tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6003330.post4999186291139062585..comments2024-03-07T15:19:48.772-05:00Comments on The Rabbi with a Blog (Rabbi Jason Miller): Indie Minyans RevisitedRabbi Jason Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07805550465729805847noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6003330.post-51808826934017009862009-06-02T11:05:02.777-04:002009-06-02T11:05:02.777-04:00The alternative can be found at Congregation Beth ...The alternative can be found at Congregation Beth El of Montgomery County Maryland, where three alternate lay lead minyanim operate - an early minyan every shabbat, a minyan that focuses on study that meets the first shabbat of every month and a traditional egalitarian minyan of twenty and thirty somethings that meets every third shabbat. By opening up to alternative minyanim, the synagogue has become stronger than ever. This may be the model for the conservative movement - invite the alternative minyanim inside, give them space and torah, and they will join! Evan K., VP, Beth El.Evan J. Kramenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6003330.post-36647208161552987522009-04-30T11:04:00.000-04:002009-04-30T11:04:00.000-04:00Washington Post article, "Synthesis Outside the Sy...<A HREF="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/28/AR2009042803584.html" REL="nofollow">Washington Post article, "Synthesis Outside the Synagogue"</A>Rabbi Jason Millerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07805550465729805847noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6003330.post-25172282176017948432009-04-07T11:40:00.000-04:002009-04-07T11:40:00.000-04:00I've never started an indie minyan or any syna...I've never started an indie minyan or any synagogue start-up, but if I did, here's a list of things I would imagine funding would be used for:<BR/><BR/>1) Website<BR/>2) Advertising (word of mouth is great, but so are paid ads)<BR/>3) Siddurim (prayer books) & chumashim (bibles)<BR/>4) Rent for facility<BR/>5) Supplies for food (even if it's potluck, cups, napkins, and plates are essential<BR/>6) Honoraria for Guest speakers and special programs<BR/>7) Administrative costs (copying, credit card fees, etc.)<BR/><BR/>*Torah scrolls can be loaned or donatedRabbi Jason Millerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07805550465729805847noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6003330.post-28109886957416433282009-04-06T10:59:00.000-04:002009-04-06T10:59:00.000-04:00The budget is usually unimportant. Hadar is entire...<I>The budget is usually unimportant. Hadar is entirely unique in the field of Jewish emergence. They have multiple employees, including a Rabbi and an Executive Director. Not to mention the fact that their summer-only yeshiva is about to go full-time next year. Hadar is somewhere in the gray space between a synagogue and a minyan.</I><BR/><BR/>Kehilat Hadar (the independent minyan) and Mechon Hadar (the organization that runs, among other things, Yeshivat Hadar) are separate organizations, though they have close ties and were founded by some of the same people. (The founders of the two organizations who are now running Mechon Hadar are no longer involved in the leadership of Kehilat Hadar.) Mechon Hadar has multiple employees, including an executive director (who is an ordained rabbi, though no one holds the job title "Rabbi"). Kehilat Hadar is a volunteer-led community and has no employees. The budget number that was quoted was for Kehilat Hadar. (Mechon Hadar's budget is presumably much larger, especially since the year-round yeshiva is going to provide living stipends for its students.)<BR/><BR/>Kehilat Hadar runs an annual Shavuot retreat, which this year costs $230 per person. If 200 people go on the retreat, that's $46,000. So that's a big chunk of the budget (both income and expenses) right there. (Running a big annual retreat may have more in common with organizations like NHC and Limmud than with many independent minyanim.)<BR/><BR/>According to Kehilat Hadar's website, renting space in the church basement costs approximately $960 per service. Kehilat Hadar is now meeting almost every Shabbat, so $960 x 50 weeks/year = another $48,000.<BR/><BR/><I>But for the rest of us, I can't imagine what we'd use the budget for.</I><BR/><BR/>Space rental. If you can fit in someone's home, great. In places like NYC (where apartments are small and people are numerous), that's not always possible. This is one big part of why many independent communities only meet once a month or so. (So once you get a free davening space, the extra cash is just a bonus.)BZhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18242965196421853025noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6003330.post-55090526080084689142009-04-06T09:41:00.000-04:002009-04-06T09:41:00.000-04:00The budget is usually unimportant. Hadar is entire...The budget is usually unimportant. Hadar is entirely unique in the field of Jewish emergence. They have multiple employees, including a Rabbi and an Executive Director. Not to mention the fact that their summer-only yeshiva is about to go full-time next year. Hadar is somewhere in the gray space between a synagogue and a minyan.