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Table of Contents – Setting the Stage

Page

Introduction ......................................................................1

Forming Your Leadership Team and Task Force ...................3Activities/Text Studies

Activity 1 – Task Force Roles and Personal Capacities ChartActivity 2 – Agreeing to Full Participation in the Project

Working with Your Religious School Committee.......................14

Planning Your Leadership Team and Task Force Meetings . .16How a Meeting Structure Builds CapacitiesPlanning Your Leadership Team MeetingsActivities/Text Studies

Activity 3 – Meeting Planning Worksheet

Using Sub-teams to Get Work Done .......................................29

Facilitating Your Meetings............................................................33Facilitating an Effective MeetingTool and Techniques for Facilitation

Keeping a Record of Your Work ........................................36Activities/Text Studies

Activity 4 – Task Force Journal Entry Template

The Importance of Communications .........................................41Communicating with Your ConsultantCommunicating within the Leadership Team and Task ForceEngaging with the CongregationActivities/Text Studies

Activity 5 – Communications Planning Grid

©2007 Experiment in Congregational Education (ECE) Setting the Stage

Online Resources ............................................................ 46Online Resource CenterAlternative Models of the Religious School (AMRS) Online Learning

Experience

First Meeting: Welcome to Your RE-IMAGINE Journey ....... 50Meeting PlanGoals and OutcomesAdvance PreparationMeeting OverviewPost-Meeting Follow-upActivities/Text Studies

Text Study – The Blessing Before Study – HandoutText Study Aleph – T’filat HaDerechActivity 6 – Why Study Text?

©2007 Experiment in Congregational Education (ECE) Setting the Stage

IntroductionYou are about to set off on a journey that will help you think and act differently regarding your congregation’s education programs for children. Along the way you can expect to reconsider much of what your school currently is and does. As you begin planning for your journey, mixed feelings of excitement and trepidation are normal. A midrash (explanatory story) about God’s call to Abraham may help:

Abram took his wife, Sarai, and his brother’s son, Lot, and all the wealth that they had amassed, and the persons that they had acquired in Haran; and they set out for the land of Canaan.

Genesis 12:5

MidrashSo, the time to leave has come. But what to pack for a journey predicated on faith? A compass? Not necessary. God will point us in the right direction. A map? Not required. God has already determined our route. What about some realtor tips about acclimating to your new community? Not possible when you don’t know your destination.

But we can imagine we would want to have people with us who know us, who are like family, people who accept us for who we are and appreciate us for what we have to offer. As we read: Abram took his wife Sarai and his brother’s son Lot…

And others, as well, who share our interests, our passions and remind us, by their presence, that we are part of a larger community that shares our excitement about the journey. As we read: …and the persons that they had acquired in Haran…

And, we might want to take with us material proof of our successes knowing, that along the way, we will depend on these accomplishments to sustain us while even as we continue to develop them in unknowable ways. As we read: …and all the wealth that they had amassed…

Inspired by Genesis Rabbah, Rashi, Samson Raphael Hirsch,and Rabbi Laura Novak Winer

©2007 Experiment in Congregational Education (ECE) Setting the Stage – Page 1

So it is with your RE-IMAGINE journey. You need to know the individuals traveling with you, and grow to trust them and appreciate their gifts. And you need to share the experience with a community that shares your interests and passions.

Goals and Outcomes1. Identify the appropriate leadership and Task Force members for this project

2. Learn how to plan your meetings and plan your calendar

3. Be prepared to use the online tools of the project.

4. Develop an appreciation of the importance of communicating with your consultant and Task Force members.

5. Prepare to engage the congregation in a discussion about RE-IMAGINE

6. Learn how this project prepares you in new and different ways for the thinking, learning and deliberations that lie ahead.

A Consultant Speaks about Setting the Stage:In each section of this Guidebook you will find a brief statement from a consultant and a Task Force member who have experienced the RE-IMAGINE journey. These words of support reflect their personal experiences with other Leadership Teams and Task Forces.

This is a part of the project where Task Force members and Leadership Team members feel a lot of emotion. There's a great deal of hope, uncertainty, and concern about how to get from “here” to “there.” The good news is that you have a partner to guide you in this journey.

Though this is your project and you will be making all of the decisions, The Experiment in Congregational Education (ECE) has the experience to provide you with guidance, understanding, and tools. Setting the Stage offers you the opportunity to learn about those tools and take the steps that will make the long-term experience more productive. There is a lot to learn – a new vocabulary and technology among other things. But investing the time now will allow you to reap rewards in the future.

A Task Force Member Speaks about Setting the Stage:The exercises used in the first few meetings, when members told something of their personal lives, helped establish the foundation of the Task Force. The feedback we all got from members as we opened up a portion of ourselves was very supportive. All of this helped to establish a relationship that has made working with these people and daring to express ideas much easier than it might have been without that experience.


Forming Your Leadership Team and Task ForceThe work of The RE-IMAGINE Project will be spearheaded by a group of lay and professional leaders who are passionate about the future of Jewish education for your synagogue’s children and families. This dedicated group will serve on the RE-IMAGINE Task Force, which is led by the RE-IMAGINE Leadership Team (a subset of the Task Force).

Your Leadership TeamThe four to five members of the Leadership Team will generate the momentum and the ruach (spirit) for the project. It is their job to plan and track your work, your meetings and your progress. Over the course of their 18-month commitment they can expect to participate in:

Regular phone calls and emails with your consultant

Three orientation sessions

One Leadership Team meeting per month

One Task Force meeting per month

Sub-team meetings when needed

Regular home reading

Online study and discussions

One gathering with other RE-IMAGINE congregation Task Forces (Yachdav)

Two Leadership Development sessions (Chug Limudim)

Special learning sessions with peers at other congregations (Roundtables)

Role of the Leadership TeamIn addition to being the energy source driving this project for your congregation, it is the Leadership Team’s responsibility to see oversee all aspects of this project and to ensure that the Task Force’s experience and your congregation’s experience is positive and productive. This requires they do the following:

Communicate with your consultant before and after every Task Force meeting in order to get the most out of the exercises in the Guidebook, learn about what is coming up in the project, and get advice on any issues you are facing. Your


consultant has experience working with other congregations and has the resources of the entire staff of The Experiment in Congregational Education at his/her fingertips. They are an invaluable resource, and you are required to stay in touch with them.

Prepare for Leadership Team meetings. Each Leadership Team member needs to come to meetings familiar with the suggestions in this Guidebook about planning the next Task Force meeting and prepared to discuss those suggestions.

Plan for and execute Task Force Meetings. This requires setting the agenda, gathering the resources for the meetings and running the meetings.

Oversee the work of the Sub-teams (see below)

Stay attuned to “the pulse” of the Task Force in order to gauge excitement, misunderstanding, resistance or waning interest.

Engage the congregation in discussion about RE-IMAGINE, including the congregation in general, and special interest groups like the Religious School Committee, parents, and teachers.

Ensure the implementation of the First Bold Step and the ongoing governance of your vision.

Composition of the Leadership TeamPeople on the Leadership Team need to have demonstrated a particular passion for Jewish learning in your congregation and need to be people you know can function well as part of a team. You should not try to get demographic representation on the Leadership Team. This is important for the Task Force only. In fact, you will be better off keeping the Leadership Team small (4-6 people) unless you need to add people in order to add specific skills.

On your Leadership Team you will need to have the following:

ChairpersonThis person will be your lead voice and planner. This will be the person who represents the project to your congregation, so this person should be someone with some stature and proven experience in the educational life of the congregation. This person needs to be able to lead the rest of the team and the Task Force in strategizing and should have a proven track record of getting things done. For example, the Task Force chair will need to:

Be the public face and champion of the project to the community;

Influence, as well as communicate to, key people on behalf of the work of the Task Force;


Be comfortable with process-driven change

Act as a determined cheerleader and motivator for the work of the Task Force;

Ensure decisions get made, either through creating a process so decisions can be made or making a decision when needed;

Model collaborative leadership by having the stature and demeanor to work with others;

Keep an eye on the bigger picture including the objectives of a specific meeting or of the project itself; and

Listen to and manage dissention without letting it take over the process.

CoordinatorThis person is the organization center of the project. This person has three main responsibilities:

1. General administration, which includes organizing meeting logistics, collecting the Task Force Journal entries, monitoring the assignment and completion of Task Force members' pre- and post-meeting work, and making sure that all Task Force members are accessing the Online Learning

2. Communication within the Team, which includes maintaining the flow of information between the Task Force and the Leadership Team

The Coordinator needs to be about two steps ahead of the Task Force so that s/he can help guide its work with an eye to the future. This needs to be a “detail person” who can read people and situations well and can work closely with the Chairperson. The Coordinator needs to be computer-literate and have about 2 extra hours a week to devote to the project. If you have difficulty finding one person who can contribute this much time, you may consider dividing the job between two lay volunteers.

Synagogue Professionals: Rabbi, Educator and OthersThe professional leaders of your congregation are critical participants in this project. Their presence will contribute substantive expertise and symbolic support. With them involved you will be able to explore new ways of collaboration between lay people and professionals in making decisions that are important to the life of your congregation.

You should include your Educator and Rabbi on the Leadership Team. If your congregation has more than one rabbi, one of them should be a standing member of the Leadership Team. The other(s) can be part of your Task Force. In some congregations it may also be appropriate to include the Cantor or Executive Director or other professionals on the Task Force, or they should be kept informed regularly about the project. Try not to have more than two professionals on the Leadership Team.


One or Two Additional Lay LeadersThere are two additional roles for people on the Leadership Team to play. You must assign these to one of the people listed above or add one or two additional people.

Facilitation – One skill set you should be looking for is meeting facilitation skills. It is critical that 1-2 lay people on the Leadership Team have good meeting facilitation skills. This means that you know them to be people who are able to:

Allow for multiple voices in a conversation

Summarize and feedback points of agreement to the group in order to move them ahead

Diffuse tension

Productively use the exercise handouts and instructions to guide them

Gently re-direct difficult people

Be willing to take a neutral stance during a discussion

Engaging the Congregation in Discussion about RE-IMAGINE – The Leadership Team as a whole is responsible for making sure that the entire congregation is engaged in discussion about RE-IMAGINE. But it is also a good idea to assign the responsibility for planning this discussion to a particular person. He/she is not responsible for doing it all, but for making sure it all gets done. Ideas for engaging in discussion are listed throughout the Guidebook and include writing articles for the Temple Bulletin, holding special sessions with particular groups, and updating and getting input from the Board.

