Languishing Kehillah

Sid Schwarz in his Jewish Megatrends included a tetrad of aspirations for sustaining communal Judaism.  He highlighted Chochma or Wisdom, Tzedek or Righteousness, Kehillah or Community, and Kedusha or Holiness as the guide to success.  We've not done very well these past ten years.  As we share space with another congregation, a quick walk-around in the shared space shows that we've neglected kehillah more than the other elements.  It's not that we don't have it.  At a sponsored talk by the other congregation, one by a senior member of the national Jewish intelligensia, it was our members who were over-represented in attendance.  With the right occasion, we can fill a chapel on shabbos.  With no occasion other than shabbos we falter from where we once were. You can learn a lot from wandering around.  In our new digs, we are greeted by a screen that announces events.  For good or maybe not, their members wear name tags.  Identifying every single member as a unique individual with his own identity and talents enables Kehillah.  We make a big mistake by tracking the number of individual membership dues units as a surrogate for the real people. 

They now have informal groups, guys who go out for a beer on a specified day or discussions of a book or ongoing communal mitzvah projects.  I do not know the last time we have served a local soup kitchen or partnered with a church.   We have events, which is OK but they have a formality to them when what might be better is sponteneity.

I think we developed A-lists and B-lists, something that has evolved since my initial arrival.  We do not seem to develop expertise or anything approaching mentorship.  People come to learn Hebrew but they never graduate into our mainstream worship as its end point.  The Pareto Principle where 20% of the people accomplish 80% of the output is probably pretty universal.  20% of the people getting 80% of the participatory invitations is probably not what Vilfredo Pareto actually observed.   We have half-couples, one member of prominence, another identifiable but more of an appendage to the participatory partner.  Very little seems to be done to reach out to the person in the shadows.

As our landlord's kehillah prospers, ours falls further behind.  One of the roles of Rabbi is probably to be a talent scout.  One of the roles of President is probably to appoint a cruise director to dunk everyone into the pool and make sure that they have a good time.

I don't think I'm really having a good time.