The Problem of Shul Beis Medrification

Having organized a nightly community Beis Medrash and having directed the Torah programming in my Shul for the last 18 years, it’s seems strange that I’m actually writing about the problems of Beis Medrification. However it’s a big problem and if we don’t approach it wisely we’ll weaken our communities in the noble pursuit of increasing Torah learning. Let me explain.

We’ve all benefited greatly from the strengthening of our Yeshivos over the past decades. More people are learning more Torah at a higher level than we’ve seen in centuries. We’ve all benefited with stronger teachers, Rabbis and communities. The Roshei Yeshivos have accomplished this by continuously stressing the importance of learning. For those who are in the Yeshiva, this is the message they need to hear.

Beyond the four walls of Yeshiva learning, we face a different set of challenges. We have to make a living, educate our children, care for our elderly parents, and run the communal institutions necessary for healthy communities. For these tasks, the local Rabbi is the one who answers our halachic questions, guides us, inspires us and strengthens us during the inevitable crises we will face. Besides providing the critical functions of prayer and community, Shuls provide the financial and organizational structure that enable Rabbeim to perform their functions most effectively.

When Shuls become Beis-Medrified, their members view them primarily as a place to fulfill the mitzvos of davening and learning. They’re less involved in the organizational, communal and financial aspects of the Shul. As a result, the Shul struggles to provide the Rabbi with the resources to do his job. This is the primary problem of Beis Medrification, it moves our Shuls away from being from effective full functioning, Rabbi supporting structures.

Originally Posted 8/30/2012

The Care and Feeding of Small Tent Shuls

Our Shul, has been at a comfortable 85% – 90% Shabbos capacity for a number of years. Although we are financially stable, primarily because of our playgroup, we periodically discuss our new membership enrollment to see if there is anything we can do to insure continued equlibirum in our new member to attrition ratio. As the membership ages, the question invariably comes down to attracting younger members.

One problem Shuls face, is that there is not a homogeneous young member profile. Some want a more Yeshivish style davening. Some want a faster davening with a weekly kiddush for socialization. Some want a Shul of peers with no desire for a cross-generational membership makeup. And some want a Shul with a great knowledgable Rav.

In this era of Shul choice, you can’t be all things to all people. That doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t try to make your Shul more appealing by eliminating some of the cruft: like burdensome announcements, unnecessary delays in davening, a non-responsive bureaucratic governing body, or an offensive culture of shhhshing. On the positive side, things like more frequent kiddushes can add some Shul appeal.

Although Small Tent Shuls don’t have as many problems as some of their Big Tent cousins – attention, discussion and maintenance is necessary to maintain your Shul’s appeal in our age of increasing Shul Choice.

The Simplicity of Monsey Minyanim

I spent last Shabbos in Monsey and two of the minyanim in which I davened were in houses. One was a neighbor on the block of my host who had a little trouble walking the few blocks to the closest Shul. The other was a regular Shabbos morning minyan convening in a converted basement.

There were no rabbis, no presidents, no boards, no dues and no rules. There were just 10+ people joining together to daven with a minyan. And it worked fine. The only thing stopping me from connecting to Hashem were my own concentration limitations.

I love my Shul with its wonderful Rabbi, chevra, chesed focus, Torah learning and growth opportunities, but it’s nice to get back to experience the simplicity of a Shul and to re-focus on the Shul’s primary purpose, which is connection to Hashem through davening with a minyan.

Addressing the Needs of the Young Marrieds

It’s a story that you hear repeatedly. Back in the day if you came 5 minutes after davening started, you couldn’t get a seat in the 400+ main minyan. But now it’s less than half full and the young marrieds minyan is just as big, but they don’t want to daven in the main minyan.

Many of the young marrieds grew up in the main minyan and it didn’t excite them.Now they want a minyan:
– that’s about 2 hours from start to finish
– has a very short or possibly no drasha
– has no misheberachs
– has no announcements (or they’re very short)
– has a kiddush after davening
– is filled with their friends
– is a place where they set the rules

It’s not really an unreasonable request list. And there are many minyanim in the larger community that fill this bill. Unfortunately, when meeting these demands, many Shuls can no longer fill their large main minyanim.

One solution to this is to find a dynamic Rabbi or assistant Rabbi, steeped in Torah knowledge, who understands the trials and tribulation of the younger generation. This Rabbi also has the capacity to pasken, teach, guide or inspire. It’s not an easy find, especially given that many Shuls have serious financial pressures facing them due to the decreasing membership.

Another solution is to create an environment from which the younger generation will want to belong, because of the clear benefits. This can take the form of a Growth Culture Shul.

