Rabbi Search 2015-16 Updates for Members
Questions? Comments? Email the Communications Committee at rabbisearch@yisharon.org. We'll answer you directly, or forward your questions to the appropriate committee.
The rabbi search finalists will be visiting on the "probeh" weekends of January 9, 16, and 30. Please do your best to be in Sharon for these 3 weekends. We hope that as many members as possible from the community can hear from and interact with the candidates, to decide who will be the best fit.
Breaking News
Friday, February 12, 2016
We are excited to share the next step in our Rabbi search. The board has reviewed the results of the community survey on our rabbinic candidates. While we had two strong candidates, one was the clear choice of the community. He was the first choice of 59% of survey respondents, 21% more (47 people) than the second place candidate. Even among people who did not pick him as their first choice, 80% chose him as second choice.
So, without further ado, we’re pleased to share that we will be empowering the contract committee to negotiate an offer with Rabbi Cheses. The Search Committee has contacted all 3 candidates to let them know the community’s decision.
We appreciate all of the thoughtful feedback people included in the survey. We will be sharing it with the Onboarding Committee, so they (with the board) can help to set our new Rabbi up for success and work with him to address areas of growth.
Thanks to Michelle Shain, Shai Simonson, and Rachel Levine for analyzing and reporting the survey feedback so quickly! Thanks to the Search Committee and all the sub-committees who have put in a tremendous amount of work and done a great job in bringing us to this point in the process!
We look forward to sending out an update from the Contract Committee when information becomes available. The next step would be a special meeting to ratify the contract.
Wednesday, January 6, 2016
The rabbinic search committee would like to bring your attention to several documents pertaining to the lead up to the Probeh weekends and the weekends themselves. You will need to be logged in to ShulCloud to view them as some of the documents contain the names of members. The documents are:
- Slides from the January 5, 2016 presentation to the membership
- Listing of those attending Shabbat meals with the candidates
- Questions for the Q&A session with our candidates
- Questions asked of candidates at their face-to-face interview
- Listing of teens available for childcare during the probeh weekends
Friday, January 1, 2016
Rabbinic Candidates - Young Israel of Sharon
Our three rabbinic candidates were chosen from a pool of over 30 applicants with semicha from Yeshiva University (RIETS), Yeshivat Chovevei Torah (YCT), and other institutions. The search committee narrowed the resumes to nine candidates, who were interviewed over the phone. The interview questions covered topics of interest that were raised by YI members in the focus groups and survey. After eliciting the candidates' opinions and thoughts on Modern Orthodoxy, the role of women in shul, children's engagement, diversity, and their approach to Halacha, the top six candidates were brought in for face-to-face interviews. The top three candidates were then chosen to visit for the probeh weekends.
Most of the candidates were in their thirties or early forties. Many new graduates from rabbinical school begin their careers working in very small synagogues, or working as assistant rabbis in larger synagogues. These young rabbis then “move up” to larger synagogues as they become more experienced. It’s much less common for rabbis in their fifties to move to a new job, especially into a job at a medium sized synagogue like YI Sharon.
The rabbi search finalists all received semicha from Yeshiva University in 2011. (Apparently, RIETS had a bumper crop that year.) They have been described as scholars and leaders, who show a deep commitment to the spiritual and intellectual growth of the communities they have served. They are gentle, sweet, humorous, and engaging. You will have a number of opportunities during the probeh weekends to learn more about their styles, ideas and backgrounds, as well as to introduce them to our wonderful community. They are looking forward to meeting all of you.
The Search Committee will deliver a presentation at the January 5th members’ meeting with detailed information on the search process and the finalists.
The three rabbinic candidates are:
January 9, 2016: Rabbi Noah Cheses
January 16, 2016: Rabbi Yechiel Shaffer
January 31, 2016: Rabbi Dovid Zirkind
Download the introduction packet
December 22, 2015: The Search Committee just finished conducting face-to-face interviews with the 6 (not 5) semi-finalists chosen from phone interviews. The three finalists will be announced shortly.
Please come to the "Prepare for the Probeh Weekends" meeting on January 5.