Your Task ForceYour Task Force will do the work of re-imagining your children’s learning and planning your innovation. It will be composed of 12 to 25 members (including the Leadership Team), and will work for 15 months, which will include:

One meeting per month;

Sub-team participation when needed;

Regular home reading;

Online study and discussions;

One gathering with other RE-IMAGINE congregation Task Forces


Composition of Your Task ForceOn your Task Force you will need the following:

All members of the Leadership TeamandSix or More LaypeopleThese should be people who are either current or potential leaders of your congregation who you know are committed to re-imagining your children’s learning. They should represent a cross-section of constituents in your school and your congregation. Within your synagogue you have people whose professional expertise might be particularly beneficial, specifically those in education or educational leadership, organizational development or human resource development. The Roles and Capacities charts which follow can help you decide exactly whom to invite to join the Task Force. There are three types of people that we strongly recommend you include:

A member of the Religious School CommitteeThis could be the Religious School Committee Chair or another appropriate committee member

At least two religious school or Hebrew school teachersThese should be faculty members who have demonstrated a commitment to your education programs and congregation and who embrace creative approaches and new thinking about Jewish education. They should also be people who are well-connected and respected within the school community.

At least one high school studentThis should be someone who is mature, thoughtful and is/was educated in your school. It is important that this student be articulate and not intimidated around adults while being able to participate productively in a meeting.

Using the Roles and Capacities ChartThe Roles and Capacities Charts on the pages 10-11 will help you to identify positive, enthusiastic and capable people for your journey of re-imagining the children’s learning. You should invite people who bring a willingness to see things in a new light, who are passionate about the present and future of the Jewish people and who are comfortable working as part of a team.

Your Leadership Team is likely to be formed first and may already be formed. In putting it together, keep in mind the roles and capacities listed on the charts and be sure to consider what these people bring to your work as you look to create a well-rounded Task Force. To choose your Task Force members, gather together several people who know the congregation’s membership well, e.g. the Rabbi, Educator, the Cantor, current or past president. If your Leadership Team is already formed you can include them as well.

With copies of the congregation’s membership directory in hand, start at the beginning and work your way through the directory, noting on the chart people you think might be


interested and available to work on this project. Relying on the directory is very effective since it reminds us of people who may not be the most active, but might have indicated interest or demonstrated valuable skills need in the project. List their names at the top of each page of the chart and, below each name, check off which roles (Chart 1) and capacities (Chart 2) each person can bring to the work of the Task Force. Feel free to note any additional roles or capacities not already specified on the chart. You may need to make several copies of each page of the chart in order to list all of your possible participants.

After you have worked your way through the directory, check your chart to see if there are important constituencies or personal capacities that you think are missing. After you have reviewed your list, narrow it down to create a Task Force that reflects the diversity of the congregation and school as well as complementary working styles.

Inviting ParticipationInviting your fellow congregants to join the Task Force should be carefully orchestrated. How people are officially invited to be part of this project depends a lot on the culture of your congregation. Who is the most effective person to “issue” the invitation? The Rabbi? The Cantor? The Task Force Chair? The President? The Educator? Some combination of the above?

Next, how should the invitation be issued? By letter? By phone call? By letter followed up with a phone call? In person? In some congregations, a letter might suffice. In others, a more personal contact is in order.

What do you want the invitation to include? Generally, the more specific you can be, the better the recipient will understand the commitment you are asking him/her to make. Why is the congregation embarking on this project at this time? What are its goals? What kinds of members are being asked to participate? How much time will be involved over how many months? Are meeting dates already determined? If so, you can include them? A written invitation could include some of this information while a follow-up phone call would provide other background as well as an opportunity to answer questions. Your consultant can provide you with sample follow-up letters.

In addition, you can direct prospective participants to ECE’s website. Viewing ECEOnline.org can generate enthusiasm for the project by introducing potential Task Force members to the range of possibilities ahead. You can also share parts of the Introduction to The RE-IMAGINE Project packet, which can further assist prospective participants in visualizing how their efforts can make a difference to the future of their children’s education.

Your consultant can provide you with samples of welcome letters sent by congregations that have already participated in the project.


Agreeing to Full Participation in the ProjectEach Task Force member, including those on the Leadership Team, will be asked to sign a letter of agreement which can be found on page 12. It is important that each member of the Task Force realizes that this project is the result of a significant investment being made in your congregation by your Board of Trustees and by the Jewish Federation of Los Angeles, an anonymous donor of the Jewish Funders Network, and the Bureau of Jewish Education of Greater Los Angeles. In return, it requires a serious commitment of their time. If you would like to print this letter on your congregation’s stationary, you can get a copy of it on from your consultant. Please send copies of the signed letters to your consultant.


Activity 1Task Force Roles and Personal

CapacitiesChart 1: Desired Roles

List Names here

Desired RolesCurrent lay leader in school

Future lay leader in school

Current lay leader in congregation

Future lay leader in congregation

Educator

Rabbi

Newer school parent

Long-time school parent

Former lay leader in school

Former lay leader in congregation

Active parent volunteer

Parent of child(ren) in preschool

Parent of child(ren) K-2

Parent of child(ren) 3-7

Parent of child(ren) post-Bnei Mitzvah

Teacher

Member of synagogue Board

Member of Religious School CommitteeAdvocate for children’s educationwithin congregationInterested/involved in Jewish adult learning

High school student

Single parent

Setting the Stage – Page 10

©2007 Experiment in Congregational Education (ECE)An Initiative of the Rhea Hirsch School of Education, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion,

Los Angeles.The work of the ECE is made possible by generous contributions from many funders.

www.eceonline.org/funders

List Names here

Parent of day school student

Other





Activity 1Task Force Roles and Personal

CapacitiesChart 2: Desired Personal Capacities

Repeat Listed Names here

Desired CapacitiesThoughtful, reflective

Enthusiastic

Able to see the big picture

Attends to details

Asks challenging questions

Able to create harmony when disagreements arise

Jewishly knowledgeable

Professional background in education

Professional background in “process”(from business or social work)

Demonstrated commitment to synagogue

Well-connected within school community

Passionate about Jewish education

Other





Activity 2Agreeing to Full Participation in the Project

Dear ,

Thank you for agreeing to serve on <congregation name>’s RE-IMAGINE Project Task Force. Members of the Task Force represent a cross-section of our school and congregation and have demonstrated a commitment to our congregation’s education programs and to the congregation as a whole. Working as part of the Task Force requires a willingness to embrace new thinking about Jewish education and an ability to work comfortably and productively as a part of a team. As a member of The RE-IMAGINE Project Task Force, you will come to know the individuals sharing this experience with you, to trust them and to appreciate the unique gifts that each one brings to this journey of reflection, inquiry, and action.

The first step in getting ready for your journey is to complete the attached letter of participation confirming your commitment to participate in the project. The letter is intended to provide you with details about The RE-IMAGINE Project and your role and responsibilities as a member of the Task Force, the group of lay and professional leaders spearheading its work. Please make sure to read through it carefully. Each of the elements described is important to our successful completion of the project.

We look forward to sharing this exciting journey with you.

Sincerely,

_______________ _____________ ____________Task Force Chair Rabbi Educator(or some combination of LT members)


RE-IMAGINE Project Task Force Member Letter of ParticipationProject Description:The RE-IMAGINE Project guides congregations on a journey to re-imagine their K-7 religious schools. By following the project roadmap, congregations create a new vision and implementation plan for educational innovations, explore new ways of working and thinking, build capacity for future change, and enhance Jewish leadership skills. Resources provided participating congregations include phone, email, and in person consultation, The RE-IMAGINE Guidebook, the Alternative Models of the Religious School Online Learning Experience, three orientation sessions for Leadership Team members, a gathering with other congregational teams, and leadership workshops. The Experiment in Congregational Education (ECE) will conduct evaluation research to capture and assess the effectiveness and impact of the project.

Task Force Member Commitments:I recognize that by accepting this invitation, I accept the following commitments on behalf of my congregation:

1. To attend monthly Task Force meetings over a fifteen-month period;

2. To actively engage in Task Force meeting exercises as laid out in The RE-IMAGINE Project Guidebook and guided by our Leadership Team;

3. To attend one off-site meeting of all congregations’ Task Forces;

4. To complete the work of the Online Learning Experience, including submitting online reflections, which will take an additional 60-90 minutes between meetings for each of three sections, and to use the Online Resource Center where directed;

5. To participate, if asked, in Sub-teams formed for specific purposed throughout the project;

6. To speak up during meetings in a way which demonstrates kavod (honor), bringing my skills, interests, and perspectives, but also carefully listening to fellow Task Force members and keeping the best interests of the congregation in mind; and

7. To work together to create a new vision for children’s religious education, an alternative model that reflects the needs and goals of our congregation, and a first bold step towards the vision created in the project.

My signature below confirms my commitment to participate in The RE-IMAGINE Project as described above.

________________________ ________Task Force Member Signature Date


Working with Your Religious School CommitteeChances are that until now, most of the changes to your children’s learning have been initiated and/or inspired by your Religious School Committee and/or your Educator. These are the people who have been most familiar with your school and have been in the best position to understand its needs, evaluate the ramifications of change and manage the transitional periods that accompany change.

But the Religious School Committee should not serve as the Task Force. Their ongoing role in setting policy for and keeping the school running is important and must continue. The commitment to participate in RE-IMAGINE and be on the Religious School Committee is too much for most people. Trying to hold Religious School Committee meetings in the first 30 minutes of The RE-IMAGINE Project meeting will drain energy from both and create many very long evenings. In addition, the people who are on the Religious School Committee may not be the right types of people to be on RE-IMAGINE. While they all, no doubt, have a strong commitment to the school, Religious School Committee members may be people of action who want to see immediate results, as opposed to people who feel comfortable in ambiguous discussions with long term results.

It is not uncommon for Religious School Committees to feel confused or even threatened by the Task Force and its deliberations. The clearer the mission of the Task Force, the less confusion there will be. You should clarify the differences in the two bodies’ roles. Typically, the Religious School Committee is engaged in working with the Educator on setting and enforcing the policies and procedures of the school. The Task Force, on the other hand, is not at all involved in the day-to-day running of the school. It is charged with stepping back and looking at the “big picture” of the future of the school.

Because of their role in the past and present life of your school, it is critical that the Religious School Committee members be part of the conversation about the future of your school. Not only do they have wisdom and experience to share, but they will act as a link to your school and will serve as a natural channel through which information and ideas can be shared from the Committee to the Task Force and back again.

This linkage can be achieved in several different ways and on different levels. Certainly your Educator, as part of the Leadership Team, will be in a position to represent the school and share information. By participating on the Leadership Team and Task Force, your Educator will join you on your journey and will understand the thinking that informs your decision-making, the design of your initiative, and its implementation.

The Chair of your Religious School Committee or another member should be on the Task Force. You can include other Committee members as well. The fact is that each Task Force member is likely to wear several hats -- Religious School Committee member,


parent (possibly), congregational leader (possibly) -- so each may bring several perspectives to the project as well as the perspective of the congregation overall.

