Photo by Bruce Shaffer

Next Year in Jerusalem, I’ll be embracing rigorous, daily Torah study for five months. I’ve been reaching for this since Summer of ’06, when I attended Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies. In the North, Lebanon2 raged on. In the Holy City, I was safely “surrounded by lilies”.

This refers to the words of Torah. They are as delicate as lilies. Song of Songs  Rabba 7:3

With eleven prior visits to Israel, I’ll be quite comfortable holed up in the small Nachlaot apartment I’ve grown fond of. I know my bus routes, beit knesset, and favorite falafel stands. I have a few Israeli and ex-pat friends, a cache of seasonal clothes, books and a bike. But I’ll miss my family, friends, partners, cat and kehillot – and, what shall I do when the semester’s over?

So, I dream of a lily field growing in Boulder – already a comfy place to be Jewish with doors open as wide as you want and the most rabbis (per capita) this side of the Jewish Theological Seminary; and all the more so if we had a real adult-oriented beit midrash (house of learning) of all-time Jewish texts, from Amichai to Zohar.

It was said that Rabban Yochana ben Zakkai’s studies included the following: Bible, Mishna, Gemara, legal and homiletical material, the intricacies of the Written and Oral Torah, various rules of Torah-logic, astronomy, arithmetic, washer’s proverbs, fox fables, the languages of demons, palm trees, and angels, and great matters [the study of God’s  divine chariot] and small matters [the intricate legal discussions between Rava and Abayye]. Bava Batra 134a

One of those places — where hevruta partners dig deep into Hebrew and Aramaic to mine the mysteries; a blur of heads and hearts and hands catching flying letters that coalesce in words creating worlds. Already, there’s excellent learning with wonderful teachers to be had in Boulder – the many parsha hashavua groups (that’s another article) and other multi-session courses found here and there. But serious talmud-torah freaks seeking longer term, sustained, consistent, daily in-depth study still gotta.get.outta our fair Emerald City now and then.

Among the greatest sages of Israel were woodcutters, waterdrawers, and blind people. Nevertheless, they were involved in Torah study day and night. Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Laws of Torah Study 1:9

It may be for our Genwha? sages to roll in lilies under palm trees here in the Rocky Mountain medina, and during Pesach I could spill a drop for each of 10 good reasons why not now. Better, I’m grateful for the fine learning we’re blessed with, and while eating matza – the meditation that charted our future – I’m mindful that the dreams spoken on the eve of the Exodus narrated into being a story we’ve told ever since. So to each of BJN’s 28 Ideas dreamers, tell your future story now. It may take 40 years to arrive, and there’s not a minute to waste.

We have a close family friend in the Boston area. He belongs to a shul housed in a building with two Shabbat services weekly. One conservative and one orthodox with a mechitzah. What a fabulous idea, working with economies of scale.

How can it work?

• There needs to be a big enough building where each shul can have its own service.
• The main thing is the communal space. Between the separate areas is a large communal space for a shared kiddush each week.
• People could go to either service depending on their spiritual/ritual/tradition need, yet they could still socialize with the larger Jewish community each week at the kiddush.

Prior to his death in 2003, my dad and I were in agreement that Aish Kodesh and Bonai Shalom (where my dad was a founder) would be a perfect fit for this combined effort.

There could be a huge savings on resources. Aish and Bonai have similar kashrut needs but if there were an issue, two separate kitchens could be created. We do have almost identical zero waste efforts.

If all the walls in the building were modular, then on the high holidays, the whole building could be used for Aish, as Bonai is too large to be in that building.

Maybe this dream will have to wait until the new Jewish Community Center is built. But, we are a lucky community that we can even consider such a convergence of shuls. In many communities, there is much animosity between conservative and orthodox.

A few weeks ago, I was pleasantly surprised to see Rabbi Goldfedder and family at Bonai for Shabbat morning services. I asked why we were honored with their presence. Rabbi Goldfedder said he was on vacation so decided to come to Bonai. The whole family stayed with Rabbi Marc Soloway from Bonai.

Our strength is that we have Bonai and Aish, two menschy communities with two menschy Rabbis.

EDITOR’S NOTE: For more about “28 Days, 28 Ideas Local Edition,” click here. To read the original series, click on the “28 Days, 28 Ideas” link in the footer (the blue section at the bottom – scroll down, you’ll see it). To read more of the Local Edition, you can see the last few ideas in the sidebar widget – look on the right of your screen.

28 Days, 28 Ideas #28: Beit Kneset? Beit Midrash? What about the Beit Cafe?
by David A.M. Wilensky · Sunday, February 28th, 2010

Here’s an excerpt:

What about a third kind of beit? What about the modern institution known as the Beit Cafe, perhaps better known in America as the Coffee House? It’s place where discussions happen, planned or spontaneous, as well as cultural events like readings and musical performances. In the contemporary American mind, exciting intellectual and cultural movements are associated with coffee shops, a definite plus for this model.”