Overall Timeline
| Jan-Mar 2015 | Focus Groups - DONE |
| Apr-May 2015 | Membership Survey - DONE |
| Jun-Jul 2015 | Job Description Developed - DONE |
| Aug 2015 | Job Posted - DONE |
| October 2015 | Candidate Screening and Phone Interviews - DONE |
| Nov-Dec 2015 | Candidate Face-to-face Interviews - DONE |
| January 2016 | Probeh (visitor) Weekends |
| Spring 2016 | Membership vote & job offer |
| Summer 2016 | Bittersweet goodbyes and happy beginnings |
Search Updates
December 4, 2105 - Communication Committee Update
What Happened
The Search Committee has interviews scheduled with 6 great candidates! (The resumes were so good that the committee decided to do 6 in person interviews rather than 5).
The Candidate Visit Committee (CVC) has been hard at work this month!
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The CVC has been arranging for transportation, hotels, catering, and tours for the on-going in-person interviews.
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Arrangements for the probeh weekends are on-going with regards to timing of events, hosts, catering, and opportunities to get to know the candidates.
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As part of this process, the CVC along with the Search Committee will invite approximately 60 people from the YIS membership to represent the many facets of our kehillah at the Shabbat meals over the three probeh weekends. Attendees at meals will be members who would not otherwise have personal interactions with the rabbi through their committee/volunteer work. As there are about 360 adult members of the community, we are deeply sorry that not everyone could be included. We tried our best to include a broad representation of members for each probeh weekend based on marital status, stage on life, ages of children, type of school, inclusion, tefillat nashim, minyan time, etc. We hope that each member of the shul will feel that he or she has the opportunity to interact with the rabbi through the many public gatherings throughout the weekend (Friday night oneg, kiddush, seudah shlisheet) and hear from the rabbi at these events as well as in shul, at the Saturday night question and answer session, as well as during Sunday morning learning.
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Questions from the YIS membership are being reviewed and collated for the Saturday night Q&A session. The questions will be aimed at providing the kehillah with a deeper understanding of who the rabbi is and where he stands on issues that the the kehillah has stressed as important. Hundreds (!) of questions have been gathered during our recent collection as well as during the survey and we are sorry that not all questions can be asked. These questions will be provided to the rabbis ahead of time to allow for thoughtful responses.
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The CVC will be collecting names of teens that will be available for members to hire for babysitting during the probeh weekends. This list will be provided to YIS as the probeh weekends approach.
The Communications Committee continues to gather information from the various committees in order to update the website and send you emails like this one.
The Survey & Assessment Committee is creating an online feedback form to be sent to the community after the probeh weekends. This feedback will be the basis of the board's decision on which candidate to hire. We really encourage every member to make sure their email addresses are in ShulCloud so they will get their link to the feedback form. (See instructions below)
The Contract Committee completed analysis of 2 separate compensation surveys and presented data to the board.
What Will Happen
The Search Committee expects to have all of the face-to-face interviews completed by mid-December.
There will be a “Prepare for the Probeh” meeting on Tuesday night, January 5. The preliminary probeh preparation agenda looks like:
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Summary of the interview process to date
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Information on the three candidates
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Information on the probeh weekends
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The process for:
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gathering feedback from the community
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choosing the candidate
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offering and negotiating the contract
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What the YI Community Can Do
Get ready for the probeh weekends! The rabbi search finalists will be visiting on the "probeh" weekends of January 9, 16, and 30. More information will follow in forthcoming emails, and at the January 5 meeting.
There are two big reasons for these visits. First, for each shul member to get a good sense of whether the rabbi would be a good fit for you, your family, and the shul as a whole. Second, for the rabbi to get a good sense of whether Sharon and YIS would be a good fit for him and his family. This means we’re hoping as many YI members as possible are here for those weekends - listening to everything the rabbi says, asking good questions, and demonstrating the friendliness our community is known for. (Hopefully, it’s not mis-representing our town if there are slightly more people in shul slightly earlier than on the average Shabbat.)
Make sure your address is in ShulCloud. To register, please go to www.yisharon.org. Click on the “Login” button at the top right corner of the page. Enter the email address where your household received its annual shul bill. If you don’t know which email address to use, contact Josh Vogel or Roy Strunin at webmaster@yisharon.org or president@yisharon.org respectively. If you know which email address to use, but you’re not sure what your password is (or you never had one), click “Forgot Password.” Please do not click “New User: Register Now” unless Josh or Roy tells you to!