In addition, you should look for opportunities to bring some of the work of the RE-IMAGINE Task Force to your Religious School Committee. There are several ways you can do this. The best opportunity is to repeat a Task Force exercise with the committee or ask for their input at certain points of the process. Also, at the end of each meeting plan in this Guidebook are ideas for sharing the work of the meeting with your congregation. You might consider targeting some of your communication to the Religious School Committee. Like the Board of Directors and the teachers, this committee should be viewed as a special group that you need to reach out strategically.

The valuable contributions that these committee members can make now and the role they will likely have in realizing the ultimate vision for your re-imagined school in the future are significant reasons for involving them from the very beginning in meaningful ways.


Planning Your and Task Force MeetingsHow a Meeting Structure Builds CapacitiesThis project actually involves taking two journeys. One is a journey to re-imagine your children’s learning and to decide what you need to do to bring its program more in line with your new, yet-to-be articulated thinking about Jewish education for children. The second journey is more subtle, but no less powerful.

If you take this work seriously and challenge yourself and your congregation to think differently, you will find that your congregation will begin to function differently as well. Clarifying what you really want for your children’s learning, and using that vision as a standard against which you are willing to measure programs, teaches you a new way of approaching other challenges in your congregation. Linking your deliberations to Jewish study and providing opportunities for congregants to lead in new areas strengthens the skills of leaders and encourages new people to join in leading your congregation.

The RE-IMAGINE process is designed to build within your synagogue the capacities of a Self-Renewing Congregation*. The members of your Task Force can then use these capacities in continuing to re-imagine you children’s learning and in leadership in other areas of congregational life. These capacities are:

Being reflective and proactive – being able to think back and think ahead

Practicing collaborative leadership – enabling leaders to follow and followers to lead

Creating community amid diversity – seeing both the forest and the trees

Balancing tradition and change – honoring the past while anticipating the future

Each of these capacities can be developed by following the suggestions throughout this Guidebook and particularly by structuring meetings as described below. This suggested meeting structure supports the development of these capacities. There may be times throughout the project when your Leadership Team wants to take a detour from the process outlined in the Guidebook. We encourage you to think through these decisions seriously, recognizing that each piece of the project and each part of the meeting has a specific purpose in achieving the goals of re-imagining your children’s learning and building a self-renewing congregation. You should discuss these potential detours with your consultant to make sure that you fully understand the implications of your decision for the project overall.

*See Aron, Dr. Isa, The Self-Renewing Congregation, Jewish Lights Publishing, 2002. A summary of this book is available on the Online Resource Center of The Experiment in Congregational Education at www.eceonline.org/resources. Registration for this site will be provided by your Coordinator via your consultant.


http://www.eceonline.org/resources

The following pages include explanations, instructions, and tips on each of the following six major components of a RE-IMAGINE Project meeting:

Welcome – When the last meeting is summarized and the current meeting is put in its context;

Connection -- People are connected to each other and the work at hand;

Text Study -- An opportunity to link your work to the Jewish tradition, and to build community by learning to appreciate different perspectives;

Core Discussions -- The discussions, exercises and activities that yield the ideas upon which your work will build;

Reflection -- An opportunity to take stock of both the content and process of the meeting and its impact on the participants.

Next Steps—When advanced preparation is assigned for the next meeting and the date and time are announced

The following section contains explanations, instructions and tips on each of the four major components of a RE-IMAGINE Project meeting.

WelcomeSomeone from the Leadership Team, likely the Task Force Chair, will begin each meeting by welcoming the Task Force. Because of the length of this project and the various steps involved that build on each other, sometimes it is difficult for Task Force members to keep track of where they are on the journey and how any one meeting fits into the big picture. A few minutes at the beginning of the meeting gives the business at hand some context.

It is most helpful when the Welcome includes a brief summary of what was accomplished at the previous meeting, along with some reflections about how the work was done, where there was consensus and which questions are still unanswered. This should be followed by a few sentences explaining what will be accomplished at the current meeting.

Framing the meeting in this way gives people the “lay of the land” and helps them understand how to participate productively. They also know how to gauge progress and success. Experience shows that articulating these intentions up front increases dramatically the likelihood of achieving a realistic set of desired meeting outcomes.


Each meeting has only five minutes budgeted for the Welcome. This short time is given on purpose. This should not be a time to rehash old decisions. It is simply for setting the context of the meeting.

ConnectionConnection time at the beginning of a RE-IMAGINE Task Force or Leadership Team meeting has two purposes: to connect Task Force members to each other and to the work at hand.

Part A – Connecting to Each OtherWe forge a sense of community -- even amid diversity -- by connecting with one another in authentic and meaningful ways. One way to do this is to study Jewish texts together. Another is to discover new ideas and experiences together. A third, very basic way to build community is to learn more about each other’s lives than just names, home towns, and family circumstances. By sharing memories, experiences, perspectives, and opinions about matters of importance to us and to the synagogue, we create connection. Reflection becomes more possible in the context of a true sense of community. There are many ways to connect to each other at the beginning of a meeting. Each Task Force meeting plan in this Guidebook includes suggestions for ways to connect at the start of a meeting. Here are some additional ideas you can use:

IntroductionsIntroductions don’t have to be a one-time occasion or be dispensed with just because everyone has learned each other’s name. Try asking each person to introduce him/herself at the beginning of each meeting for the first three or four meetings you hold.

Each time, ask them to share something about themselves. For example, introductions could include:

How long they have belonged to the synagogue;

Committees joined or positions held;

Jewish learning experiences, past and present;

Reason(s) for joining the synagogue; and

How connection to the congregation has affected them.

Connecting in the Leadership Team or Task ForceIn any group that meets frequently, introductions may feel awkward after the first couple of meetings. But it is worthwhile to take a few moments at the start of the meeting to invite each person to share with the group something going on in his or her life. This tends to happen naturally after awhile. Sharing what’s going on for each team member can give the group insight into the person and an opportunity to share each other’s joy,


pride, frustration, or anguish. It is an opportunity to build community. Examples might include:

Events (happy or sad) in the life of his/her immediate or extended family;

Health improvements (or declines) among family members;

Personal reactions to news of from Israel, the local community, or elsewhere;

Travel planned or recently completed;

Challenges faced or lessons learned;

Someone interesting s/he has met or something valuable s/he has read/heard/seen.

Part B – Connecting to the Work at HandPeople come to the meeting in very different states of mind. Connection time can bring everyone together in order to focus on the work at hand.

Connection time can give people a chance to acknowledge what is on their minds as they enter the meeting. Hearing these thoughts can give the group insight into the person’s mood or likely behavior in the meeting. It can build appreciation for the effort it sometimes takes each of us merely to be present. And it can alert the group to issues that have been ignored or gone unnoticed. Sharing this “baggage” can help each person set other concerns aside -- at least temporarily -- and focus on the meeting. Examples include:

State of mind or feeling coming into the meeting;

Pressing concerns at home or work that are demanding attention or pre-occupying the mind;

Hopes for, or concerns about the RE-IMAGINE process as it progresses in the congregation;

Process observations, i.e. reflections on what happened at the previous meeting (or over a series of meetings).

Text StudyA synopsis of this section is also available as a Task Force handout on page 61.

Why is Study Important for Jews in Contemporary Society? Study is a mitzvah, an integral part of the Jewish tradition.

Study is a vehicle for spiritual growth.


Study can help us to better understand who we are.

Competence and comfort can only be achieved through study and knowledge.

For Jews in some movements, study provides a critical basis for informed choice.

Both torah lishma (study for its own sake) and torat chayim (study as an aid to daily living) are important, and both of these are very different from education, as commonly thought of in American society.

Why is Study Integral to The ECE RE-IMAGINE Project?The medium is the message. The RE-IMAGINE Project examines Jewish education in the synagogue, so it is imperative to model learning as a core value.

Why Study Jewish Texts?Not all Jewish study involves texts, and not all the learning you do with your fellow congregants in this project will revolve around Jewish text. Still, text study is important in this project for a number of reasons:

We are not interested in developing a group of like-minded thinkers (as though this were even possible!). Rather, the goal is for every individual to be able to access and study the tradition without over-reliance on experts or authorities. While some of our knowledge will always be filtered through the lens of our teachers and leaders, true autonomy requires that each of us engages in our own interpretation.

Text study is a particularly powerful vehicle for building community, trust and reflection. Learning to appreciate how others think prepares you to make the difficult and complex decisions you ultimately will face.

The textual tradition keeps Jews connected to Judaism. As a starting point for becoming informed, it establishes the parameters within which we interpret and apply tradition to our lives. The choices or interpretations of tradition made by one generation should not close off the options or interpretations available to the generations that follow. If Jews did not continually study texts, the choices and interpretations made today would alter Judaism irrevocably.

Which Texts are Appropriate for Study?Anything and everything. Torah, for the purposes of our work, is interpreted broadly to mean all of Jewish literature. Participants should be exposed to a balanced selection of texts, including but not necessarily limited to:

The Tanach (the Hebrew Bible), with texts chosen both thematically and according to Parashat HaShavuah (the portion of the week);


Rabbinic literature, both halachic (legal) and aggadic (anecdotal);

The Siddur (prayer book);

Jewish thought, and

Contemporary Jewish literature.

Although torah lishma should be part of the process, torat chayim – the ways in which Jewish texts can inform our thinking and decision-making today – is especially important. Over the course of the project, we hope to familiarize you with some of the major bodies of Jewish literature, some of the major Jewish scholars, and to some of the primary Jewish values that might inform organizational life today.

What Learning Methods Should We Use?Since The RE-IMAGINE Project engages a variety of people in conversations about Jewish learning for your congregation’s children, our text study focuses especially on interpretation and commentary, rather than the acquisition of information. While lectures and divrei torah (scriptural interpretation) have their place, we encourage interactive text study in chevruta, or in small groups. Over time you will find yourselves becoming more adept at approaching a text “from scratch,” and accessing tools of interpretation. You will also experience first-hand how study creates community.

Additional Text Studies AvailableIn addition to the text studies in this Guidebook, there are many text studies available on the Online Resource Center. Many of these were written specifically for use by Leadership Teams during Leadership Team meetings.

Disposing of Text Study HandoutsSeveral of the text study handouts contain God’s Hebrew name. Some congregations have rules about not discarding any printed materials, like these, that contain God’s name. There is a note on these handouts reminding people that they might want to store these sheets in a geniza—a place where printed materials containing God’s name and old ritual objects are collected in preparation for ritual burial.

Core DiscussionsWhether you are preparing for Leadership Team or Task Force meetings, the following suggestions can help make the Core Discussions in your meetings more reflective and, as a result, more forward-thinking.

Identify Issues Proactively Be proactive in identifying issues and opportunities that require attention before

they reach crisis proportions. Place them on a meeting agenda while there still is time to reflect and deliberate with care.