Boulder’s got a lot of coffee places. Even a blog for coffee places. Elephant Journal recently ran a poll on the best cafe in Boulder (suspended when they realized that the poll could be cheated).

click here. To read the original series, click on the “28 Days, 28 Ideas” link in the footer (the blue section at the bottom – scroll down, you’ll see it). To read more of the Local Edition, you can see the last few ideas in the sidebar widget – look on the right of your screen.
“>Some of Boulder’s coffee places are starting to look like informal “beit cafes.” During the day you can drop in at any time and run into other members of the community.  Rabbis have meetings in coffee places.  Some places are even used for larger group discussions.  Some of us play maj in cafes, some knit in cafes. . . wouldn’t it be neat if one (or more) of these places became a focal point, a “Jewish Hangout” – where we go to have coffee and dessert and schmooze? Maybe an occasional author talk.  Maybe music sometimes. Who knows what might be brewing in that kind of environment?

EDITOR’S NOTE: For more about “28 Days, 28 Ideas Local Edition,” click here. To read the original series, click on the “28 Days, 28 Ideas” link in the footer (the blue section at the bottom – scroll down, you’ll see it). To read more of the Local Edition, you can see the last few ideas in the sidebar widget – look on the right of your screen.

Our local Jewish non-profits are all relatively small, so they spend their scarce resources on the most important (or only) personnel — rabbi, executive director, administrator.  Many times this means that other critical positions are either part-time, outsourced, or volunteer — think bookkeeper/business manager, teacher, clerical/administrative, etc. Health insurance and other benefits, if offered at all, are often only offered to full-time staff.

What if we organized for business efficiency?  One model is a non-profit “Community Corporation” that could act as a Professional Employer Organization (PEO).  This Community Corporation would join the employees of all the organizations into one larger employer that could

• have access to professional HR resources,
• create a larger benefits pool (giving the community decent buying power for insurance and other benefits)
• create full-time employment for valuable community workers that now have to find multiple part-time jobs in order to make ends meet.
• provide a well-trained, flexible workforce for community organizations.

Just one example: teachers who work in multiple synagogue schools/camps would have 1 paycheck and year-end W-2 (rather than multiple), and a benefit plan (rather than none).

Beyond the opportunities to provide more benefits to employees, a Community Corporation could also:

• negotiate for services and products used (buying power) – including discounts and payment terms;
• negotiate for a corporate line of credit that could be used to smooth out the cash flow peaks and valleys that most small non-profits go through during the year;
• contract for a shared telecommunications and computer infrastructure;
• provide pooled cell phone account to minimize the individual costs of service.
• include a central office for “PO box”, clerical help, space and infrastructure to any of our small community organizations: meeting and conference space, copying and mailing equipment.

This approach may enable us to do more at no more cost. Organizations will still have to pay their fair share for goods and services received.  Offering better benefits is key to attracting and retaining quality people and to the further growth of the quality of services that organizations provide.  By collaborating in shared infrastructure we can get more “bang for our buck” – always a goal of budget conversations!

EDITOR’S NOTE: For more about “28 Days, 28 Ideas Local Edition,” click here.

Divide Boulder into small (6-8) villages. Thanksgiving or Pesach could be challenging with family, all having different needs, but in the spirit of Shabbos and the directed kavannah of learning and growing by experiencing and honoring differences, it actually could inform a better gathering of mishpacha in the future. Certainly, the shuls could be half of the davenning centers but the areas in between and surrounding would have davenning hosted in homes. Meals would be divided amongst all those participating. Similar to the annual “Tefillin Wrap”, this would be a “Shabbos with the Hood” thing or something of the sort.

EDITOR’S NOTE: For more about “28 Days, 28 Ideas Local Edition,” click here.

28 Days, 28 Ideas – Local Edition

Hebrew is a language with an alphabet, pronunciation, grammar rules and idioms.  In our community, children may learn Hebrew at home, at preschool, at Day School, in a synagogue-based religious school or with a private tutor – or combinations of those.

That’s a lot of opportunities – do we have enough great teachers? Are the kids learning enough? Post bar/bat mitzvah, are kids continuing to improve Hebrew or does it end with the party? Are we creating a culture of fluency or immersion, or encouraging just enough to get by?

I recently heard a college classmate talk about a Spanish language after-school program she had started. She incorporated a Japanese belt system (green belt to black belt) into the program – kids advance through levels based on proficiency. They have belt ceremonies and the kids get the belts – tangible incentives for excellence.  Two things struck me about her program: first, that she didn’t try to force the program through existing channels (public schools), and second, that she focused on engaging kids with meaningful incentives.

In Scott Shay’s 2007 book/manifesto “Getting Our Groove Back,” he too identifies the problem of “torturing” kids through Hebrew school.  It needs to be fun and engaging.  At a synagogue in San Francisco, they have no chairs in their school, because “learning should be like at camp.” For all the parents who recall being tortured and don’t want to put their children through that experience – what are their choices today?

In our community, we have community Jewish preschool, community Hebrew High School, community Adult Education. . .but no community after-school Hebrew program.

