If Congregation Beth Am gets a sudden spike in Shabbat attendance, the STAR Initiative may be able to take some of the credit.
The approximately 1,250-family synagogue in Los Altos Hills is one of 12 nationally that has been selected to take part in what’s being called the Synaplex Initiative.
Sponsored by the Minneapolis-based STAR (Synagogues: Transformation And Renewal), the Synaplex Initiative is designed to help synagogues increase Shabbat attendance.
“For many people, prayer might not be the easiest doorway to enter synagogue life,” said Rabbi Janet Marder, senior spiritual leader of Beth Am. “The goal is to give the synagogues the tools and resources to develop a whole range of programs that will touch people on many levels: religious, social, spiritual, and to explore their Judaism in a variety of ways.”
Marder said the grant comes at the perfect time, since Beth Am’s leadership was already discussing ways to bring more people to synagogue.
“We’ve been offering a variety of learning opportunities in addition to worship, and now we’ll expand it further,” said Marder. For example, the congregation has been trying to make the Shabbat morning service more accessible.
It also hopes to offer concerts or films for the empty-nester set in the afternoons.
Pennie Shapiro, STAR’s program director, emphasized that the offerings will be dictated by the interests of the individual communities, whether it be a program on Israeli politics or “Torah yoga.”
“It depends on who is in that community and what their interests are,” she said. “It’s hard for many people to connect through prayer, but there may be other kinds of programs that would bring them into the synagogue’s orbit and celebrate Shabbat.”
Shapiro added that the initiative was targeting several different groups: those who are affiliated but never go to synagogue; those who regularly attend, but are looking for something more; and those who never go.
The 12 synagogues chosen — four Reform, five Conservative, one Orthodox and two Reconstructionist — had to apply to take part. They will participate in regular conference calls with each other and keep the STAR staff up to date on their efforts. “We will provide a national network for sharing their challenges and successes,” said Shapiro.
Additionally, the synagogues will be able to make use of a national marketing consultant.
“She will be working with each congregation, teaching them how to better their skills of writing press releases, marketing and the whole gamut,” said Shapiro. STAR is also establishing a program bank that “will allow synagogues to reach out to resources outside their doors.”
Shapiro and Rabbi Hayim Herring, the executive director of STAR, will pay periodic visits to the participating synagogues.
STAR was established in 1999 by Edgar M. Bronfman Sr., Charles Schusterman and Michael Steinhardt. After 18 months of research and planning, they invested a minimum of $18 million during a five-year period to help North American synagogues achieve systemic change.
Beth Am, along with the 11 other synagogues, will each receive $84,800 over a three-year period, with the largest increment coming in the first year. The synagogue must also pledge some of its own funds to pay for marketing of programs.