Observe what is going on inside and outside the congregation.

Pay attention to observations made by team members at Connection and Reflection times.

Create an Atmosphere for Reflection Create an atmosphere conducive for reflection by making a clear transition from

more tactical or immediate discussions. Find ways to suggest explicitly that people “stop the action” to reflect.

A simple idea is to ask everyone to stop and take a deep breath – and then actually do it.

One group developed a set of laminated “process cards” that group members could hold up to signal a needed change in meeting process. One card, intended to prompt more reflection, depicted a hand pressing a button on a VCR remote control. Above the picture, the card read, “Let’s pause.”

You might use music or meditation to help set the tone and signal the need to reflect. You might find that singing a niggun (wordless melody) or telling a story puts people in a reflective frame of mind.

Shift the Focus and Take a Broader PerspectiveShift the focus and help the group take a broader perspective by acquiring some new information, exploring a new idea, or deliberately adopting an unfamiliar perspective. Studying relevant Jewish texts and interpreting them with understanding of their historical contexts often helps to do this. In addition, consider these techniques for stimulating reflective group interaction:

Try working in small groups so that everyone has a chance to talk. Create groups that are likely to generate a variety of differing perspectives representing the diversity of the congregation. Make sure that people change groups for each exercise so that everyone gets to know all of the Task Force members and build trust.

If appropriate, use a “jigsaw” technique, in which team members, in small study groups, gather and/or study new information on a subject. Then mix into new groups composed of representatives of each study group and discuss the learning.

Distribute an article with questions for consideration and discussion. Articles that express controversial views may raise some concern but they also will prompt group members to reflect on assumptions that could otherwise be taken for granted. Many articles on topics related to the work of RE-IMAGINE can be found on the Online Resource Center.


Invite a guest to a meeting specifically for the purpose of exposing team members to views they would not otherwise hear.

Ask team members to examine or discuss an issue from another person’s perspective. For example, this could involve role-playing how a third grader, a teenager, a religious school teacher or a parent in the congregational school might receive an idea or respond to a question.

Post a question or statement on a flip chart or large sheet of paper where everyone can see it. Then map a linear continuum of response, from “strongly agree” to “strongly disagree,” with each extreme in opposite corners. Ask people to stand between the two extremes in a spot that conveys the strength of their opinion. Then discuss their reasons for standing where they are. Offer the opportunity to move after the discussion has taken place.

Engage in creativity exercises that tap the metaphorical thinking of the right side of the brain. For example, you might assign each of several small groups a Jewish holiday (or food) and ask them to explain why the synagogue’s learning opportunities are like that holiday (or food). Have them present it to the full group. Then ask the full group to reflect on the metaphor and what it teaches them.

Formulate a Collective ResponseHelp the group formulate a collective response to an issue. This process has three steps:

First, provide the group with a process for articulating a common definition of an issue.

Ask a few members to draft a statement for the group’s review, or;

Ask two or three members each to draft such a statement on their own (especially if you suspect they define the issue differently). Then enlist the group in asking clarifying questions, selecting elements from each, and revising until a common definition is reached.

This step also should include articulating criteria for a good resolution (i.e. defining the elements of a successful resolution).

Second, provide the group with a process for generating and exploring a wide range of responses. This could include an open brainstorming process, free of critique or evaluation of suggestions, or a somewhat more structured idea-generation method such as Nominal Group Technique.

State the question in a “how to...” format

Ask members of the group to brainstorm silently, writing their ideas on paper


Go around the group and ask each person to offer one idea each time. The facilitator writes them on a flip chart in the person's own words, labeling them with letters (A, B, C, etc.). Each person has a chance to get out in front of the group with equal time and attention; no one can dominate. If someone runs out of ideas they pass. Continue until all the ideas are posted.

Discuss for clarification only, not evaluation. An option is to combine similar ideas into one item.

Prioritize voting. Each person picks the top five items to pursue, then ranks them 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 with 5 being most important, 4 next most, etc. This is important because the rankings are used as points so 5 is highest. They write their rankings on a slip of paper and pass them to the facilitator.

Facilitator posts rankings and adds up “points.” Then identifies the clear top vote-getters, may be five or fewer or more depending on how the numbers fall.

The group can then move to talk about how to work on those top priority items.

Third, provide a process for considering which solution is most appropriate. This should include some method of evaluating or comparing possible solutions using criteria established earlier. It could involve a technique like multi-voting, in which each group member receives a set number of “votes” to distribute among a group of options. Members can divide their votes among different options, or, to demonstrate the strength of their conviction, a member could spend all of his/her votes on one option. Votes are tallied to see which options get the most support. Typically, discussion follows the voting and precedes settling on a solution.

Plan and ActOnce you develop a collective response, the next step is to design a plan to put that response into action. Consider actions needed to be taken, who will take them, by when, and what support or resources they will need. Make sure that all assignments and timeframes are clear before leaving the meeting.

ReflectionIn the same way that starting a meeting by telling people what is planned sets the direction and tone for the meeting and helps people know what to expect, ending a meeting with reflection time gives people a chance to think about and describe what has happened. Reflection time puts closure on a meeting and can yield extremely valuable insights about how people are feeling about their experience with this project. Because it comes at the end of a meeting, you may be tempted skip it if you are running short of


time. It is better to shorten other parts of your meeting in order to leave your reflection time intact than to lose this important opportunity to “take the pulse.”

The specific content of the meeting should influence how you structure your reflection time. Throughout this Guidebook, suggested reflections questions are provided for each meeting, preceded by: “This is the time to get a sense of what the group is thinking and feeling at this point in the process. You can do that by posing either content-oriented questions or process-oriented questions. Be sure the Notetaker records the responses to these questions and shares them with the Leadership Team who will use them in de-briefing the meeting and in planning.”

Content-oriented questions ask people about what they learned (or didn’t learn) at the meeting. Process-orientated questions ask what people feel about how things are proceeding. Sometimes people’s answers to one kind of question can yield answers of the other kind—that is one of the realities that makes this time so essential. People tend to share what is on their minds, and it is critical that others hear this.

Regardless of who is facilitating the end of the meeting, you may find it helpful to have the chairperson facilitate the Reflection time. By going last, he/she can share both personal reflections and summative reflections about what was accomplished during the meeting, where there is agreement, and what issues have yet to be resolved along with expressing thanks to the Task Force for their time and efforts. Also, by going last, the Chairperson can make the smooth transition into Next Steps.

Next StepsMake sure to take a few minutes at the end of each Task Force meeting to remind Task Force members about the logistical details of the next meeting, including time and place, advanced preparation required, assignments to specific individuals to do a task, assignments to Sub-teams and communications priorities and their role.


Planning Your Leadership Team MeetingsYou should strive to use the six part meeting structure for your Leadership Teams as well. This group of people must learn to work together very closely and model collaborative leadership for the Task Force. The six part meeting structure can help to build the team.

Below are suggestions for using the six part meeting structure for Leadership Team meetings.

Welcome

The Task Force chair can welcome everyone and thank them for coming. He/she should point out where you are on the project roadmap. It would also be a good idea at this point to solicit any agenda items that are outside the usual list. You could also do this by email prior to the meeting. If you do it at the meeting, make sure not to be drawn into a discussion of those items until the appropriate time.

Connection

You have a few options for connection for the Leadership Team. Options 1 and 2 might be best early on in the project when you are just getting to know what it is like to work together.

1. You can create a new connection question that focuses on building the Leadership Team itself.

2. You can try out the connection question for the next Task Force meeting.

3. You can ask about impressions of the last meeting. In order to keep this short pose the following: Name one thing that we learned at the last meeting and one thing that we need to follow up on.

Text Study

As with the connection question, you have the opportunity to use the text study from the next Task Force meeting. You can look at the Online Resource Center to see if any of the text studies there would be useful. You can also ask Leadership Team members, on a rotating basis, to lead a text study. The important thing is to spend a few minutes





together studying Torah and not moving toward a d’var torah where only one person speaks. The weekly parashah and a few good questions can provide a fine basis for Leadership Team text study.

Core Discussions

The content of your Core Discussions will be determined to a great degree by what has happened at your most recent Task Force meeting. But, in addition to de-briefing the last meeting and planning for the next, you should also reflect on how the whole process is unfolding for your Task Force and congregation. What are people challenged by? What seems to excite people the most? How is the Task Force developing as a group? What can be learned from the end-of-meeting reflections that can be of help in planning for the future? What issues have arisen that need to be addressed?

In summary, the Core Discussions at a Leadership Team meeting will usually need to include all of the following:

De-briefing of the most recent Task Force meeting, focused on how the meeting flowed, what/who was a challenge and new concerns or ideas that were expressed

Taking stock of how the Task Force members generally are working together, paying particular attention to strengths and weaknesses, and developing strategies to build on their strengths while addressing their weaknesses

Checking that the necessary notes are filed in the Vision Folder

Planning communication with the congregation that is suggested at the end of each Meeting Plan

Planning for the next Task Force meeting including delegation of responsibilities

Assigning responsibilities for the next Leadership Team meeting

Reflection

Reflection at Leadership Team meetings can be a time to reflect on how the Leadership Team is working or what the areas of excitement or concern are going into the next meeting.

Next Steps





You will have made many decisions about preparing for the next Task Force meeting, for engaging the congregation, and other Leadership Team duties. This is a time to review next steps to make sure that everyone knows what they need to do and when.





Activity 3Meeting Planning Worksheet

Welcome How will we summarize (“frame”) the meeting at the start, including (Note: you

can return to the following questions after working through the balance of this worksheet):

What was accomplished at the last meeting? What topics need more discussion?

Place – Where you are on The RE-IMAGINE Project roadmap;

Purpose – Why is this meeting is being held? What do we expect will be accomplished?

Process(es), i.e. How will our goals be met? What will not be discussed? What will participants be expected to do?

Connection Do members need to introduce themselves to one another? If so, how? What

will we ask them to share about themselves?

How can we connect with each person on a simple, personal level (e.g. with questions like, “How are you doing today/tonight?” or “Is everything okay in your life, with your family?”)?

Are you aware of significant changes in group members’ lives, or events in Israel or elsewhere that affect members of the group, that we want to discuss?

Will people bring “baggage” to the meeting? If so, how can we help them to “unload” it constructively so that it does not distract the group from the work at hand?

Text Study What Jewish texts will help bring Jewish values and precepts to bear on the core

discussions planned for this meeting?

Who can prepare and lead the text study? What assistance might they need? Who can provide it?





What modes of learning will be most effective?

What materials will need to be prepared to support the text study? Who will prepare them?

Core Discussions What are the particular focus areas and objectives for this meeting?

What do we want to achieve by the end? How will we know when we have succeeded?

What activities, exercises, questions, discussions, or processes will help us achieve those goals while fully engaging the whole group?

