Filling in the Calendar

Last night I returned home from AKSE's Education Committee very disheartened.  My cohorts at the meeting had no interest in anything innovative, provocative, stimulating.  They had slots on the calendar to fill in and they did it.  Most AKSE activities strike me that way, from Shabbat services to Board Meetings.  I tried to make Minyanaires different with random discussions that people could not get anyplace else but for the most part the mentality is one of let's reconstruct last year's programs, get the same Torah readers to do what they did before, never risk negative feedback, and get a different result than the last time we did the same thing.  There are very few really stimulating analytical people there.  People don't like to move the furniture around and see if the next configuration comes out better than the last.  I suspect that the 125th Anniversary fundraiser will mimic the 120th with the same result, or perhaps a small profit though not one to impact materially on finances.  Board Members taking out $100 ads while the business that they work for that have $300 as chump change will be left to languish.  We populate our membership rolls with decent folk who go to work, do what they are told, have their periodic salary deposited but never have accountability for innovation, adaptation or risk.  We populate our committees, Board and pews the same way.  The slots on the calendar get filled in so that events happen at the appointed time.  Better events?  More inspiring events?Not yet.