In some Jewish communities, the kids go to one after-school program to learn Hebrew. They advance based on skill. They only learn Hebrew at that school – how to read, write, speak.  They receive their “religious” school experience at their synagogues: holiday celebrations, prayers, values.

If we had one community Hebrew School, what might it look like? Imagine the best teachers being matched with the right level of students.  Imagine better consistency of teaching:  “aleph” level meaning the same thing at any institution in town. Imagine that friendships made in preschool continue through elementary school, regardless of which synagogue a family joins.

Imagine that the program ends with elementary school – with a similar graduation, and that the kids who graduate are fluent readers and speakers. Imagine what that would say about the greater Boulder Jewish community – that the kids we graduate are fluent in Hebrew. Imagine how many more kids might stay involved post-b’nai mitzvah, because of the continued opportunity to use their 2^nd language. Imagine no more torture. Imagine kids with gifts for languages being able to progress faster. Imagine how much more meaningful youth groups and Israel trips would be if our kids were fluent.

Imagine how many more families might be interested in b’nai mitzvah if their kids had already bridged the language gap. Imagine if families could choose after-school Hebrew while deferring the decision about joining a synagogue. Ahh, there’s the perceived risk.  For those families who “skip” K-2 and plan to join when their child reaches 3^rd grade, there is no risk: they weren’t going to join your synagogue during those years.  If we can engage their kids for K-2, I think they will be more certain to join at grade 3. For those who plan to join when their kids reach kindergarten, for the holidays, chavurah, family education, etc., there’s no risk there either: the Hebrew school is for language acquisition for kids only – not for all the other services that a synagogue provides.

I’m proposing a real shift in our approach: that we shift to teaching Hebrew because we want to grow Jewish people who are competent and fluent in our language. I believe the best way to do that is to pool our resources and craft the best collaborative community program possible, building on our other community-wide successful programs. I believe that those kids and families will be more committed to b’nai mitzvah and continued involvement in Jewish life.

In the spirit of disclosures: this idea is “recycled.” I’ve been on the education committee at one synagogue. Sometime in the last 10 years in Boulder, there was at least 1 meeting on this topic with representatives from several synagogues (I was in 1 meeting – there were likely others). My recollection of the meeting I attended is that it was somewhat like the President’s 7 hour health care meeting last Thursday: we never got past “No.” Both my kids were educated at more than one synagogue school, they both needed b’nai mitzvah tutoring, and neither is a strong Hebrew reader today, though they excel at high-school level languages.

What if we could collectively generate 28 ideas for Jewish life in the greater Boulder (plus Broomfield, Erie, Nederland, Niwot, Longmont, Louisville, Lafayette, Superior, Westminster) community?  You probably have an idea (or 2) about ways to enrich, expand, engage Jewish life here. From babies to seniors and everything in between – even though it sometimes seems like we have it all here, do we? Think about the rest of this sentence:  “It would be so great for our community if ___________________.”  We invite you to participate and share your ideas.

What kinds of ideas?
It can run the gamut – brand new ideas, things that have been getting traction elsewhere but aren’t in Boulder yet, things that you’ve seen elsewhere, even programs that the community may have once had and it might be time to bring it back. Recycled ideas are fine. It’s ok if you don’t have all the kinks worked out, it’s ok if it’s just a dream. It could even be an existing program in our community that could be expanded. It might be something for which you submitted a grant proposal, but it didn’t get funded.

Whose ideas?
This is open to the community – anyone is welcome to post an idea. If you already are set up as an author, use your login. If you have an idea and aren’t already registered, click here to register. Use the title for the short name of the idea (up to 5 words) and the content of your post to explain/tell. Post as many ideas as you have (1 post per idea). We’ll publish 1 idea per day.

Why 28?
“28 Days, 28 Ideas” was for the month of February (with only 28 days, it’s true). And that was based on “31 Days, 31 Ideas” – “31 innovative ideas to transform the Jewish future from Daniel Sieradski” which ran in January (31 days long!).

So of course our first thought was 31 Days, 31 Ideas for March. But the first seder is March 29. And the second seder is March 30. And realistically, we’re zombies those few days, cleaning, cooking, hosting, rinse, repeat. So 28 Days seems like a perfectly reasonable goal for this effort. If we get 31 ideas before we post the 28th idea, then we’ll have 31 ideas (and if that happens, we will post #28, 29, 30 and 31 all before the first seder).

Other General Guidelines:

Out of the box is fine. All BJN terms and conditions apply. BJN reserves the right to edit posts and assign idea numbers. Idea numbers contain no information about ranking/standing, they are for identification only.

Prizes?

If you would like to donate a prize, contact us. Then we’ll figure out how to award the prize. We will probably start by looking at which ideas generate the most comments – so please participate by commenting as well as submitting!

What happens after?

That’s a great question too. There have been many ideas generated over the years. . . they are submitted for grants or spoken in brainstorming sessions or retreats, or among friends over coffee (or drinks).  A few float to the top and fewer get launched. We hope that over the next 28 days we’ll start to build an “idea bank” that will be accessible and searchable to the community. Our bigger hope is that some of the ideas will catch on – get traction – go big.

We look forward to your ideas!