What topics or activities (that attendees might expect to address) do we plan to address at a meeting other than this one (and should we therefore explicitly exclude at the outset)?

What do we especially need participants to pay attention to, focus on, do, or refrain from doing to make our activity, exercise, or discussions succeed? How can we express those expectations?

Reflection What content-oriented questions will we pose to stimulate reflection on the

meeting? Samples (to be applied at the appropriate points in the process) include:

Thinking back on the discussions in this meeting,(or on the text we studied) what important issues were raised, considered, debated?

To what extent are we acting on new assumptions about children’s congregational education that we chose to adopt?

To what extent are we using our collective knowledge of alternative models?

To what extent are we adequately addressing our congregation’s unique educational issues, challenges and opportunities?

Which aspects of our vision of an ideal model do you see reflected in our new model? Which aspects seem under-emphasized or would you like to see strengthened?





What process-oriented questions will we pose to stimulate reflection on the meeting? Samples include:

How did our group work together? Where did we get stuck? What got us stuck and how could (or did) we get out of this bind?

What surprised you in our discussion during this meeting? What made it surprising to you?

What did you find most challenging about this meeting? What made it challenging for you?

What are you most excited about as we move forward?

What concerns do you have?

What did you see in this meeting that exhibited one of the four capacities of a Self-Renewing Congregation? What would you like to see us do more of/less of to increase our capacity to:

Balance tradition and change? Build community amid diversity? Practice collaborative leadership? Be both reflective and proactive?

Next Steps When and where is the next meeting?

What individual and/or Sub-team advanced preparation must be completed before the next meeting?

Who is assigned to do what before the next meeting?

What are we trying to communicate to the congregation at this point and what is your role?





Using Sub-teams to Get Work DoneYou will be appointing four Sub-teams that will work, outside of meeting time, on expanding specific pieces of the Task Force’s work. You can begin to think about who can serve on each Sub-team. The first two will get formed within the first two meetings, but the last two will not be needed until the middle of Looking Forward. Work with your consultant to choose the best Task Force members for each Sub-team. Because they are not all running concurrently, you may be able to have people play multiple roles.

The Low Hanging Fruit Sub-team (three people), whose work will be on-going, is responsible for picking up on ideas suggested by the Task Force that reflect the direction in which the Task Force’s discussions are going and are easy to implement. With the Educator or Rabbi as part of this Sub-team, simple ideas can be carried out that will give the Task Force, as well as the larger school and synagogue community, a little “taste” of some of the changes to come.

The best people for this kind of work are those who have comprehensive knowledge of what is happening in the congregation and, therefore, are aware of where and how simple new ideas can be tested.

The work of the Low Hanging Fruit Sub-team begins in Looking Inward and its formation is referenced on page 9 of Looking Inward . There is a short report in the second Looking Outward meeting and a longer report scheduled in the third meeting of Looking Forward. In addition, all Task Force members will need to read an article on Low Hanging Fruit that can be found on the Online Resource Center. This happens between the first and second meetings of Looking Inward.

The Vision Sub-team (3-4 people) is responsible for collecting and summarizing the Task Force’s ideas regarding its hopes for the future of children’s learning in the congregation. These ideas will be generated during Task Force meetings. Prior to the first meeting of Looking Forward, the Vision Sub-team will be responsible for preparing a summary of ALL of the notes from ALL of the meeting to date. The Coordinator should be collecting notes all along so that they are organized and in usable form. In addition, this Sub-team will then prepare the first draft of the vision statement. The best people for this kind of work are those who respect others’ opinions and can see the “big picture.” It is a good idea if one member of the Leadership Team is on the Vision Sub-team.

The Alternative Model Sub-team (4-5 people), which begins its work at the second meeting of Looking Forward, is responsible for translating the Task Force’s vision and model ideas into a well-designed and comprehensive


Alternative Model that will be implemented over a period of a few years. They will also be responsible for preparing ideas for the First Bold Step that you will take towards the Alternative Model. The best people for this kind of work are those who are creative and can think and plan strategically.

The Implementation Sub-team (4-5 people but depends on your First Bold Step) will continue the work of implementing the First Bold Step and Alternative Model past the end of the Moving Forward part of the project. The people on this Sub-team will likely include some people from your Religious School Committee or others who were not fully part of the RE-IMAGINE Task Force. It will not form until the second meeting of Moving Forward.


Facilitating Your MeetingsOnce you have planned a meeting, its success depends on the engagement of the participants and on its facilitation. As a way of modeling shared leadership, it can be very powerful to have a variety of people facilitate your meetings. You can rotate this responsibility primarily among the Leadership Team members or you can involve skilled Task Force members as well. One way of demonstrating partnership and cooperation is to have different people assume responsibility for facilitating different parts of the same meeting.

The next few pages offer principles, tips, and techniques used by master facilitators.

Facilitating an effective meeting:To be effective, a facilitator must:

Provide, guide and protect a sound process.

Maintain and restore focus, but remain flexible to the needs of the group.

Begin with the end in mind.

Guard against shortcuts and bad habits, such as jumping to conclusions, judging the messenger and ignoring the message.

Balance distraction and discovery.

Legitimize diverse perspectives; protect voice.

Ensure that all views are heard and that good “data” are being used or created.

Reward openness and candor, but not without tact.

Make sure no one is left behind, and no one dominates.

Respect the wisdom of the group.

Function as a tool of the process (and vice versa).

Remember that the group owns the process.

Remain humble and impartial.

Create a safe and productive environment for genuine sharing.


Establish ground rules.

Empower the group to enforce them.

Clarify expectations regarding confidentiality.

Inject information, knowledge or expertise when needed.

Expect and invite the group to question or reject it.

Offer it when the group needs it to move ahead (not when you need it to feel smart).

Tools and Techniques for Effective Facilitation Planning and preparation -- define and communicate purpose, process and desired

outcomes.

Ask open-ended questions

Probe and “unpack.”

Encourage response without judging the content.

“Publish” responses using flip charts (or other means).

Use the speaker’s own words. Refrain from editing, censoring, or endorsing.

When necessary to paraphrase, check for acceptance.

Adopt a detective’s curiosity

Don’t assume you understand. Check instead.

Get to know Task Force members. Develop and exercise empathy.

Be willing to challenge or “push back” in a respectful way.

Monitor the process -- keep several “tapes” running in your head at all times: content, process, outcomes, and people.


Reflect to the group

Offer process observations and reflect noteworthy emotions.

Offer process options and ask the group for its permission or preference.

Cut through the clutter, making volumes of information manageable.

Summarize key themes from long conversations.

Place discussions in broader context. Identify what’s missing.

Crystallize options for moving ahead.

Offer and test for agreement and acceptance.

Silly Ideas That Can Work Process Cards

Create a set of 3 X 5 cards that you pass around to Task Force members before a meeting. On each card write a different process comment like: Need a break; We’re moving off topic; Let’s take our pulse; We’re running out of time.

During discussions Task Force members are encouraged to hold up their cards when they think it is appropriate.

Boiled Frog

Here’s the premise: When a frog is dropped in boiling water it jumps out immediately. But if you put a frog in cold water and gradually heat the water, the frog will eventually boil. Sometimes people, like the frog in cold water, need help realizing what is going on around them.

Purchase a small frog stuffed animal and have it at Task Force meetings. Task Force members should feel free to pass the frog to someone if they think that person is unaware of the water boiling around them. This is a non-threatening way to give immediate feedback to someone who is being unproductive in a meeting.


Keeping a Record of Your WorkBecause of the cumulative nature of this project, you need to keep a record of what the Leadership Team and the Task Force discuss at their meetings and the questions, responsibilities, and decisions that evolve from those discussions. When you reach Looking Forward and begin to write your vision statement, you will need to reference all of your previous discussions. It is extremely important as you plan ahead or need to easily recall where you have been. There are four different types of records.

1. The Task Force Journal is similar to typical meeting minutes.

2. The Vision Folder is a record of the thoughts that you have along the way which build to your vision statement.

3. Individual Task Force members should keep their own personal notes in a binder.

4. The Coordinator will be collecting reflections from the Online Learning Experience.

Task Force JournalThe Task Force journal is a summary and a record of what transpires at each meeting. It is separate from the flipchart pages or handouts that are used during the course of a meeting.

On pages 39-40 is a Task Force Journal Entry Template for a note-taker to use during or after each meeting. The template asks for brief notes about the agenda topics and outcomes, action items and responsibilities, text study, and general reflections. You can get an electronic copy from your consultant.

The Task Force will decide how to assign this responsibility in Looking Inward. It is possible that the assigned note-taker will take running notes of the meeting and fill in the Task Force Journal form with the relevant information after the meeting. Or, the note-taker may just fill in the form as the meeting proceeds.

It is the Coordinator’s responsibility to collect these journal entries, file them and provide them to the Leadership Team for review and/or reference, as needed. Submitting a record of each meeting will build a storehouse of important information that is well-organized and readily accessible.

Vision Folder and the Vision Sub-teamAs you move through your RE-IMAGINE journey, your Task Force will have many discussions and conduct many exercises and study sessions that will yield rich ideas


about what you would like to see in your congregation’s education programs. The Vision Sub-team, made up of 3-4 Task Force members, will be responsible for collecting and synthesizing these ideas, ultimately drafting a vision statement for the Task Force’s review.

The Vision Sub-team should create a folder, either in hard-copy form or on the internet, for storing these ideas. This folder should be updated and readily available to Task Force members. Most important is that the Vision Sub-team uses the Vision Folder to capture your work so that you can refer to it later in the project.

Throughout this Guidebook are indications about which notes, from which Task Force discussions, should be filed in your Vision Folder.

In some cases this is just a matter of collecting working notes from small group discussions or copying what is written on flip charts. In other cases notes need to be taken during a discussion. At the end of Looking Inward, the Vision Sub-team should meet to consolidate the vision folder notes from that phase. At the end of Looking Outward, in preparation for the first Looking Forward meeting, the Vision Sub-team will prepare a more comprehensive summary.

By the time you reach Looking Forward in your RE-IMAGINE journey, the following sets of notes should be in your Vision Folder:

From Looking Inward Thoughts about adaptation from the first meeting connection question

Characteristics of Memorable Jewish learning from sharing Memorable Jewish Learning Experiences

Ideas that came up during the Reflection exercise about things that should be considered in the future.

Task Force members’ reflections on the history of change in your school and which aspects of the school they want to retain because they are precious and enduring.

Ways in which the environment has changed over the years which should affect your school.

Ideas for low hanging fruit.

From Looking Outward Notes that reflect the Task Force’s thoughts about Ways of Learning

Reflections from the Online Learning about Significant Issues.


Responses to the summary questions after the text study that indicate what more has been learned about Significant Issues by looking at the text and the Task Force’s reflections.