Another possibility is a new model called a Chesed Culture, where many of the Shul members (not just a selected few) are regularly having others for meals, helping each other with jobs, shidduchim, housing, chinuch issues and the little things like plumbers, electricians, babysitters, etc.

An architectural solution would involved restructuring the Shul to handle a number of smaller minyanim. In many cases this would not be possible due to structural or financial concerns.

Unfortunately it seems that many large Shuls in this situation are working on returning back to the days of yore. I think this is very unlikely and the boards of these Shuls need to address the concerns of the next generation. Looking forward instead of back is the direction in which the next steps need to be made.

Are Shuls Democratic?

A reader recently wrote in inquiring about the norms in regards to Shul elections, and if I had any data/research.

I first told him to take a look at some Shul bylaws:

Here is the most relevant paragraph:

1. Each year, after Pesach but before Shavuos, an election meeting shall be held. At least four weeks prior to the election meeting, the President shall appoint a nominating committee of five members and designate a chairman. The nominating committee shall prepare a slate of officers and directors for recommendation to the membership at the election meeting. The committee shall mail the recommended slate to the membership at least two weeks prior to the election meeting. Additional nominations may be made at the election meeting.

It’s also important to understand the different types of Shuls and where the authority lies in each on of them.

Even in what I called Democratic Shuls in that post, there are still centers of power. In general, these centers are involved in the Shul for the long term, and are usually insuring the ongoing financial viability of the Shul. This was covered in a post called the Kitchen Cabinet.

As for data/research, in our neighborhood there are about 35 Shuls that operate on Shabbos.

Of these 35 Shuls, I would estimate that only about 5 even have a president and an elected board. In the other 30, a Rabbi and a Gabbai (or small group of people) watch over the finances and goings on.

In the Shuls which do have elections, they use a process like that described in the bylaws above, but in reality the Kitchen Cabinet probably has much more influence in selecting the slate.

As a whole, Shuls are not so democratic and are driven by the most involved members.

Passaic and the Rabbi-Centric Nature of Growth Oriented Shuls

I had the pleasure of spending last Shabbos in Passaic. In the past 10 years, Passaic has been one of the fastest growing Orthodox communities in America. The residents love their town and almost everybody we passed on the street said good Shabbos. I davened at two Shuls on different sides of town and talked to a few people there about the state of Passaic Shuls. Although Passaic is known to have a solid Baalei Teshuva base, one friend said that the majority of residents are Bnei Torah from YU and other Yeshivas.

What was apparent is that people take their davening very seriously. The Shuls were quiet and the davening was a moderate pace. There are many opportunities for learning. The Shuls fit the growth culture model.

My discussions highlighted that in growth oriented Shuls, the opportunities to be involved in running the Shul have diminished. The people are looking for a serious place to daven and learn and the Shuls are primarily run by the Rabbi and a very small group of people. It’s similar to a Shtiebel, except the Rabbi has a little less control, because he isn’t assuming the financial responsibility. The financing is a combination of the standard fees and donations.

I think the main factor for the decreased input in these Shuls is that people respect and accept the authority of their Rabbeim. That leads to the Rabbi being asked for input in more day to day decisions. While this structure prevents some of the disagreements present in the more member-run Shuls, it does lead to less involvement and sometimes a degree of disenchantment by people who want to be involved.

There are always trade-offs in Shul structures. It’s great and important to have a respected leader, but perhaps it makes sense to carve out space for the members to be more involved in the Shul’s operations.

Shabbos in Monsey and the Beis Medrification of Our Shuls

Last week, my wife an I had the pleasure of spending Shabbos with our friend Rabbi Label Lam and his family in Monsey. It afforded my the experience of davening in for different places.

On Friday night we davened at Ohr Somayach, the yeshiva for Baalei Teshuva. The new session hasn’t start yet and the huge beautiful Beis Medrash was less than half full. There was a wonderful Baalei Tefillah who’s voice filled the room with a traditional Ashkenaz Kabbalos Shabbos and Maariv.

On Shabbos, morning we davened in a local shul in a house basement which was started over 28 years ago. It’s a small minyan, supplemented this Shabbos by a number of yeshiva boys who were still home. It was nice to see that there was a Dvar Torah delivered. The Shul had tables and most of those there were learning when they weren’t davening.

For Mincha, we went to a local Chassidish Shteible which is about 8 years old. Before Mincha the Shul was packed with men and children learning Torah.

For Maariv we went to a big Ashkenaz Shul furnished with tables and filled with seforim.

What struck me was the tables and the preeminence of learning in all the Shuls. This focus should be of no surprise in Monsey which is a big Yeshivish and Chasidish learning oriented community. But the trend of Beis Medrification is sweeping Shuls all over the United States.

We’ll examine this trend next week and look at both its positive and potential negative effects.