If one member of your household has already registered, but you have not, have the other person login, click “My Account,” scroll down to “Manage People” and add you by clicking “Add New Person.”
November 11, 2105 - Phone interview questions for the rabbi candidates
Here are the questions that the Search Committee asked each of the 9 candidates during the phone interviews. Plus, at the bottom, a few representative questions that the candidates asked us.
Religious Diversity
Q1: YI Sharon members come from a wide range of religious backgrounds. We have those who grew up religious and those who grew up more secularly. We also encompass a range of religious approaches. Some members can be found learning kabbala and singing Shlomo-style tunes and others are more comfortable with a gemara and the Rav. Finally, we follow a variety of religious practices some of which fit comfortably within today’s Orthodox norms and others which do not. Have you faced the challenge of maintaining a “big tent” that includes these different constituencies? If so, how did you approach the dynamic, and if not, how would you approach it?
Women’s Involvement
Q1: In YI Sharon, we have a women’s tfilla group, women in leadership positions on the board, and Bat Mitzvah girls who give their drasha to the full congregation. How do you see yourself in this environment?
Q2: What is your vision for women’s role in the shul?
Q3: Please describe an event in which you personally helped to further that vision or if you prefer, how would you further that vision?
Approach to Children
Q1: What would be your approach to motivating children, from an early age, to gradually be part of tefillah and to be actively engaged in shul life?
Q2: If we were to ask the teens of your current congregation to describe you, what would they say, or, if you prefer, share an anecdote of when you had an impact on a young person in your congregation.
Approach to Halacha
Q1: Can you share a time when you had to balance the giving of a textbook halachic response with some modification because of a challenging situation? What did you do? How and why did you come to the conclusion?
Q1 follow: What did you learn from this experience?
Q2: Can you tell us about a time when you felt you had to adhere to the straight halachic response even though you knew it would not be accepted?
Q3: When you face a challenging or perhaps controversial sh’ailah, to whom or where do you turn for guidance? (If names a specific Rav, ask why that individual?)
Consolidated Question on "goals, priorities and vision"
Q1: What do you see as the challenges that are confronting modern orthodoxy.today?
Q3: How would you use your leadership position to realize your goals?
Questions from the candidates
- Does YIS have a mission? And if yes, what is it?
- How is the community preparing mentally emotionally for this transition?
- What are we most proud of as a shul?
- What infrastructure do we have set up to support the new Rabbi?
- How will we measure success of the new Rabbi?
October 25, 2105 - Schedule for Probeh (Rabbi finalist) visits
We've been asking YI Members to make sure they'll be in Sharon for the "probeh" weekends of January 9, 16, and 30, when the finalists in the rabbi search will be visiting. But what's going to happen on those weekends? The Candidate Visit Committee has been planning a fun and action-packed schedule! Or at least a schedule with opportunities for as many members of our community as possible to hear from and interact with the candidates, to help us all figure out whether the rabbi is a good fit.
An important part of planning is considering how to represent our diverse community at Shabbat meals during the visits. We are hoping to make sure that members of various age groups, stages in life, school affiliations, minyan affiliations, marital status, and special needs are considered - but this will be a challenging process. In order to allow for any depth of conversation, the meals will be kept to a limited number and to those who would not otherwise have personal interactions with the rabbi candidates. Two specific representative members will be present at meals with each of the candidates to provide a comparison across candidates to the Search Committee.
We are also developing a process for collecting questions from the community, which will be posed to the rabbi candidates at community "fire-side" chats each Saturday night of the probeh weekends. Start thinking about your questions - we will start collecting questions mid-November through a dedicated email address to be determined.
