Synagogue Governance

Do I really care about how AKSE or any other synagogue is run?  Should I?  Having been to a place where I'd classify some of the activity of the baalebatim as bordering on evil, I think there is a reason to not only remain in the game, if possible, but to give up and depart under certain circumstances.  It seems that trends in membership data may support this view.  Fortunately there is nothing evil about AKSE.  Dumb, inept, insufficiently thoughtful for sure but not evil.

We have a Board Meeting tonight with the usual subjects up for discussion, mostly money either directly through a budget presentation or indirectly through a membership discussion or fundraising efforts that probably would do better if run by newcomers who did not carry the legacy of previously marginal efforts.  But directly or indirectly the agenda is money.  At least these things are measurable.

The real essence of how a congregation serves the people who attend, or who pay dues but don't attend, can be more elusive in its assessment.