A Return to Simpler Times (Before Technology Complicated Things)

I've always had a tremendous appreciation for technology. I'm continuously wowed by the innovations that have revolutionized our lives, but I also fear that technology is causing us to lose our foundation with some of the most basic human engagement. I'm a tech evangelist, but I often think about where we, as a society in general and as a Jewish community in particular, must draw the line.

Last month, we observed the High Holidays and, as we do every year, we heard the Hebrew word "teshuvah" used a lot. Teshuvah is most commonly defined as repentance, but it literally means return. Perhaps it is time we return to basics as a way of resetting for the Jewish new year. Many people praise technology, but also express how they yearn for the much simpler times of the past before technology dominated our waking hours. Teshuvah can be a path for us to continue to embrace technology, but also unplug and return to that simpler time.

The Day After the Election: A Postmortem

To blog or not to blog today, that was the question. As this unusual election became more divisive and, well, bizarre, I found myself blogging less. I didn't want to write about politics and everything else that I typically blog about just seemed inconsequential. Last night, the unimaginable happened. Okay, to be fair, like many I did consider the unlikely political earthquake that would happen if Donald Trump won.

Today, the day after the 2016 presidential election happens to be the anniversary of Kristallnacht. Upon seeing the posts of friends and colleagues on Facebook and Twitter making stark comparisons between this horrific night in 1938 in Berlin and modern day America, I felt this was completely inappropriate. However, last night there were anti-Semitic incidents in celebration of Donald Trump's victory (see the graffiti below in Philadelphia). Certainly, this was not a Kristallnacht -- not even close -- but, we should all be concerned about the hateful cadre among Trump's supporters.

This past Rosh Hashanah I wanted to speak out about the dangerous rhetoric of this election season. I knew that I had to do this without endorsing one candidate over the other. My goal was to express my outrage at the pomposity of Donald Trump, but also encourage all of us to be more tolerant of others and to listen to those who felt their voices had not historically been heard. I think that if we were to point to one reason so many of us were surprised by the outcome of the 2016 election it would be that we live in a bubble. The Facebook feed of the liberal elite is an echo chamber. As I recognized as the results came in last night, 99% of my Facebook connections were in the Hillary Clinton camp and so the sentiments I heard for the better part of the past two years were fully in sync with my own. I warned of this Facebook echo chamber in my Rosh Hashanah sermon and I too fell victim to it.

What follows is a selection of my 2016 Rosh Hashanah sermon from the first day of the holiday:

Why Synagogues and Jewish Nonprofits Need to Update Their Communications in the Digital Age

"Because that's how we've always done things!" I wish I had a dollar for every time I heard a professional in a synagogue or Jewish nonprofit utter those words. For some reason, synagogues and Jewish nonprofits are very late adopters to new technology. Even synagogues that have invested in expensive, dynamic websites are still sending out hard copy flyers in the mail, which is not economically prudent, effective or efficient.

Donors to synagogues and Jewish nonprofits have become more focused in the past several years on how much of their donation goes to overhead costs and how much is allocated to fulfilling the organization's actual mission. Websites like Charity Navigator and Guidestar provide the percentages making it easier for us to know just how far our charitable gifts will go. This leads many to wonder how much of that $18 donation to your favorite local organization or congregation in tribute to your friend's beloved mother goes to sending out the tribute card informing them of your generosity.

In some cases, it might be as much as 10% of that small donation going to overhead, and with today’s high tech communications it’s quite unnecessary too. In the technology age when most charitable organizations make it possible to donate online, the next step in the process is very low-tech. Rather than sending a nice automated e-mail to the recipient of your charitable tribute, most organizations allocate a lot of resources to the process -- spending an employee's time preparing a tribute card, printing out the card and envelope, and then paying for the postage to mail it out. The funds used in that low-tech processing could have gone directly to the cause. So why don't these nonprofits and synagogues adapt to the new technology? "Because that's how we've always done things," they'll explain.