An outline of the visits is provided below:
- Friday tour of Sharon and requested sites (schools, mikveh, etc)
- Friday night davening with community
- Friday night dinner: catered meal at a community member's house with 5 representative couples
- Friday night community oneg for adults (only), with rabbi lecture regarding a popular/modern topic
- D'var Torah at Hashkamah minyan around 8:40am
- Shabbat morning davening with 9:00 minyan
- Pre-Torah drasha at 9 am minyan
- D'var Torah at 9 am minyan
- Simcha Kiddush with community
- Early Mincha with teens (only) and short D’var Torah aimed at teens
- Shabbat lunch: catered meal at a community member's house with 10 representative members
- Mincha for community (rabbi will have davened with teens earlier)
- Seudah Shlisheet for community with shiur aimed at adults
- Saturday night "fire-side" chat with community - where each rabbi will be presented with identical questions
- Sunday morning 8 am minyan with community
- Sunday morning 9 am text-based shiur with rabbi candidate
- Sunday brunch and wrap up with Search Committee
October 15, 2105 - Process for Handling Resumes and Interviews
The Search Committee (SC) has developed a thorough process for handling the applications that are coming in. Here is an approximate timeline of the process:
- Already completed: The SC came up with a way to score applications when they come in. The scoring is based on how well the resumes match up with the posted job description. They also developed a “rubric” for conducting phone interviews.
- Mid-September: Job was posted
- Week of 10/11: Practice interview (with a rabbi who isn’t actually applying).
- 10/18: SC will sign confidentiality agreements and debrief the resume scoring process and the interview rubric.
- 10/18: Deadline for applications.
- Week of 10/18: Committee members will score the resumes. Due to the sensitivity of the process, names and information about any applicant will not be discussed with anyone outside of the search committee.
- Oct 25: SC will meet to choose approximately 8 candidates from the resumes
- Oct 26-Nov 5: phone interviews and a follow up meeting to choose 5 candidates
- Before November: subcommittees of the SC will be developing questions for the face-to-face interviews, and deciding how to score the interviews.
- November: Five candidates will fly in for face to face interviews. 3 Candidates will be chosen based on the interviews.
- January 9, 16, 30: Probeh (visit) weekends for rabbis and their wives, if they’re married.
October 1, 2105 - How Was the Job Description Created?
1. Focus groups asked open-ended questions in order to elicit what was important to community members. The discussions informed the questions which would be included in the survey.
For example, discussion of the Rabbi’s support of Israel came up in multiple focus group discussions.
The survey asked: “How important is it to you that the new YI Sharon rabbi devote energy to...?””
2. The community responded to the survey and the data was compiled by the S&A committee and presented at the June community meeting.
With regard to the Israel question, 68% of respondents answered Essential or Very Important.
3. . This group included one representative from the board, one from the transition committee, and two representatives from the survey & assessment committee. They used the results of the focus groups, survey, and description of role written by Rabbi Sendor to draft the job description.
The job description says: He should be a strong advocate for Israel, with involvement in communal Zionist activities
4. The job description was reviewed by the board, the transition committee, and Rabbi Sendor. Feedback was incorporated when appropriate. The final draft was approved by the board.
5. The job description was published on our website alongside an Introduction to the Town of Sharon written by the Communications Committee. The job was also posted to Yeshiva University, Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, the National Council of Young Israel, and the International Rabbinical Fellowship.
September 25, 2105 - Communications Committee Update
What Happened
This month, we reached a major milestone in the rabbi search process: a job description was built by several committees, as well as the entire community, through the focus groups and survey. On September 3, the job description has been posted on the YI website, and sent out to Yeshiva University, Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, the National Council of Young Israel, and the International Rabbinic Fellowship!
The Search Committee has been busy developing the process for evaluating resumes and conducting telephone interviews with the selected candidates.
The Candidate Visit Committee is helping plan the preliminary candidate visits, which will occur on weekdays. The Committee is also solidifying caterers for the probeh (visit) weekends, organizing tours of Sharon and amenities for the candidates. An important part of this planning is considering how to represent our diverse community at Shabbat meals during the visits.
The Communications Committee finished the document introducing our shul and the Town of Sharon. The document was posted with the job description on the YI website. The Committee appreciates all of the feedback and quotes that community members shared.
The Process Committee is reviewing the proposed process for voting on the new rabbi, now that the updated by-laws have been approved by the YI membership and the Board.
The Contract Committee has completed salary analysis and combined data from two separate search surveys.
The Survey & Assessment Committee has begun planning how to collect feedback after the probeh weekends.
What Will Happen
In November, the Candidate Visit Committee will be collecting questions from the community, to be posed to the rabbi candidates at "fire-side" chats each Saturday night of the probeh weekends.
What the YI Sharon Community Can Do
Start thinking about your questions for the fire-side chats.
