Disability Awareness Month

To help our synagogues prepare for Jewish Disability Awareness Month, on January 6 we offered a teleconference called Hachnasat Orchim – Welcoming the Stranger. Representatives of 73 synagogues and other Jewish organizations joined to listen to three experts talk about ways to recommit ourselves to the ongoing process of building community.

Jews and Public Policy

The Koach kallah, for college students, will focus on Setting the Agenda: Jews and Public Policy, with Rabbi Leonard Gordon as scholar in residence. The March 4-7 program, at the Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center in Reisterstown, Maryland, includes Shabbat, community service projects, an update on Israel, and the chance to meet students from across the continent. Registration is now open.

This Year in Florida (or Las Vegas)!

Tired of changing all your dishes, hunting down every last crumb, and then trying to figure out what else to make with matzah? Do it differently this year. Join us for a luxurious Passover vacation retreat at the Westin Diplomat Hotel and Spa on the beach in Hollywood, Florida, or the Ritz Carleton Resort and Spa in Las Vegas. The food is kosher for Pesach, the sedarim are Conservative, the (optional!) lectures and, classes are intellectually challenging, and the facilities, views, beaches, pools, spas, and services are superb.

Outrage at the Kotel – DWF

In Israel last month, one woman was arrested and interrogated, another later interrogated and fingerprinted for DWF -- Davening While Female – at the Kotel, the Western Wall. Our president and international vice president sent an email and most of the organizations of the Conservative movement signed onto a statement deploring the outrage and asking our congregants to write in protest to Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Michael Oren, and its ambassador to Canada, Miriam Ziv.

Building Healthy Relationships

A sourcebook that offers teenagers clear-eyed advice on forming healthy relationships provided the backbone for the USY convention, which drew about 700 teens to snowy Chicago during the last week of December. The sourcebook, Summer Loving, was a joint venture by United Synagogue Youth and Jewish Women International.

Helping Haiti

The United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism is deeply saddened by the tragic loss of lives and the devastation caused by the earthquake in Haiti. We have set up a fund for donations toward relief efforts for the earthquake victims.

Help Wanted?

If you are looking for help in hiring a synagogue professional – anyone! rabbi, cantor, executive director, education director, youthdirector … -- you’ve come to the right place. Start your search with us. And it's not too early to consider hiring acantor for the high holidays.

How to Hire a Synagogue Professional

Once you (assuming you are a synagogue leader) have found the right person for your shul, what are the next steps in the hiring process? Find out with our new Guide to Contractual Relations.

Conference at Mayyim Hayyim

United Synagogue is co-sponsoring a conference at Mayyim Hayyim, the community mikvah in Boston, October 10-12.

A Vision of Early Childhood

The Vision for Conservative Early Childhood Programs: A Journey Guide and the accompanying director’s manual, is our early childhood consultant Maxine Handelman’s groundbreaking new look at a how to introduce very young children to the joys of Jewish life through a Conservative lens. Read about it and look at the Vision and the directors’ manual themselves. A series of webinars will explain further.

Insurance Program for United Synagogue’s Afffiliates

United Synagogue is pleased to be able to offer member congregations a comprehensive property and casualty insurance program. This is one of Project Ezra’s programs.

Shabbat Dinner at the Olympics

If you plan on being at the Olympics in Vancouver, now you have someplace to go for Shabbat. Beth Tikvah Congregation in Richmond, BC, home to the speed-skating races, invites you to Shabbat services on February 13, followed by a kiddush lunch and a talk byformer Olympia Karen James about the 1972 Munich games. Reservations are due by February 5. Do you want to share Shabbat with other Conservative Jews? Congregation Beth Israel in Vancouver invites you to Shabbat dinner on February 19. Reservations are due by February 15. for information.

Convention News

Our international biennial convention met from December 6 to 10 in Cherry Hill, New Jersey.

Read Rabbi Steven Wernick’s speech as he was installed as our executive vice president and CEO, and Richard Skolnik’s speech as he was installed as our new international president.

The convention was widely covered in the Jewish press; you can read about it in the New York Jewish Week, the Philadelphia Jewish Exponent, and the Forward, and we blogged about it ourselves.

We passed our updated bylaws and new resolutions.

Two-Minute Torah

Want to study Torah but don’t have much time? Want a new, fast take on the text? Koach, United Synagogue's program for college students, has inaugurated Two-Minute Torah, a weekly podcast d’var Torahthat is available over the web at www.koach.org or by subscription on iTunes. They’ll be given by professional, lay, and student leaders - that range ofbackgrounds is sure to produce a range of styles and ideas. If you want a take on the Torah parasha that's both short and smart, give it a try.

Going to Israel?

Take a trip with the Conservative movement! Here’s a list of trips offered by our member synagogues. They welcome you.