Responses to the reflection question about which Significant Issue Task Force members would most like to see in children’s learning

Sentence completions from the Stakeholders Speak exercise that reflect how stakeholders in your congregation might respond to each of the alternative models

Report on the success of Low Hanging Fruit

Reflections from the Online Learning about the Models

Helping Task Force Members Keep Their Own Record of Your WorkOne of the ways in which the Leadership Team and the Task Force will take ownership of your congregation’s involvement in this project is by setting the expectation, from the very beginning, that the handouts, text studies and other materials that are distributed at meetings are important and valuable resources. Ask everyone to keep these materials in a 1 ½” binder that they should bring to all meetings. It is also important to be sure that all handouts are 3-hole punched. You may suggest that individual Task Force members write their own reflections in their binders at the end of each meeting.

Incorporating Online Learning Reflections Into Your MeetingsAs part of the Online Learning Experience, Alternative Models of the Religious School (AMRS), Task Force members will have the opportunity to post reflections about what they have viewed. These reflections provide insight into what they are thinking, feeling, questioning and challenging about the material they are learning. In each section of the Online Learning Task Force members reflect on what they have just learned. Your coordinator will group each section’s postings by themes or concerns and then bring them back to the Task Force to read and discuss. This provides a way for the Task Force to collectively gauge its progress.

Throughout this Guidebook are suggestions about when and how to incorporate discussion of these collected reflections into your meetings.


Activity 4Task Force Journal Entry

Template

I. General InformationA. Meeting Date:B. Who was there:C. Location:

II. Meeting MinutesA. WelcomeWhat is the context of this meeting? About what is there already agreement? What remains to be decided?

B. ConnectionWhat was the question? What points were raised that are relevant to the team’s work?

C. Text StudyWhat text was studied, what key points did you discuss, and how did they apply to the team’s work?

D. Agenda Topics and OutcomesNote the topics discussed, key elements of the discussion (including diverse viewpoints expressed) and any outcomes reached. Also highlight any milestones or significant progress made at this meeting.


E. Core DiscussionsIn this section, briefly summarize any action or follow-up items assigned at this meeting, along with who is responsible and the timeframe for completion. Add relevant notes, such as resources need to complete this task.

Action Item Responsible Timeframe Notes

F. Meeting ReflectionsRecord reflections offered by team members as part of the meeting:

G. Additional decisions made and/or miscellaneous notes


Task Force Journal Entry submitted by:


The Importance of CommunicationCommunicating with Your ConsultantAs part of the participation agreement your congregations signed, the Leadership Team is required to maintain ongoing communications with your consultant. It is the consultant’s role to provide support to you during this project. You must speak with him/her at least once prior to and after each Task Force meeting.

Your consultant has valuable experience with this project and also has access to the full resources of the staff of The Experiment in Congregational Education. He/she can help you plan Task Force meetings, understand your role on the Leadership Team, deal with difficult Task Force members, offer suggestions for more productive meetings, help you plan ahead, and more.

Communications with the Leadership Team and Task ForceRegular communication within the Leadership Team is crucial to the success of this project. Keeping each other appraised of new developments, sharing concerns, clarifying responsibilities, confirming logistical details and scheduling meetings are just some of the many bits of information the team needs to be on top of. The primary responsibility for ongoing communications should go to the Coordinator.

Fortunately, the wonders of modern technology have made staying in touch and keeping everyone “in the loop” relatively simple. E-mail allows everyone on the team to stay on top of details and to know what others are doing. By using the “Reply all” feature, everyone is included in discussions and decisions.

Some congregations have used a group communications tool like Yahoo! Groups to aid in communications. These tools are usually easy to use and provide features such as group email, document sharing, and calendars.

Be sure to include your consultant in your e-mail group or other group communications tools so that he/she readily can be part of your discussions and can make suggestions and help address questions as they arise.

Engaging with the CongregationAny substantive changes in your congregation’s children’s education programs certainly will be of interest to and will, in some way, affect your congregation at large. Therefore, many people in the congregation, in addition to those who will be most directly affected, need to be continually apprised of your progress and, in many cases, consulted along the way. Your goal is to build support, or at the very least a receptive climate, for the innovations you are preparing to recommend. When you reach the second meeting of Looking Forward, the Task Force will be charged with deciding how to announce your


Task Force’s decisions. You will be in better stead then if you start building a foundation be engaging the congregation now.To accomplish this, you must develop an ongoing and multi-pronged approach to reaching your school’s stakeholders. Stakeholders include:

General Membership

Board of Trustees or Directors

Religious School Committee/Education Board

Staff, including school faculty

School Parents

Students

What you share with the congregation will depend on where you are on your journey. At the beginning, it is important for people to know what you are doing and who is involved. As you progress, you can share the highlights of some of your discussions or some topics that generated lively discussion. As you move even further along, you can tell the congregation how you are reaching consensus as you decide on an initiative to implement. In the Post-Meeting Follow-up section of each meeting plan you will find communication ideas for your consideration.

There are some good resources about communications on the Online Resource Center.

Communication with your congregation falls into two categories. One-way communication will serve to inform your congregation about your progress, the issues you have identified and the ideas you are considering. Some ways you might consider include:

Sermons from the bimah

Bulletin articles

Letters or e-mail to the congregation

Reports to your congregation’s Board

Reports to your Religious School Committee

Bulletin board displays

Brochures (once you have developed an initiative)


Postings on the congregation website

Two-way communication solicits thoughts about your school, what stakeholders think the priorities should be, and reactions to ideas. Some ways of doing this include:

Dedicated time at a Board, Religious School Committee or Parent meeting

Dedicated time at staff meetings or teacher in-service workshops

Convening one or more Town Hall-type Meetings

Email or web-based discussions, if this fits with your congregation’s culture and capabilities

Giving small groups of your congregational community—staff, teachers, board members, religious school committee members—an opportunity to do some of the RE-IMAGINE exercises from this Guidebook themselves serves two purposes. By involving them in your RE-IMAGINE journey you create an opportunity for them to “buy in” to what you are doing. In addition, the input you get from these sessions can act as an additional reality check for the work of the Task Force. Suggestions about when to conduct these exercises are indicated throughout this Guidebook.

As a way of getting feedback from the congregation, you may be tempted to administer a written survey. We recommend against this. It takes unique expertise to design an effective survey and the data needs to be evaluated quite carefully. Also, because it is difficult to control who returns surveys, you cannot be sure of a fair sample.

Likewise, you also may be considering conducting focus groups (or in ECE parlance, community conversations) to engage the congregation in discussion about children’s learning. Although this method can be useful, the planning and implementation of such an endeavor is very labor-intensive and takes a minimum of 4 to 6 months from start to finish. (For more information on the necessary steps to planning and implementing community conversations, see Isa Aron’s book, Becoming a Congregation of Learners.) You can generate the kind of feedback you need in much simpler ways.

If you choose to hold a Town Hall-type meeting, speak with your consultant about how to structure and manage the meeting so that it is both focused and productive. You will also need to be sure that those facilitating this meeting are well prepared. You can try to anticipate people’s questions and concerns and develop a sheet of Frequently Asked Questions or talking points for your facilitators’ use.

Because this kind of communication needs to be ongoing and multi-pronged, it can be difficult to keep track of who should be doing what and when. Using the Communication Planning Grid on page 45 of this Guidebook will help you articulate your plan and plot out your communication strategy. It prompts you to consider:


Who are the “audiences” or stakeholders with whom we need to communicate?

For each group, what are the messages or content we need to convey to them or learn from them?

Who should be the source of any messages we send (e.g. the congregation President?, the Rabbi?, the Educator?, the Religious School Committee Chair?, the Task Force and/or Leadership Team Chair, and so on)?

What media or settings should we use (e.g. a letter, a sermon, a bulletin article, a meeting, a telephone conversation, a survey)?

What should the timing of each of these communications be, and who should be responsible for them?


Activity 5Communication Planning Grid

As you move forward in The RE-IMAGINE Project, you will need to communicate with many “stakeholders” within the congregation. These may include general congregation members, members of the board, school committee members, staff/faculty, school parents, and students. Use this grid to plan a coordinated set of one- and two-way communication efforts between the RE-IMAGINE Task Force and the congregation.

Audience/Stakeholder

Message/Content Source Media/

Settings Timing Responsibility


©2007 Experiment in Congregational Education (ECE)An Initiative of the Rhea Hirsch School of Education, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Los Angeles.

The work of the ECE is made possible by generous contributions from many funders. www.eceonline.org/funders

Online ResourcesTwo primary online resources are designed to support and expand your work in this project.

Online Resource CenterECE’s Online Resource Center is designed to help our participating congregations, alumni congregations, and other members of the community access a growing number of educational, leadership, and organizational change resources in the fields of Jewish Educational and Synagogue Transformation.

Resource types include: Articles and books with additional background on organizational change and education Text studies which bring the resources of the Jewish tradition to your Task Force Exercises that can help you dive deeper in your exploration Sample tools and communications developed by other congregations

At times in this Guidebook you and the Task Force will be directed to read documents posted on the Online Resource Center in preparation for an upcoming meeting. It is accessible by going to www.ECEonline.org, clicking on “Resources” and logging in.

Alternative Models of the Religious School (AMRS) Online Learning ExperienceOne of the unique experiences you will have along your RE-IMAGINE journey is the opportunity to learn in new ways and master new tools for learning. The cutting-edge Internet technology that is integrated into The RE-IMAGINE Project provides opportunities for you to learn about Alternative Models of Religious School from congregations and sources around the country. It also allows you to share your thoughts, questions and concerns about the programs they have created with your Task Force.

It is important—and sometimes difficult—to remember that the purpose of introducing alternative models and specific programs is not for your congregation to copy them. In most congregations, change often means a “quick fix” and unlearning the tendency to do so is its own challenge, especially at the beginning of your journey. The way the models are presented and analyzed demonstrates how the congregations came to innovate in the ways they did. In conjunction with the reflections that everyone will submit and the resulting discussions at your meetings, your Online Learning will inspire your Task Force to identify its own needs and its own solutions.

The ContentAMRS Online Learning is a resource that lets you explore what other communities are doing with their children’s learnings – communities with many of the same issues and concerns as yours. Through our research we have identified five different types or


"models" of these alternative "programs." We’ve written Program Profiles that describe many specifics including program configuration, leadership, finances, community information, and implementation. We’ve also interviewed a number of people in these communities to give you a sense of who they are and what they care about. This includes "significant issues" that they faced and the "challenges and opportunities" that each program grappled with. And we created “mini-documentaries” that take you inside the actual programs. By the end you will feel like you have made virtual visits to a group of innovative congregations and communities and have a network of people around the country with whom you are “in-dialogue” about important congregational and school concerns.

AMRS Online Learning is InteractiveAMRS Online Learning is an interactive experience, meaning you and your Task Force will not only be reading material, but also watching, listening and “reflecting” on what you observe. Some of this will be done in groups, and some you will do on your own.