August 18, 2015 - Communication Committee Update
What Happened
The Survey and Assessment committee has 2 members helping to write the rabbi job description. The rest of the committee is on hiatus until it's time to collect feedback after the probeh weekends.
The Contract committee is continuing to research what will be included in the package offered to our candidate.
The Transition and Search committee designated a subcommittee (David Avigan, Deena Traum, Rebecca Milgram and David Saltzman, with input from Shlomo and Michelle Avigan) to write a job description that was based on the data culled from the community focus groups and survey. The subcommittee finished writing the job description and sent it to the YI board for approval.
The Communications Committee is continuing to build a downloadable candidate packet with information about YI Sharon, as well as the Jewish Community in Sharon and Greater Boston, and Sharon more generally. They have collected quotes and ideas from the YI community to help give a more personal feel to the packet. Thanks to YI members who provided their sincere and compelling comments about why they love the community!
The Candidate Visit Committee and Process Committee took a break this month.
What Will Happen
The Communications Committee will (together with the YI Sharon Board) update the website with more information candidates may be interested in, and make the candidate packet available. At the end of August, the job description will be posted to our website and numerous other locations.
What the YI Sharon Community Can Do
Attend the special meeting to be held on Sunday August 30that 6pm at the shul for the purpose of amending the Articles of Organization, and the Constitution and By-Laws of the Young Israel of Sharon, Inc. More information can be found in the email from Roy Strunin, which was sent out on August 11th. Food and babysitting will be provided. We sincerely hope that all member families can send at least one representative.
If you would like to propose an amendment to the Bylaws or Constitution, please use the form at http://www.yisharon.org/bylaws.html to submit it by Thursday, August 20. Representatives of the bylaw subcommittee are available to assist members in the preparation of proposed amendments.
Stay tuned for further updates before the chagim!
July 13, 2015 - Communications Committee Update
What Happened
The Survey and Assessment committee is taking a break. They presented their findings at the YI members’ meeting. The information from the presentation is available on the shul website.
The Candidate Visit committee has been refining the probeh weekend schedule and examining how best to expose the rabbi candidates to a cross-section of our community.
The Transition Committee updated the community about the current status of the search, confirming that we are on schedule. The update can be found on the Rabbi Search page on the YI Sharon website.
The Search Committee met with Rabbi Asher Lopatin to learn about rabbis with smicha from YCT (Yeshivat Chovevei Torah). The committee formed three subcommittees to determine processes for vetting resumes, interviewing candidates, and choosing which candidates should continue to the next round.
The Communications Committee is continuing to build a downloadable candidate packet with information about YI Sharon, as well as the Jewish Community in Sharon and Greater Boston, and Sharon more generally. They are also gathering more information on places to post the job description.
The Process Committee has produced a draft of a procedure for voting for the new rabbi. This draft will go to the Board after the shul membership approves updates to the by-laws and the legal committee ensures that the process remains consistent with the updated by-laws and Massachusetts law.
What Will Happen
A subcommittee of the Transition Committee was formed to write the job description (David Avigan, Deena Traum, Rebecca Milgram and David Saltzman). Two of the Survey and Assessment Committee members will join the group working on the job description.
In August, the Communications Committee will (together with the YI Sharon Board) update the website with more information candidates may be interested in, and make the candidate packet available. At the end of August, they will be posting the aforementioned job description to our website and numerous other locations.
What the YI Sharon Community Can Do
Stay tuned for further updates and have a great July!
June 14, 2015 - Survey Results and Search Committee Update
Here is the June 14 presentation from the Survey and Assessment committee describing the results of the focus groups and survey.
Here is the June 14 update from the Search committee.
Extra questions and comments from the meeting:
- Someone suggsted posting the job with the (Orthodox) International Rabbinical Fellowship
- Why are we having a probeh (candidate visit weekend) on January 2? There are very few weeks open in January and February, due to various shul events and simchas, and we were told that by March many candidates have already gotten offers.
- Someone suggested posting the sermon that the rabbi gives, in case people don't make it to shul. The committees will make an effort to provide information from the weekends when possible, for example, by posting video of the Saturday night activity.