Clip of a Constant Contact newsletter from Adat Shalom Synagogue in Metro Detroit, Michigan

Making Your Website Work for Your Synagogue or Jewish Organization

Whenever I am asked to consult synagogues and Jewish nonprofits on their Web presence, the first thing I do is take a look at their current website and try to determine in which year it was created. I can usually tell its production date within a few years based on several factors. I then explain what a Web site should do today. After I explain its function, I let them know that the look of the site matters less today than its functionality. Today's Web site needs to be an extension of the community the synagogue is trying to create (or in some cases, has already created).

 

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="444"] Best Websites for Jewish Organizations and Synagogues[/caption]

If someone's trying to find your synagogue's location, they can use Google Maps. But if they want to interact with the rabbi about last week's sermon, or find out who else is attending a class, or make a contribution online or update their membership record, then they will need to access the synagogue website.

In a brilliant article, Beth Frank Backman explains the need for today's Web sites to facilitate community building. It should be required reading for every synagogue and rabbi interested in making social media and the other technology of today work for them in their mission.

Here is her article and I can only hope it's prescriptions are followed. All emphasis in boldface is mine.

Does Your Website Push Information or Facilitate Community Building?
By Beth Frank Backman

Social media is much more than technology. It challenges us to rethink the nature and purpose of organizations and the reasons why we meet face to face. In doing so it will eventually force us to rethink the nature and role of the synagogue.

Will the synagogue of the future continue to be a coordination hub for Jewish education, bar and bat mitzvah preparation, Jewish identity activities, and prayer? Or will most of these functions move elsewhere, making the synagogue little more that a “meet-up” for ritually required prayer and life cycle events? Will it even be needed for those purposes?

In the future, even Hebrew school and bar/bat mitzvahs may no longer be a driving force in synagogue membership. Why cart kids half way across town to go to Hebrew school if the same learning can be had one-on-one via Skype?Imagine a world where bar and bat mitzvah tutors from Israel, Venezuela, San Diego and New York can be found in an on-line directory and are only a Skype call away. Imagine a world where one can find on the web free lance rabbis and cantors to lead private Shachrit and Mincha services in the Catskills, Rockies or Israel.

Email, May it Rest in Peace

Cross-posted at Jewish Techs

Email is like a cat. I don't know if it has nine lives, but people still use this form of communication even though it's been pronounced dead many times in recent years.

The general consensus among experts in online communication is that social media is killing the medium of email. Just as companies and organizations are getting pretty good at making their email newsletters look professional, it seems that more people are rendering email as the means of communication from a bygone era (sorry ConstantContact.com!).

As a rabbi who has worked a lot with Jewish teen communities, I learned a few years ago that teens had given up on email. To reach their virtual inbox, the communication has to come in the form of a text message, online chat, or Facebook message. For the young generation that's never had to handwrite a letter, email just seems too formal.

Once I noticed that teens were neither reading nor replying to standard email messages I decided to give out my cellphone number. All of a sudden I found that the communication with the teens was flowing via text messages.

I'm not saying that teens will look at an email account the same way they look at a Fax machine or a VHS tape, but they're preferred method of communication doesn't involve the @ sign.

So, how does one reach the target audience if email is dead (or at least on life support)?

Englin Consulting added its voice to the "Email is Dead" discussion by blogging:

"...the advent of devices like iPhones and Droids that make it easy to quickly delete emails without even looking at them, plus the spreading reach of social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, plus the email overload many people experience in their inboxes equals the demise of mass email lists as a productive tool. Facebook’s COO recently revived the debate, saying that because young people don’t use email the demise of email is imminent."

However, the consulting firm still maintains that email is an important and effective communications tool, albeit one that could use some strategic rethinking.

On its blog they offer three things to consider about your organization’s email list, including 1. Size matters; 2. Content matters; and, 3. Email matters.

Email isn't dead, although it's dying. A recent study, quoted by Englin Consulting, reveals that 58% of people check email first thing in the morning before doing anything else online. And mass email lists remain a critical and even growing component of many organization’s fundraising, advocacy, and education program -- one that still delivers results. However, that same study showed that more than 10% of people log onto Facebook first thing, 20% start with a search engine or portal site, and 5% head first to online news.

Businesses and organizations need to be more creative with their email marketing. Maybe social media hasn't killed email, but it's certainly giving it a beating... Don't believe me? Just go here and click the "SMACK" button.