Here are the three main activities you will be involved in:

Reading: AMRS Online Learning contains a lot of written information. There are lessons we have created to help integrate what you observe into the larger learning process. We provide written overviews of the various models, as well as detailed profiles mentioned earlier. Wherever written selections are long, we always give you the option of printing it out, so you can read it “offline,” if you prefer.

Watching and Listening: In addition to the written material, there are video clips throughout the Online Learning. We’ve conducted interviews with various people from the congregations – both synagogue professionals and congregational members. We also created what we call “mini-documentaries” which show some of the children’s learning programs in action. All of the interviews are available in both audio and video, in case you only have a dial-up connection. However, the mini-documentaries require high-speed access (which means you may have to watch them at a friend’s house or at the synagogue if you don’t have a fast connection).

Reflecting: As you begin to learn what other congregations are doing, and what some of their successes and struggles have been, you and your Task Force will want to share your own observations with each other. Throughout the Online Learning, you will have opportunities to answer questions and reflect upon and process the material you’re reading and watching. Every time you submit a reflection, you will receive your own email copy, and a copy will be sent to people on your team who have been selected to receive them. Prior to beginning the Online Learning, your Leadership Team will need to decide whether all members of the Task Force will receive all of the reflections or whether you will designate someone to organize and distribute them. Regardless of who collects


them initially, it will be your responsibility to make sure they are integrated into the appropriate discussions and activities, as outlined in each meeting.

Pace YourselfInstead of completing the Online Learning all at once, you will be completing one section at a time, along with the rest of your Task Force. Initially you will have access to the first two sections, and once the Task Force has completed those and finished the activities associated with them, you will be given access to the rest.

It is important to work through the materials as a group. The goal is not just to get to the end but to share and discuss what you have learned in each of the sections.

Each of the sections of the Online Learning is laid out for you as the Leadership Team, in the RE-IMAGINE Guidebook. This will include where and how to introduce each of the sections, what "homework" needs to be completed by Task Force members, and instructions for the activities and exercises that will follow.

Your Role in Online LearningFor most of your Task Force (and perhaps for you as well), this is going to be a different kind of learning experience. Your participation, enthusiasm and support will be critical to the success of this Online Learning. As was mentioned earlier, we will provide you with whatever support you need. In addition to technical support and instructions on how to incorporate the Online Learning into your meetings, you will also find advice on how to help your team members get the most out of this experience. Finally, once you and your team have completed the AMRS Online Learning, you will be able to go back into any of the sections you wish to explore further and to use its resources and information.

The BasicsECE’s Alternative Models of the Religious School (AMRS) Online Learning is a password protected website that you will be able to access at any time from any computer that is connected to the Internet. Some people may be intimidated when they first try to log on to the Online Learning. It is important for the Coordinator to work with each Task Force member to help them get access. This is an integral part of the project and something that each person has committed to do. Anyone familiar with browsing on the internet should do just fine. You just need the following:

Login and Password: please see the Quick Reference Card which will walk you through registration and login and give you all of the “help” and information you need to get started,

a good Internet connection (high speed such as DSL or cable, is best for the video segments),

and speakers or headphones to listen to interviews.


Again, all the basic information you and your Task Force members need to connect to ECE’s Online Learning is contained on the Quick Reference Card. Most computers will already have all of the necessary software. IF you or any member of your Task Force needs help with ANY technical aspect of using the AMRS Online Learning, support is available. Your Coordinator is your first contact. If he/she can’t help, please contact your RE-IMAGINE consultant or you can contact the support e-mail listed on the Quick Reference Card. If you’re really stuck we can even give you an 800 phone number to call and have a great support staff gladly walk you through whatever you need to know. Our hope is that once your Leadership Team is signed on and acquainted with the AMRS Online Learning, you will be able to guide most of your Task Force members through the simple process.


First Meeting: Welcome to Your RE-IMAGINE Journey

Meeting Plan – 2 hoursWelcome

Welcome by the Task Force Chairperson – 3 minutesConnection

Introductions and Sharing Artifacts – 30 minutes“Charge” from the Rabbi or Education Director – 5 minutes

Core DiscussionsDiscussion of ECE Video – 30 minutesExplanation of The RE-IMAGINE Project – 10 minutes

Text Study T’filat HaDerech Text Study – 20 minutesThe ECE Rationale for Text Study – 5 minutes

Reflection Research in the ECE – 2 minutesTask Force Members’ Reflections – 10 minutes

Next Steps– 5 minutes

Notetaker:

Facilitator(s):

Goals and Outcomes

1. Meet each other and begin to learn about each other through sharing personal stories and engaging in text study.

2. Learn more about The RE-IMAGINE Project and what the congregation hopes to gain from being part of it

3. Leave the meeting excited and energized from having begun this work.


Advance PreparationYou should ask Task Force members to bring to the meeting a Jewish “artifact”—something of meaning to them that represents a significant Jewish experience in their life. Tell them that they will have one minute to present the artifact to other members of the Task Force. It is usually helpful for them to be asked in writing, perhaps in a letter that reminds or informs them of the date, time and location of this first meeting.

Also ask them to bring a 1½” binder that they will use at each meeting to collect handouts.

Materials: Flip chart and markers

Name tags for each person

3-hole punched handouts for each person: The ECE Roadmap, the Blessing before Study, T’filat HaDerech Text Study, Why Study Text? Handout, and the ECE Adaptation Guide

Meeting Overview Welcome (3 minutes)

Because this is the first time your Task Force is together, the chairperson of the Task Force should welcome everyone, thank them for agreeing to be part of this project and share his/her excitement about what the journey you are about to embark on can mean for your congregation. This also would be a good time to introduce the members of the Leadership Team.

The Task Force Chair then should frame the meeting by explaining its:

Place – the location within The RE-IMAGINE Project roadmap and where the meeting fits into the big picture

Purpose – the reason(s) the meeting is being held;

Process – what is included, and explicitly excluded, from the agenda, activities, and expectations for participants; and

Desired outcomes – what s/he hopes the group will accomplish by the end of the meeting.


ConnectionThere are three ways in which your Task Force will connect at this meeting: being welcomed by the chairperson of the Task Force, introducing themselves and their artifacts, and hearing a “charge” from the Rabbi or Education Director.

Introductions and Sharing Artifacts (30 minutes)As a way of having people introduce themselves, go around the room as ask everyone to do three things: 1) Introduce themselves by name; 2) Share 2-3 ways in which they are connected to the synagogue (e.g. “I attend Sisterhood functions, I take adult Hebrew, I have a son who became Bar Mitzvah this year”) and 3) Explain their Jewish artifact.

If you have more than 20 people on your Task Force should divide into two groups for these introductions and artifact sharing. After each group completes its sharing, ask the Task Force members to recall something that they learned about another person.

Someone will have to be “gently forceful” about monitoring these introductions so that each person takes only about one minute. You can bring a kitchen timer or assign a timekeeper.

Wrap up by pointing out that connecting through exercises like this one helps to move from the outside world to the work at hand and builds community and trust among Task Force members.

“Charge” from the Rabbi or Education Director (5 minutes)It is important and powerful for the Task Force to hear from a respected member of your congregation’s professional staff about his/her excitement about embarking on the RE-IMAGINE journey. His/her words and presence will send an unequivocal message that your synagogue is committed to its involvement in this project.

Core DiscussionsThere are two core discussions at this meeting: the discussion after watching the ECE video and the explanation of The RE-IMAGINE Project.

Discussion of the ECE video (30 minutes)About the VideoThe video includes reflections of professionals at two of the congregations (Rabbi Rick Jacobs of Westchester Reform Temple, Sharing Shabbat and Mindy Davids, former Director of Education at Temple Beth Sholom in Santa Ana, Hebrew Connection and Family Learning Circle) whose schools and alternative programs the ECE visited and learned about; and from Dr. Isa Aron, founder of the ECE and currently the Senior Advisor to the ECE and The RE-IMAGINE project. She is a professor of Education in the Rhea Hirsch School of Education at HUC-JIR in Los Angeles.


There is also footage of other models which you will learn about in the AMRS Online Learning.

Introduce the 10 minute video The purpose of this video is:

To get you excited about possibilities for alternative models of religious school.

To introduce you to some of the programs, models and people involved.

It will also demonstrate that:

There are exciting things happening out there in other congregations,

It will be possible for you to do something equally exciting

There are some common themes and features among innovative programs and models

Keep in mind:

We do not expect you to copy what you see on the video and we highly recommend that you don’t do so

There may be items on the video that would not work for your congregation and we ask that you see what you can learn from them, rather than dismissing them out of hand

Watch the video

Discussion after the video The facilitator should ask the questions below and let the group discuss the responses. There is no need to answer the questions about the models or programs at this time—those questions will be answered over the course of your journey. The goal now is to get people thinking and talking.

The facilitator should have flip chart paper at the front of the room on which are written two columns with the following headings: “Comments about the ‘process’” and “Comments about the ‘product.’” As people respond to the questions, the facilitator should list the responses on the flip chart paper under the appropriate heading.

What did you notice? Describe something that you found intriguing, interesting or surprising.


What questions do you have for the people in the video or those involved with the models described?

As a wrap up, the facilitator needs to explain the headings and review what comments fell under each. In addition, he/she needs to emphasize that this project is as much, if not more so, about “process” as it is about “product.” The process will help build confidence in your ability to launch a new model and build skills which you can use in other areas of the congregation.

Explanation of The RE-IMAGINE Project (10 minutes)Although your Task Force members heard or read a little about The RE-IMAGINE Project when you invited them to participate, you should take time to describe the project to them in more detail and answer any questions they might have. In explaining what this project is about, be sure to highlight the following points:

The RE-IMAGINE Project has two purposes:

Creating a new model for children’s learning – re-imagining your children’s learning

developing the capacity to continually revitalize your congregation’s religious education programs and your congregation.

The changes you make to your children’s learning will be the most obvious and tangible outcomes of this project. Some people might mistakenly think that this is the only “product” of this project. However, developing the capacity to sustain this re-imagining process is an outcome that has the potential to impact your school and your congregation far into the future.

This project pushes you to understand and think deeply about your congregation’s religious education program for children and to reconsider how your school program is structurally organized. This is not just about how many days or hours to meet. It is not simply about changing the curriculum. It is not about “fixing” something that is “broken.” It is about forward thinking and innovation—creating something new for your congregation that grows out of thoughtful consideration and deliberation.

This project anticipates change for your children’s learning and congregation that will unfold over time. Part of what you will be doing is developing a long-range vision for your children’s learning. It is possible that your current students will not even benefit from innovations you institute. This is about building for the future of your congregation and the Jewish community.

