What Has Changed in 100 Years?

The year: 1914.

From The American Hebrew newspaper, commenting on the second annual meeting of the new organization, The United Synagogue of America:

The United Synagogue is still in an embryonic state. This was proved by the many reports rendered during the all day session. The first year of activity showed no practical results, for no real work of any kind was indulged in. It was a twelve month period of experimentation. Each committee (there were six) conducted several investigations and at the meeting the chairman spoke of these investigations. Furthermore, each committee suggested plans of active work to be engaged in by the newly-appointed committee during the coming year.

I found this quote within a document, A History of The United Synagogue of America 1913-1963, written by Abraham J. Karp on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of United Synagogue. It's a commemorative piece, intended to show the growth of the organization. Knowing what I do about startups and organizational change, I'm not surprised that the second year progress report on the founding of United Synagogue seemed like an account of maddening committee wheel-spinning. As the founder of United Synagogue, Solomon Schechter's idea of a "big tent," according to Michael Cohen, meant balancing "inclusivity with boundaries." Where do you put the pegs of that tent? Some would argue that we're still working on it.

In addition to the history lesson, I'm fascinated by the challenges traced by Karp in the first 50 years of United Synagogue's history. Here are some examples:

1914: There were 24 congregations affiliated with United Synagogue. Their religious school students numbered 2385 boys and 2096 girls. At the United Synagogue annual meeting, Solomon Schechter commented on the report of the Education Committee, given by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan:

The congregations have to maintain a double system of schooling in order to meet the wishes of the two classes of members that are usually to be found in every congregation, namely, those whose slogan is "more Judaism," and those who ask for "less Judaism."

 Excerpt from a Report on the 1922 Convention, by H.B. Bernstein:

...One would gather from what was said that unless we begin immediately to interpret our sacred literature in the light of modern thought we shall not be able to hold our college students against the free sciences they learn. This statement was repeated so often as to give the impression that there was no critical work being done today. This was not the case, was the reply.

 The Herald of the United Synagogue Recorder, May 1, 1925:

In addition, several new important activities are being inaugurated...Of considerable value is the Teachers' Registry which has been established. The hundreds of communities, large and small, that need teachers or principals, are finding their task made much easier through this Teachers' Registry.

The keynote of the Sixteenth Annual Convention held in Chicago in April, 1928, was "Reunite Synagogue and Life," and President S. Herbert Golden talked about lay leaders:

Our laity should be so brought up as to be ever prepared when the call of service comes to answer "hineni." By drafting the baale batim into the administrative tasks of the organization, we can leave the rabbis free to devote themselves to the religious and educational phases of our program. 

The biennial convention in Chicago from May 13-17, 1948, according to Karp, focused on Palestine, Europe and America.

On May 15th, the very day when the State of Israel was proclaimed, the session was devoted to "The Jewish State-Promise and Challenge."

And the theme of the 1953 convention was "Building Synagogue Leadership."

A National Survey On Leadership disclosed a vast gap between the actual and desired. The sessions were devoted to the bridging of this gap.

Education, Youth and Young Adults, Membership, Volunteerism, Israel, Leadership. We're still tackling issues of kehilla - sacred community - described since the earliest days of the 20th Century, even though the dynamics of what we're addressing and how we're going about it have shifted.

The 21st Century updates to these challenges will take place at United Synagogue's 100th anniversary celebration, October 11-15, in Baltimore. There are about 130 sessions and workshops. Here are some of them. I'll leave it up to you to recognize how our focus and direction have changed since that second annual meeting in 1914. And to be part of the next century's conversation.

Education

• Rabbi Jim Rogozen, United Synagogue's chief learning officer, will convene, The Future of Congregational Education, with Jonathan Woocher, David Bryfman, and Nancy Parkes
• Congregational Education for the 21st Century: Religious School in the Clouds, led by Wendy Light and Dr. Richard Solomon
• Terry Kaye will lead, From Vision to Nitty Gritty: Putting Educational Technology into Practice 
• Ensuring the Jewish Future: The Case for Day Schools, with Dr. Elaine Cohen, Rabbi Moshe Schwartz, and Bill Zarch
• Maximizing the School as an Asset of the Congregation, with Sue Wyner

Youth, College Outreach and Young Adult Engagement

• A Memo from Your Future, with Rabbi Dave Levy, Michael Sacks, and USYers
• Making the "Next Generation" the "Now Generation," In Order to Ensure a "Future Generation," with Yossi Garr, Teri McGuire, Rabbi Ita Paskind, and Rabbi Joel Seltzer 
• From Campus to Kehilla: What Synagogues Can Learn from College Communities (And Vice Versa), led by Seffi Kogan
• 50 Shades of Growth: Engaging the Hearts and Souls of 20s & 30s, led by Rabbi Jeremy Fine and Rabbi Aaron Weininger

Membership

• Tefilla as a Vehicle for Engagement and Building Community, with Rabbi Lizzi Heydemann
• Inside Outside: Renewing Jewish Outreach, a panel discussion with Debbie Albert, Rabbi Daniel Burg, Rabbi Adam Greenwald, convened by Rabbi Michael Siegel
• Reaching Out to Interfaith Families, with Rabbis Elliot Cosgrove, Ed Feinstein, Deborah Wechsler, and Michael Siegel
• Technology and Engaging Families: It's not about getting them in the door anymore, with Jill Allenberg Stepak and aliza Sperling 
• Where is Your Place in Our Story? Storytelling as a Tool for Welcoming, with Jennifer Rudick Zunikoff
• Intermarriage and the Conservative Movement: Responding to the Challenge of Demographics, led by Rabbi Charles Simon and Steve Lachter

 Volunteerism and Leadership

• Volunteer Recognition: An Easy Resource Tool for Kehillot, led by Linda Sussman, USCJ kehilla relationship manager 
• V'Asu Li Mikdash: Build for Me a Sanctuary - Creating and Recreating the Kehilla of Today and Tomorrow, with Rabbi Hayim Herring and Rabbi Sid Schwartz, moderated by Rabbi Michael Siegel
• Creating an Effective Board, with Susan Kasper and Robert Leventhal
• Sacred Community and Fiscal Responsibility, with Fred Passman and Barry Mael

Israel

• Next Year in Jerusalem: Fact, Fiction, Fantasy or Farce? with Dr. David Breakstone, Rabbi Amy Eilberg, Yizhar Hess, Arie Katz, moderated by Rabbi Stuart Weinblatt
• 65 Years of Israeli Popular Music in 60 minutes, with Cantor David Lipp
• Why You're A Better Israel Educator Than You Think You Are, with Rabbi Josh Fiegelson and Aliza Goodman
• Maalot: Innovative Programs for Israel Education and Advocacy, with Rabbi Paul Freedman and Morey Schapira
• The Schizophrenic Zionist, with Dr. David Breakstone and Joel Chasnoff