2008 Woodie Awards
CJF Conference in Orlando
Ariel Schwartz
Issue date: 9/4/07 Section: News
On August 19, almost 50 Jewish lay leaders from around the United States congregated in Orlando for a CJF conference, which CJF Dean Rabbi Kenneth Brander, called "a conversation about the agenda of community." dealing with Jewish communities. Many Yeshiva officials flew down to the heavily planned conference, which University administrators heralded as a success.
The first day of the conference focused mainly on education. The speakers are mostly involved in education, discussed the role and importance of good Jewish education within a successful community. Day two began with presentations of the communal opportunities that Yeshiva and the CJF provides, and continued with four CJF speakers addressing community issues.
The highlight of the day was the introduction of the Community Growth Initiative, a survey asking young Jewish couples to prioritize what they want in a Jewish community. The intention of the survey was both to be a guide and a wake-up call for communities. The Community Growth Initiative ranked ten Jewish ideals; the top priority was a set /haskafa/, followed closely by the ability to choose between schools, affordable housing, career advancement opportunities, and more young couples. The rest, in order, were eruv, general values, a mikva within walking distance, convenience, proximity to family, rabbinic leadership, and lastly kosher restaurants.
"If there's a choice between enhancing the education in a community or putting permanent pews in the shul, then this should convince the community to spend the money on education," said Rabbi Brander. "Just as the couples were forced to prioritize their ideal community needs in the survey, hopefully the communities will be able to adjust their priorities to meet these demands."
The third day was for lay leaders to take the information gained thus far to and plan ways to apply it to their communities back home. The participants had the choice of attending two out of four sessions on topics relating to strengthening communities, integrating Yeshiva University into communities, supporting Jewish communal professionals, and promoting lay leadership. Following lunch, the participants were treated to speakers from the various communities who shared accounts of how YU and the CJF had bettered their communities over in recent years.
During these speeches, the results of the earlier discussions were made into a packet titled "Building the Community Agenda." This packet summarized the ideas that had been presented so that the community leaders would be able to take these "action items" back to their communities to institute change.
According to Rabbi Brander, the results of the conference coupled with the Community Growth Initiative should become a "marching order for every community that wants to become revitalized. This should help prioritize goals and agendas." Moving on from here, Rabbi Brander intends to create a community fair, allowing these communities to present themselves to young couples who could potentially move there.
According to the CJF, the conference was successful on many levels. "Not only did it show Jewish communities exactly what their potential members are seeking," explained Rabbi Brander, "but the brainstorming in how to address specific communal issues was begun."
Rabbi Brander noted that organizers of the conference made a concerted effort to impress participants with high-tech software. All seminars presented were transcribed and placed into packets given out to participants. At the end of the conference, each member was given a two gigabyte flash drive complete with PDF files of all the packets created, digital-audio files of all the speeches and even pictures from the event.
In addition, the conference informed CJF and YU officials on the state of these communities. According to YC Dean David Srolovitz, "The Orlando retreat provided an excellent means for the YU administration to learn about the realities of our communities around the country and how we, through our programs, can help our communities become stronger. Our future must rest on strong modern Orthodox communities in the whole country - not just the New York area."
The first day of the conference focused mainly on education. The speakers are mostly involved in education, discussed the role and importance of good Jewish education within a successful community. Day two began with presentations of the communal opportunities that Yeshiva and the CJF provides, and continued with four CJF speakers addressing community issues.
The highlight of the day was the introduction of the Community Growth Initiative, a survey asking young Jewish couples to prioritize what they want in a Jewish community. The intention of the survey was both to be a guide and a wake-up call for communities. The Community Growth Initiative ranked ten Jewish ideals; the top priority was a set /haskafa/, followed closely by the ability to choose between schools, affordable housing, career advancement opportunities, and more young couples. The rest, in order, were eruv, general values, a mikva within walking distance, convenience, proximity to family, rabbinic leadership, and lastly kosher restaurants.
"If there's a choice between enhancing the education in a community or putting permanent pews in the shul, then this should convince the community to spend the money on education," said Rabbi Brander. "Just as the couples were forced to prioritize their ideal community needs in the survey, hopefully the communities will be able to adjust their priorities to meet these demands."
The third day was for lay leaders to take the information gained thus far to and plan ways to apply it to their communities back home. The participants had the choice of attending two out of four sessions on topics relating to strengthening communities, integrating Yeshiva University into communities, supporting Jewish communal professionals, and promoting lay leadership. Following lunch, the participants were treated to speakers from the various communities who shared accounts of how YU and the CJF had bettered their communities over in recent years.
During these speeches, the results of the earlier discussions were made into a packet titled "Building the Community Agenda." This packet summarized the ideas that had been presented so that the community leaders would be able to take these "action items" back to their communities to institute change.
According to Rabbi Brander, the results of the conference coupled with the Community Growth Initiative should become a "marching order for every community that wants to become revitalized. This should help prioritize goals and agendas." Moving on from here, Rabbi Brander intends to create a community fair, allowing these communities to present themselves to young couples who could potentially move there.
According to the CJF, the conference was successful on many levels. "Not only did it show Jewish communities exactly what their potential members are seeking," explained Rabbi Brander, "but the brainstorming in how to address specific communal issues was begun."
Rabbi Brander noted that organizers of the conference made a concerted effort to impress participants with high-tech software. All seminars presented were transcribed and placed into packets given out to participants. At the end of the conference, each member was given a two gigabyte flash drive complete with PDF files of all the packets created, digital-audio files of all the speeches and even pictures from the event.
In addition, the conference informed CJF and YU officials on the state of these communities. According to YC Dean David Srolovitz, "The Orlando retreat provided an excellent means for the YU administration to learn about the realities of our communities around the country and how we, through our programs, can help our communities become stronger. Our future must rest on strong modern Orthodox communities in the whole country - not just the New York area."
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