There are very clear expectations about the time commitment one needs to make to participate in this project. Be clear about the schedule of meetings and the


work that periodically will need to be completed between meetings. The work of this project is cumulative; missing any piece of it will make it more difficult for the Task Force to move ahead.

In explaining the project, you can share with the Task Force your personal experience, so far, at the Orientation Sessions. You will also find it helpful to use the RE-IMAGINE Roadmap handout on pages 5-6 of Welcome or the project path poster to visually lay out the timetable and flow of the project.

Text StudyThe Task Force will engage in text study and then the facilitator will explain why text study is an integral part of The RE-IMAGINE Project. There are handouts for both of these discussions.

T’filat HaDerech Text Study (15 minutes)In small groups of 3-5 people each, the Task Force will study T’filat HaDerech, the Traveler’s Prayer, exploring the concerns it addresses and the extent to which Task Force members share those concerns as they anticipate their own RE-IMAGINE journey. A copy of the blessing for text study can be found on page 58. While you should say this blessing prior to each time you study sacred text, we have only included the blessing this one time in the Guidebook. Please ask Task Force members to keep their copy in their binders. The handout for the text study can be found on pages 59-60. After 15 minutes in small groups, the facilitator gathers everyone back together and asks the groups to share their responses to the last question: In what ways does this prayer help you think about your RE-IMAGINE journey?

The ECE Rationale for Text Study (5 minutes)The facilitator should use the handout to explain the importance of text study which can be found on pages 61-62.

ReflectionThe facilitator will first explain the value ECE places on participants regularly stepping back and reflecting on how the process is going, what people are feeling about their work, and how concerns are being expressed. Even the project, itself, is involved in reflection through its commitment to on-going research. Then each Task Force member will have the opportunity to reflect on this meeting.

Research in The RE-IMAGINE Project (2 minutes)This is the time to briefly explain and prepare your Task Force for the research that will be conducted over the course of your involvement with The RE-IMAGINE Project. From the Orientation Sessions you will already be familiar with ECE’s research plans. In describing them to your Task Force you should emphasize the following points:


ECE, as an organization, is interested in learning as much as it can, from many perspectives, about the effectiveness of its work in The RE-IMAGINE Project.

Occasionally, you may receive a phone call or email from a researcher with a few questions to ask you about The RE-IMAGINE Project. It is possible that a researcher will sit in on one of your meetings.

ECE research is NOT about evaluating either your role in the project or your congregation in any way. It is solely intended to assess the effectiveness of The RE-IMAGINE Project.

In agreeing to participate in The RE-IMAGINE Project, your congregation also agreed to participate in this research.

Task Force members’ reflections (10 minutes)This is the time to get a sense of what the group is thinking and feeling at this point in the process. You can do that by posing either content-oriented questions or process-oriented questions. Be sure the Notetaker records the responses to these questions and shares them with the Leadership Team who will use them in de-briefing the meeting and in planning. A question you can pose is:

Please respond briefly to two questions: 1) What is one thing you learned at this meeting? 2) What is one question you still have about this work?

After the meeting it is important that the Chairperson and the consultant review the list of open questions. Certainly, many of them will be answered over the course of the project. However, there may be some confusion or misconceptions that need addressing by phone or email before the next meeting.

If the Chairperson goes last, he/she can offer personal reflections and brief summative reflections about the meeting, e.g. this is what we accomplished, this is were we had agreement, these are the questions still open, thank you devoting your time and energy to this project. These summary statements can also be used to start off the next meeting.

Next Steps (5 minutes)Remind people of the date, time and place of the next meeting.

In addition, it is the facilitator’s responsibility to instruct everyone to read ECE’s Guide to Adaptation handout. This piece lays out the philosophical and metaphorical foundation on which your work along this journey will build. At the end of the document is a response form for Task Force members to complete and bring to the next meeting.

Form the Vision Sub-team. See page 31 of Setting the Stage.


Post-Meeting Follow-upTask Force JournalBe sure the Coordinator receives the prepared notes from this meeting to put into the Task Force Journal.

Engaging the CongregationChances are that, at this point, your congregation-at-large knows very little about The RE-IMAGINE Project or your congregation’s decision to participate. You should in form all of the major constituencies in the congregation about the project.

In these announcements you can share why the congregation chose to participate in this project at this time, the names of the people on the Leadership Team, the names of the people on the Task Force and a brief overview of the roadmap, especially when it is that you expect to begin implementing some of your ideas. Giving people a sense of the extended timetable is critical. Doing so will show them to not expect anything to change too soon while assuring them that your work proceeds even when you don’t have anything to “show” for it.

Here are some ideas for engaging with the congregation at this point:

Get time on the agenda of this month’s Board of Trustees meeting and schedule 3-4 updates over the course of the project

Write an article for the temple bulletin and ask for space on a regular basis

Talk to teachers, the Religious School Committee and the Board of Education at their scheduled meetings

Deliver a sermon

In any of these situations you can use the artifact exercise or the text study from this meeting as a way of introducing how the work of The RE-IMAGINE Project gets done.

Vision Folder CheckThere are no notes that need to be filed after this meeting.


The Blessing Before StudyTo be recited before every text study

Baruch atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech haolamasher kid’shanu b'mitzvotav v'tzivanu la'asok b'divrei Torah

Praised are You Adonai, Ruler of the universe,Who sanctifies us with mitzvot and commands usto engage in the study of Torah.

Please note that God’s Hebrew name appears on this page. As a sign of respect, instead of discarding it after use you may prefer to store it in a geniza—a place where printed materials containing God’s name and old ritual objects are collected in preparation for ritual burial.





Text Study Aleph T’filat HaDerech (Traveler’s Prayer)

After saying the blessing before study, read the texts below and answer the

questions in small groups of 3-5 people each. After 15 minutes, be prepared to share you responses to question #6 with the entire Task Force.

T’filat HaDerech (Traveler’s Prayer)

May it be Your will, Lord our God and God of our ancestors, to guide us in peace, to sustain us in peace, to lead us to our desired destination in health and joy and peace, and to bring us home in peace. Save us from every enemy and disaster on the way, and from all calamities that threaten the world. Bless the work of our hands. May we find grace, love and compassion in Your sight and in the sight of all who see us. Hear our supplication, for You listen to prayer and supplication.

Praised are You, Lord who hears prayer.

Please note that God’s Hebrew name appears on this page. As a sign of respect, instead of discarding it after use you may prefer to store it in a geniza—a place where printed materials containing God’s name and old ritual objects are collected in preparation for ritual burial.





1. Although this is a fairly short prayer, it contains many requests. What are some of the requests made in the prayer? Upon whose behalf are these requests made?

2. The first sentence of this prayer repeatedly mentions “peace.” The Hebrew word for peace, shalom, derives from the Hebrew word for wholeness or completeness. In what ways do you think a journey might threaten one’s sense of wholeness?

3. What does the request “Bless the work of our hands” suggest to you about what is expected to happen during a journey?

Please read the follow text and then answer the question below:

Abaye said: A man should always associate himself with the congregation [and it is advisable that he should not pray on his behalf alone]. How should he say [the prayer]? ‘May it be Your will, Lord our God, to guide us in peace, etc.’ When should he say this prayer? R. Jacob said in the name of R. Hisda: At the moment he starts on his journey

Brachot 30a

4.Why do you think Abaye notes that people should pray and travel as part of a group?

5. How might being part of a group be an asset when taking a journey?

7. In what ways does this prayer help you think about your RE-IMAGINE journey?

BackgroundAbaye – Considered one of the primary authors of the Talmud, Abaye (280-339 CE) was head of the Academy at Pumbedita and a successful farmer.

R. Jacob – Living at the end of the 3rd century and the beginning of the 4th century CE, Rabbi Jacob was Babylonian-born though he migrated to Eretz Yisrael. He is frequently referred to in the Talmud as “a certain one of the rabbis.”

R. Hisda – With the wealth he acquired from being a brewer, Rabbi Hisda (c. 217-309) rebuilt the famous rabbinical academy in Sura, Babylonia.

Brachot – A tractate of the Talmud that deals primarily with benedictions and daily prayers.





Activity 6Why Study Text?

Why is Study Important for Jews in Contemporary Society? Study is a mitzvah, an integral part of the Jewish tradition.

Study is a vehicle for spiritual growth.

Study can help us to better understand who we are.

Competence and comfort can only be achieved through study and knowledge.

For Jews in some movements, study provides a critical basis for informed choice.

Both torah lishma (study for its own sake) and torat chayim (study as an aid to daily living) are important, and both of these are very different from education, as commonly thought of in American society.

Why is Study Integral to The ECE RE-IMAGINE Project?The medium is the message. The project examines Jewish education in the synagogue, so it is imperative to model learning as a core value.

Why Study Jewish Texts?Not all Jewish study involves texts, and not all the learning you do with your fellow congregants in this project will involve Jewish text. Still, text study is important in this project for a number of reasons:

We are not interested in developing a group of like-minded thinkers (as though this were even possible!). Rather, the goal is for every individual to be able to access and study the tradition without over-reliance on experts or authorities. While some of our knowledge will always be filtered through the lens of our teachers and leaders, true autonomy requires that each of us engage in our own interpretation.

Text study is a particularly powerful vehicle for building community, trust and reflection. Learning to appreciate how others think prepares you to make the difficult and complex decisions you ultimately will face

The textual tradition keeps Jews connected to Judaism. As a starting point for becoming informed, it establishes the parameters within which we interpret and apply tradition to our lives. The choices or interpretations of tradition made by one generation should not close off the options or interpretations available to the





generations that follow. If Jews did not continually study texts, the choices and interpretations made today would alter Judaism irrevocably.

Which Texts are Appropriate for Study?Anything and everything. Torah, for the purposes of our work, is interpreted broadly to mean all of Jewish literature. Participants should be exposed to a balanced selection of texts, including but not necessarily limited to:

The Tanach (the Hebrew Bible), with texts chosen both thematically and according to Parashat HaShavuah (the portion of the week);

Rabbinic literature, both halachic (legal) and aggadic (anecdotal);

The Siddur (prayer book);

Jewish thought, and

Contemporary Jewish literature.

Although torah lishma should be part of the process, torat chayim – the ways in which Jewish texts can inform our thinking and decision-making today – is especially important. Over the course of the project, we hope to familiarize you with the major bodies of literature, the major scholars, and to some of the primary values that might inform organizational life today.

What Learning Methods Should We Use?Since The RE-IMAGINE Project engages a variety of people in conversations about Jewish learning for your congregation’s children, our text study focuses especially on interpretation and commentary, rather than the acquisition of information. While lectures and divrei torah (scriptural interpretation) have their place, we encourage interactive text study in chevruta, or in small groups. Over time you will find yourselves becoming more adept at approaching a text “from scratch,” and accessing tools of interpretation. You will also experience first-hand how study creates community.





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