Hi there! I hope that you are all well.
Is there anybody passionate about shul? Many synagogue leaders feel frustrated about the general malaise that permeates their congregation. We all expect our parishioners to be automatically supercharged and ready to build their shul. Passion needs to be cultivated. In the small but zesty book “The Encore Effect” written by Mark Sanborn, he argues that cultivating passion can be achieved by work in four areas: 1) Study and learn (the subject or object you would like to be passionate about), 2) Use small achievements or success to fuel larger ones, 3) Look to other passionate people as role models, 4) Plug the leaks – examine those areas in your life where your resources are not being put to the best use. Applying this to our synagogues, the following passion formula emerges: Offer classes, sermons, instructional information on the specific target you are working towards + celebrate as a community the smaller more immediate success + feature passionate members / volunteers + look towards the congregation for untapped talent.
See you around,
Shlomo Einhorn
Rabbi of West Side Institutional Synagogue - www.wsisny.org
Director of WINGS – A OU Synagogue Consulting Group – http://www.ou.org/synagogue_services/wings
Email: wings@ou.org
