Month: December 2012

The Unfulfilled Potential of the Vice President

Of all the different Shul officer roles, the vice president is the one with the most unfulfilled potential. In theory the Vice President should be able to take some of the burden of the President, but it never seems to happen. Instead the Vice President is often under-worked and at the end of their term they sometimes seem slightly embarrassed at the small amount of work they did in that role.

One reason the vice president is under utilized is that most people recognize that the president is vested with the majority of power and so they go to him with their issues. A good president wants to address their members’ issues so he deals with the problem instead of handing them off to the vice-president. On the day-to-day issues, the vice president is rarely involved.

With regard to power sharing, most organizations have a man at the top structure. The buck starts and stops with one person. It’s rare that there exists a working power sharing arrangement. The roles of the secretary and treasurer are pretty well defined, but the vice president often does not have specific tasks to accomplish in the bylaws. Some Shuls explicitly specify tasks for the vice president, but in others those types of tasks are fulfilled by committees so the vice president is left with little to do.

An important role the vice president can fulfill is assisting the president in talking out issues. However sometimes the president will use a former president or a board member for input. If the president holds regular officer meetings then the vice president can be involved in the governing process through these meeting.

Perhaps the most important role for the vice president is president in waiting. Some vice presidents explicitly specify that they won’t serve as president, but many VPs do go on to become president. Being vice president insures that they are not coming into the presidency cold. Implicitly agreeing to become president is a huge commitment and for that alone we should express our appreciation for the vice president.

A Song For Some Unsung Heroes

The first question about praising unsung heroes is whether it undoes their unsung-ness. These are people who work for the community consistently over long periods of time and they shun the limelight. They want no honors, no accolades, no recognition, all they want is the opportunity to continue to serve. They don’t need no silly songs.

However, today a song must be sung, because two of our unsung heroes, a husband and wife will so be making Aliyah and creating chesed connections in a new community. I had the pleasure to work with both of them, and with the husband for over twelve years. Their chesed knows no bounds. Where there’s an opportunity to help in any way, they’re there without a moments hesitation.

The following story happened just 2 weeks ago. I was opening my car door outside a Shul and a car raced by and nicked my door and broke off their own side view mirror. My initial reaction was that it was the other drivers fault because of their speed, and my misconception that the car that makes the contact is responsible. The driver in the other car called her husband and they were insistent that I pay for their entire mirror. They called the police to fill out an accident report and we waited as the clock ticked down and my chances of attending a levaya in Monsey were diminishing.

Along comes my unsung hero. He immediately advises me to pay for the mirror as the increase in the cost of my no-fault insurance will outweigh the mirror’s cost. He told me that he was once back ended, and although it was totally the other driver’s fault, his insurance company cancelled his policy. He then gave me his cell phone with the number of a local mechanic to get an idea of the mirror replacement cost. The mechanic gave me an estimate and informed my that in this case it’s the one opening the car door who is totally responsible.

I told the other driver that I was willing to pay and the husband insisted that I pay his mechanic’s quote which was $100 higher. I walked a few blocks to a local bank to withdraw the necessary cash and my unsung hero agreed to stay with my car and the other driver until I returned. I paid for the mirror, got a receipt and my unsung hero comforted me further by telling me that my relatively small $350 loss should serve as a Kapora, and as far a Kaporas go, small financial losses are not so bad. Having him there with me was a tremendous help and allowed my to handle it with calmness, surprising the other driver who was expecting a continuing argument. I apologized, and from the other driver’s reaction it was a Kiddush Hashem.

This is the power of everyday chesed, generated by unsung heroes who make our world a much better place through their daily efforts. I’ll sorely miss this couple, not just because of their friendship and tremendous service to our community, but because they set a high bar for us to reach for in our day to day lives.

The Power of the Gabbai

Despite the fact that the Gabbai wields power, it’s still one of the hardest jobs to fill in a Shul. Your davening is distracted every Shabbos as you try to get Baalei Tefillah, maintain the decorum, prevent service shlepping syndrome, check the Yahrzeit lists and make sure that the Aliyos and other Kibbudim are distributed appropriately. And invariably you will get some flack for not given an Aliyah to the guy who’s distant relative has a Yahrzeit.

Perhaps more importantly, the Gabbai is charged with implementing how the davening is run with direction from the Rabbi. Most wise Rebbeim understand the difficulty of that position and give the Gabbai some leeway in the davening implementation. The guidelines are specified by the Rabbi and perhaps a Ritual Committee, but the whos, whats, whens and hows are in the hands of the Gabbai.

An example will illustrate. In last week’s Growth Through Continuous Improvement post, I related that in the Rav’s drasha, he said that while talking between aliyos is a leniency we allow in the Shul, we should limit it to Torah topics and minimize it to the degree possible. Last Shabbos before leining, my friend said that it would be good if someone made an announcement referencing the Rav’s directive from the previous week. I suggested he tell the Gabbai and he did.

The Gabbai made a public announcement that the Rav had said that it would be best if we would refrain from talking during the leining, which was not exactly what the Rav said. However the Shul was extremely quiet during the entire leining. Whether our Shul, which has a good social component, is ready to take it to this level without another social outlet like a weekly kiddush, is a good question. The point is that the Gabbai implemented the drasha directive according to his understanding, which was a little more restrictive than the Rav.

Some people might see the Gabbai’s power in this area as a problem. They’re willing to follow the lead of the Rav, but not the Gabbai, especially when it is more stringent then their personal leanings. Others understand that the Gabbai must have some discretion and they’ll go to the Rav if they think the Gabbai is out stepping the bounds of where the congregation is holding. Awareness of this issue is probably more prevalent in growth culture shuls, but it illustrates the challenges of collective spiritual service and growth.