<BR/><BR/>But for the rest of us, I can't imagine what we'd use the budget for. Once you've bought sidurim, the only other thing you ever need is kidush or maybe dinner. Do it potluck-style and you've got a recipe for a budget-less organization.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6003330.post-90173702564761180522009-04-02T08:17:00.000-04:002009-04-02T08:17:00.000-04:00Also, "no one with children or gray hair" may be t...Also, "no one with children or gray hair" may be true at Tikkun Leil Shabbat, but isn't true of all independent minyanim.BZhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18242965196421853025noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6003330.post-49570765941242832662009-04-02T08:15:00.000-04:002009-04-02T08:15:00.000-04:00Also, USCJ's idea to give grants to the independen...<I>Also, USCJ's idea to give grants to the independents that affiliate in some regard with the Conservative Movement is not necessarily a bad idea (maybe a little shortsighted), but making the grants only $2,500 is insulting.</I><BR/><BR/>It's not just $2500 -- minyanim that end up meeting in a C shul as a result of this partnership might get a free davening space, use of a sefer torah, etc., so the budgetary impact would go beyond the $2500. I still wouldn't do it, though. Experience has shown that nothing is really free, and Jewish institutions that provide "free" space to independent minyanim end up exerting pressure in other ways.<BR/><BR/><I>What Rabbi Epstein and others at USCJ might not realize (or choose not to recognize publicly) is that these indie minyans are not totally made up of Conservative Jews. For many, the attraction is that these minyans/communities are non-denominational, post-denominational, trans-denominational, pluralistic, Conservadox, progressive/traditional, etc. So for them to even lean toward one movement because of a grant that will buy them a few nice kiddush lunches or one scholar-in-residence wouldn't be worth the long term effects on their communal identity.</I><BR/><BR/>YES. Maybe the C movement people think that everyone who goes to independent minyanim are C movement alumni (or even "ideologically Conservative") because all the people THEY know who go to independent minyanim fit the bill, but there's a massive sample bias here.BZhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18242965196421853025noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6003330.post-74010898136576751642009-04-02T07:21:00.000-04:002009-04-02T07:21:00.000-04:00You are correct BZ. Most indie minyans would love ...You are correct BZ. Most indie minyans would love to have half of Hadar's annual budget.<BR/><BR/>Also, USCJ's idea to give grants to the independents that affiliate in some regard with the Conservative Movement is not necessarily a bad idea (maybe a little shortsighted), but making the grants only $2,500 is insulting.<BR/><BR/>A large congregation affiliated with the Conservative Movement will pay somewhere around $40,000 annually to the USCJ in dues. If Rabbi Epstein took that one congregation's contribution and divided it in half, he could offer two $20,000 grants to the two indie minyans that demonstrated the most interest in partnering with the movement in some regard. The next year, two more grants and so on.<BR/><BR/>What Rabbi Epstein and others at USCJ might not realize (or choose not to recognize publicly) is that these indie minyans are not totally made up of Conservative Jews. For many, the attraction is that these minyans/communities are non-denominational, post-denominational, trans-denominational, pluralistic, Conservadox, progressive/traditional, etc. So for them to even lean toward one movement because of a grant that will buy them a few nice kiddush lunches or one scholar-in-residence wouldn't be worth the long term effects on their communal identity.Rabbi Jason Millerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07805550465729805847noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6003330.post-39102166176802428742009-04-01T23:28:00.000-04:002009-04-01T23:28:00.000-04:00Good post. But I would note that Hadar's budget i...Good post. But I would note that Hadar's budget is an outlier; many independent minyanim operate on a budget of a few thousand a year, or no budget at all (some aren't incorporated, and just meet in participants' homes). There are many minyanim out there for whom $2500 would be a significant amount (and yet they still choose not to pursue it).BZhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18242965196421853025noreply@blogger.com