Please Stand Up

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Editor’s Note: This talk was originally given at the Kol Nidre Service 5777/2016.

May you be sealed in the book of life.

As one of the leaders who brought the Sustaining Share Membership model forward, I realize I have done a bad marketing job – and given that marketing is my profession, I need to address this.

We always talk about Sustaining Share in terms of the financial aspect – this actually doesn’t do justice to what Sustaining Share means.

Sustaining Share is more than a financial commitment; it is an Emotional commitment that you want to be a member of this community. The Pledge form is a “promise” that you want to Sustain the Shomrei community. The reason we ask people to Pledge is that , although the pledge is a tangible financial commitment (financially it takes $2,500 per adult member), it is also saying you are making a choice to stay within our community. Everyone makes this choice for a different reason – but it is still a choice.

With the Sustaining Share model, one of the fundraisings we no longer do, is the Kol Nidre Appeal.

I was curious about the history of the Kol Nidre appeal. The NY Times reported that at Kol Nidre services in October 1916, the Rev. Joseph Silverman of New York’s Temple Emanu-El “appealed to his auditors to do all [within] their power to aid Jewish [war] sufferers.” On that occasion, and in the years that immediately followed, Silverman’s words “evoked an instant response,” inspiring his congregants — as well as those of other synagogues across the country — to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars in “free-will offerings” in just one day.

Tonight I would like to make a Kol Nidre Appeal. Not for money, but for another essential need – volunteerism.
I believe in the 80/20 rule in many aspects of my life. With volunteerism, 20% of the people do 80% of the volunteering. If we had a huge membership, that would work; but we are a small congregation so that is not working very well.
Several years ago, I actually tried to quantify how many volunteer hours it takes to run this synagogue. I calculated about 5000 hours needed to sustain the synagogue (probably an under-estimate).

So why is volunteerism so hard? First – Exercise is my analogy. We are supposed to exercise 30 minutes five days a week. If you cannot do five days, it is easier to decide you just don’t do it. We do not want to set ourselves up for failure.

Volunteering has that aspect too – I can only maybe do MESH once this year, not every week, so I cannot do it at all.

Second – the feeling that if you dare to volunteer, you will get a phone call to volunteer again. Can I promise that will not happen? Absolutely NOT. But you can respecfully say “I cannot right now”.

Another reason I hear – well I don’t know the person who is coordinating and am just embarrassed to call them because I do not know them.

So let me make some introductions:

Aileen Grossberg and Lynn Kurzweil – MESH Co-chairs
Dale Russakoff and Shirley Grill – IHN (Interfaith Hospitality Network) Coordinators
Aileen Grosssberg and Carney Mimms – Kiddush Prep Coordinators
Shirley Grill and Adrienne Shulman – Education Board Chairs, and @Nourish Coordinators
Allison Task – Membership chairperson
Liza Cohn and Debra Caplan – Programming chairpersons
Sarita Eisenberg and John Lassiter – Publicity chairpersons
Sara Ann Erichson – Simchat Torah Organizer
Geoff Sadow – Ritual Committee chairperson

I know volunteering is tough. We all have busy lives with work, family, school, and other interests.

I want people to think out of the box – both those seeking volunteers and those willing to voulnteer.

Let me give an example, Kiddush preparation. I work, many of you work and can not be in the kitchen on Friday mornings. Rather than say I can not help because I work during the day, think about what can you do. Offer that. Can you give a half hour on Saturday morning when you bring your kids to JLC? Tell the coordinators what you can do, and let them work with you to so it is a win-win situation for both of you.

I look around this room. We probably have 300 people here. If each person gave 10 hours during the year, that would be 3,000 hours – more than half of the total hours we need.

Even if you cannot help with one of the bigger efforts, there are still everyday little things that help. If you are at a luncheon, please throw away your empty plates and cups; after services today, bring your siddurim out and nicely stack them; if you are at an event, maybe ask if there is anything you can do to help.

I am making a Kol Nidre appeal tonight. Please volunteer. We need you to help sustain the community you chose.

Thank you and have a meaningful fast.

Fern

 

image:  “Raise Your Hands“ © Lauryn used with permission via Creative Commons License.

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