At the United Synagogue of Conservative
Judaism (USCJ) Large Congregations Conference last week, we were discussing
Ron Wolfson's book Relational Judaism.
We were exploring how to put Wolfson’s strategies into action. This led to some
discussions about finding ways to track the level of engagement of our synagogue’s
members. How do we understand their passion and interests? How do we track
where they are in their Jewish journey? How do we ensure we are ready to
support them to take action when they are ready to take a next step?
At USCJ’s Sulam leadership initiative we have
been exploring ways to connect with members at key transition points. We created
Sulam for Emerging Leaders program to reach out to members ages 35-45 who are
involved in some aspect of synagogue life. While these people may not be ready to
join synagogue leadership now, we hope to instill a deeper engagement with
the community by showing how Judaism speaks to how they live and lead. We are
also exploring how to re-engage members of the baby boomer generation (55-70 year-olds).
In speaking with experts on synagogue software
we learned that firms are working on adding relationship management programs to
synagogue software suites. Client relationship management programs allow organizations
to track how often they touch members through programs, in conversation, in
philanthropic requests, etc.
Systems may evolve, but there needs to be a
growth in the organizational capacity to engage and record conversations. We
need to help people reflect on their relationships, to motivate some people to
listen and recruit others to turn these stories into trackable and actionable
information.
So I thought I would take the first step,
adapt Wolfson’s list of relationships (abridge a bit) and create a journal to
review and start to track my Jewish relationships.
Personal
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Doing Now
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Hope to Do
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My Next Step- (Support I
need).
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When
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Self
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Going to Weight Watchers weekly.
Working out a NYSC 3- 4 times a week.
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Do better job of tracking meals.
Explore some yoga to increase
flexibility.
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Find schedule of yoga classes at New York Sports Club.
Ask Larry for advice.
Get a spotter who will help me get off the mat when it’s over.
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By March 1, 2014
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Family
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Doing a better job of calling my sons.
Planning a visit for all of them.
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Finalize flights for them to come in
March 14.
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This week
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Friends
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Go to high school
reunion in June
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Reach out to
old friends that I miss after moving to NYC.
Get ready
for Valentine’s Day- Carolyn’s cares!
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Plan to stop
over in Dayton on next trip.
Hallmark
store below my office- sooo convenient.
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April
Today
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God
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Weekly Torah
study class, other books
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Just ordered
two books on Maimonides. One is pretty accessible.
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Find a class
on Maimonides
Study-find
out what God wants.
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Next 6
months
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Community
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Doing Now
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Hope to Do
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My Next Step
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When
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Congregation
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Have people
over for Shabbat.
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Sign up to
host a dinner for congregational members.
Invite some
of my friend’s children.
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Work on my
recipe for Brussels sprouts
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March
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Greater Community
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Working with
friend of Carolyn’s on Mental Health Care Resource network
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Help do some
strategic planning with group at no charge.
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Set up Meeting
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March
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Israel-
World Jewry
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Leading
Israel Zionist Reading Group- Reading Like
Dreamers with group
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Starting I-
Engage- Next version of Hartman Institute’s Israel engagement curriculum*.
*Share some
texts with reading group.
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Complete course
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March
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World
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Very little
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Find a cause and contribute
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Look into Hazon environmental efforts.
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