Communal Re-Engagement Report - November 2022

Communal Re-Engagement Report – November 2022

A full copy of this report can be viewed/downloaded from here.

The Executive Team will now be taking this forward and considering appropriate action – if you have any queries/further feedback, please contact Lisa Olins or Rabbi Kurzer.

Recommended Quick Wins

Change layout: number and position of seats, location of bimah and mechitzah
Consider opportunities to involve women
Provide coffee, cake and schmooze
Interchange weekly format, including guest chazan, speaker, explanatory, demographic/ segment-specific focus
Revise service content: sing Aleinu, reduce repetition (of Mourner’s Kaddish), …
Contact non-returnees directly: phone or in-person, rather than message/email

Specific Communal Volunteer Initiatives

Jonathan Lewis	Deliver a specific lecture series (cultural history from 1066 to present day)
Robin Woolf	Restart Dvar Torah session by members
Harvey Kasin	Coordinate kiddushim in private homes with invited guests
Simon Albert	Organise a course in First Aid and CPR
George White	Analyse membership to identify specific segments/ demographics for whom tailored programmes can be offered
Jeremy Aron	Approach recent barmitzvah boys to join leining and/ or haftorah rotas (barmitzvah anniversary) and other opportunities
David Taylor	Offer advice/training on traditional tunes/nusach
Brian Conway	Offer advice/training for Cohanim-specific activities and haftorah classes
Alan Kleinman	Offer advice/training on weekday davening
Doreen Samuels	Restart Women’s programme (ORA/WOW)
Larraine Solomon	Provide focus-group input to provide support/ feedback to develop priorities

Other Recommendations

Consider young families and build upon results of recent WhatsApp survey, recognizing that they are ‘time-poor’ and that any offering needs to be ‘short, sharp and effective’
Protect the core membership who attend weekday minyanim and/or regularly on Shabbat, simultaneously reach out to those who are not interested in specifically religious activities
Publicise specific initiatives within the US Project Welcome initiative (which we are participating in/have funding for)
Reintroduce Azamra (women-only Kabbalat Shabbat service)
Organise local minyanim in people’s houses for Kabbalat Shabbat services
Optimise use of physical facilities 7 days a week, not just Shabbat
Recognise customer feedback and that ‘good/bad vibes’ spread quickly
Give people a role/job so that they have a reason to come to shul
Communicate that all feedback is welcome and the appropriate channels to provide it
Acknowledge that Covid is still here and presents ongoing challenges for some of our members
Accept that some women feel alienated ‘Second-Class citizens’ but this is not a universal opinion
Define success criteria now so that in the future, you can measure the effectiveness of your actions
Tailor offerings to suit different levels of religious observance and belief

Objectives & Approach

In August 2022, we asked how our social and religious communal life can be invigorated and subsequently shared some of that feedback, inviting all members to attend a forum to focus on these specific areas, as well as providing an opportunity for each attendee to raise and discuss personal priorities and commit to organising and running future activities. This forum was held on Sunday 27 November 2022.

The feedback we had received prior to the forum was classified into three areas for focus as detailed below – consequent recommendations are detailed above.

Religious Services

different mix of styles of service; traditional, chazanut, hashkama minyan
kiddush held in break during service
tailored services; children, youth
celebration of members’ special occasions/lifecycle events
female participation
physical layout of the shul (mechitzah) and service locations (eg Beit Hamedrash)
shorter services (eg Covid format, starting after Pesukei D’Zimra)
recital/omission of individual memorial prayers, refuah shlema, piyyutim, mishnayot, …) and reduction in number of times mourners kaddish is recited

Education

D’var Torah; presentation by members of community (before/during/after service)
Shabbat & Yomim Tovim; Rabbi & Rebbetzen to teach theory & practice
more programmes; secular, religious, Jewish cultural subjects
sermons; variations of speaker and subject matter
Bar & Bat Mitzvah programmes; mandatory learning/attendance for parents and children
transition through services; children, youth, main – teach tunes, pace
participative explanatory services
discussion groups; religious, cultural, tailored for specific demographics

Social & Welfare

Executive and Rabbi/Rebbetzen to review membership and tailor direct approach to individuals and groups, attempt to connect with wider (missing) members
social events; enlarge events committee, fund raising, number of happenings
Shabbat morning creche for the parents and members
‘at home’ kiddushim (in style of Shabbat UK)
first aid; training in resuscitation and use of defibrillator
open One Cecil Park to members for warmth, coffee, chat and company

Summary of feedback received

Religious Services: Structure & Content

Don’t change service structure or minhagim
Ensure Kabbalat Shabbat is tuneful
Ensure every sermon is short and audible
Arrange quality guest chazanim and ba’alei tefillah (service leaders)
Don’t recite memorial prayers or prayers for the sick on Shabbat mornings
Reintroduce personal mi-sheberachs and memorial prayers
Reintroduce Hashkoma (early morning) service
Consider alternatives to the regular style of service (remove elements)
Increase page announcements and explanatory comments on the service
Offer explanatory services
Recite some prayers in English
Reduce repetition
Explore options to honour women on Shabbat
Allow women to read prayers for the Royal Family and the Defence of the State of Israel
Allow pre-batmitzvah girls to sing Anim Zemirot
Reintroduce Ashrei and Anim Zemirot rotas
Reinstate the Dvar Torah after the communal kiddush

Religious Services: Timing

Make Shabbat and YomTov services enjoyable, brisk but dignified
End the fixation with the speed and duration of the service
Pre-advise members of aliyot (avoid delaying the service wherever possible)
Introduce coffee break/kiddush before leining
End the Shabbat morning service by a specific time (11:30/12:00) followed by a communal kiddush, …

Religious Services: Physical Layout

Change the position of the mechitzah to enhance women’s experience
Change shul seating layout to account for smaller attendances

Education

Invite inspirational guest speakers – religious and cultural topics, question (and answer) of the week
Plan educational sessions (by Rabbi and Rebbetzen) before all Chagim
Arrange series of talks on topics of contemporary interest
Restart Sunday morning breakfast with shiur
Pre-barmitzvah boys and fathers to attend Sunday Shacharit services
Encourage pre-barmitzvah/batmizvah families to attend services, guided by Community Directors
Encourage barmitzvah boys to read torah/haftorah each anniversary
Pay teenagers to lead children’s services
Encourage teenagers to daven and lein
Consider options for more effective use of remote participation
Arrange more discussion groups
Train members in CPR and First Aid
Develop programmes for children of all ages

Social & Welfare

Turn One Cecil Park into a JW3-style ‘campus of Jewish culture’, with a shul attached
Organize social gatherings
Broaden coffee club concept, providing a ‘schmooze’ area on Shabbat morning
Provide cheaper sponsorship packages for weekly kiddush
Improve content of weekly communal kiddush
Arrange kiddush in private homes (mini ‘Shabbat UK’-style)
Publicize availability of a creche on Shabbat mornings
Arrange communal meals on Friday night, Shabbat and YomTov
Provide a small-scale seudah every Shabbat afternoon
Consider options to address health and mobility issues (travel to shul on Shabbat)
Invite families to celebrate special/lifecycle occasions with members in shul
(Rabbi to) approach and know wider membership
(Rabbi to) look after the ‘core’ membership
(Rabbi to) contact directly (ie via personal contact rather than email/message) those members who have not returned to shul and welcome them back