The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah was one of eight winners of the 2013 Union for Reform Judaism Belin Outreach and Membership Awards. The Belin Outreach and Membership Awards have been designed to encourage and honor Reform synagogues with outstanding outreach and membership programs, which actively welcome and integrate those new to Judaism, create relationship-based membership models, or develop new, innovative ways to engage and retain members.
Eight winners were awarded $1,000, funded through the generosity of the late David Belin, the first chair of the URJ-CCAR Joint Commission on Outreach and Membership. Nine other congregations received honorable mention for their exceptional programs. All winners and honorable mentions will be honored at the Union for Reform Judaism Biennial in San Diego in December.
B’nai Jehudah was recognized for its IJP (Individual Jewish Path) program. IJP was modeled after individual educational programs used in the school systems. B’nai Jehudah’s IJP invites members to explore where they see themselves in their Jewish life and through the process of sharing conversations, develop a program (path) for their own personal Jewish growth or development.
Rabbi Arthur Nemitoff said it’s a big honor to be recognized as having one of the best outreach programs by the URJ, which counts about 950 Reform congregations as its members.
“This is an amazing thing that we are doing,” he said.
“Our goal is that every congregant will pursue an individualized Jewish path and in so doing the individual, the community and the world become better,” he said.
Rabbi Nemitoff said whenever he or Rabbi Alexandria Shuval-Weiner have shared the program with other congregations across the country, they’ve often heard, “Oh my god, why didn’t we think of this.”
“We really began about four or five years ago using the language of Jewish journeys before anybody else did. I’m very proud of what our people did because our congregation came up with this idea, not us, as part of our shared visioning and it’s been phenomenal. It’s been a major, major piece of what’s made our congregation so strong recently,” he said.
The IJP program was honored as Program of the Year two years ago by the Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City. Reform Judaism magazine also highlighted the program in a recent issue.
This program is one of the reasons B’nai Jehudah, unlike other congregations across the country, is gaining members. Rabbi Nemitoff said the congregation now has about 1,050 member units and it actually grew by 30 families in the past year.
“We are in great shape financially. Our congregation has been incredibly generous. We’re on very stable ground. We don’t owe anybody any money and we have a lovely endowment. Our religious school has grown this year. We have a new preschool director and so we are rebuilding that. Things are really great right now,” he said.
URJ Senior Vice President Rabbi Jonah Pesner said for the past 18 years, the Belin Awards have encouraged Reform congregations to find innovative ways to welcome and engage those who might find a home in our congregations, bringing new life to our communities.
“The winners exemplify the Jewish mitzvot of ahavat ger, loving the stranger, and keruv, drawing near those who are far.”
Rabbi Nemitoff said he felt privileged that he actually knew David Belin. He described him as one of the strongest advocates for outreach in the Reform Movement before he passed away.
“He was brilliant and passionate about the need for us to engage people and meet people where they are at. He wrote a masterful book called ‘What Judaism Offers You.’ To this day I use the booklet,” Rabbi Nemitoff said.
“I use it in our Introduction to Judaism class because in 40 pages it is probably the best summary I’ve ever seen for why somebody should be Jewish. It’s masterful,” Rabbi Nemitoff said.
For more information about the Belin awards, visit: http://urj.org/cong/outreach/belin/.