- Information on the candidates will be sent to shul members prior to the probeh weekends
June 12, 2015 - Communications Committee Update
What happened
The Survey & Assessment Committee completed its survey of the YI Sharon membership May 7-18. 62% of adult members representing 78% of member households responded. This included 126 individuals who had not participated in a focus group, which expanded our reach into the community. Thank you to the community for their participation and thoughtful responses. Results of the survey will be shared with the community at the membership meeting on Sunday, June 14.
After submitting a budget, the Candidate Visit Committee outlined a tentative schedule for the probeh (candidate visit) weekends expected to occur in the early part of 2016. The weekend will include opportunities for personal interactions and learning with the rabbi candidate over Shabbat. There will also be a Saturday evening event during which the rabbi will be able to share his responses to pre-submitted questions from YI Sharon members.
The Search Committee met with Rabbi Schwarzberg, the rabbi placement expert from YU. His presentation mostly aligned with the material the Search Committee discussed at last December’s community meeting, but added useful details.
The Communications Committee began compiling a list of places to post the job description (in late August). This list may be updated once the survey results are in. The committee also began working on textual and photo materials to introduce YI Sharon, as well as the wider Sharon and Greater Boston area, to the candidate.
What will happen
There will be a special meeting for the Young Israel community on Sunday June 14th at 6 pm. The agenda for the meeting is:
- Review of Proposed updated YI of Sharon Constitution and By-laws - Elka Sachs
- SHAS construction (at 100 Ames Street) update – Rabbi Potok
- Status update by the Search Committee - Survey results and job description - Shlomo Lerner, David Saltzman and Michelle Avigan
This is a very important meeting: we will be voting on the updated constitution and by-laws for the shul. Please make every effort for one member of each shul family to be present for the voting.
The Candidate Visit Committee will continue to discuss how to introduce the rabbi to various facets of our community.
The Communications Committee will continue to work on creating materials about Sharon and YI for the candidates. As a convenient by-product, the ComCom will be updating the YI Sharon website with some of this information.
How the YI Sharon community can participate
Make sure at least one member of your family to the June 14th membership meeting. Invite your friends, too! (As long as they’re members of YI Sharon.)
May 7, 2015 - Fill out Your Survey!
The Survey and Community Assessment Committee has released the survey. Please fill yours out by May 21, 2015.
- If you did not receive a survey, please contact edits@yisharon.org immediately!
- If you are married, your spouse should have received their own survey. If they didn't, see above.
- If you have any difficulties accessing the survey, or would like a volunteer to assist you in filling out the survey, contact Michelle Shain or rabbisearch@yisharon.org
May 6, 2015 - Communications Committee Update
What happened
The different committees convened after Pesach to begin (or continue) working on their pieces of the Rabbi Search puzzle. Many of them spoke with committees at other synagogues that recently completed searches. Here’s a brief summary of what each committee did:
- The Survey and Community Assessment Committee is finalizing a survey based on the materials collected during the focus groups, with input from the Transition Committee. Links to the survey will soon be sent to all adult YI members with email addresses in ShulCloud. The survey will be open for 2 weeks.
- The Process Committee sent a “charter” to each committee, telling them what their responsibilities are, with timelines to accomplish their action items. They have been making small updates to the charters based on feedback from the committees.
- The Candidate Visit Committee is planning the budget for the initial round of rabbi interviews with the Search Committee (last quarter of 2015), and for the “probeh” weekends when candidates meet the wider YI community (first quarter of 2016).
- The Search Committee met before Pesach to discuss the committee’s responsibilities. Rabbi Schwarzberg, the Director of Jewish Career Guidance and Placement at Yeshiva University, will be meeting with the committee the week of May 11th. The YU placement office sent the search committee a 45 page guide with helpful information and recommendations for conducting a serious, professional Rabbi search.
- The Communications Committee met to divvy up tasks like writing summaries for YI members (like this one), creating materials to “advertise” Sharon to the candidates, and exploring places to post the forthcoming job description.
- The Contract Committee met to discuss the various documents needed during the hiring process.
What will happen
The survey will be sent out shortly. The committees will work together, using the results of the survey, to build a job description that will be advertised in August.
A general membership meeting will be called within the next two months to update the YI Sharon by-laws so that they specify the Rabbi search process.
The Candidate Visit Committee will be planning the details of the probeh weekends, providing opportunities for the rabbi and members of YIS to get to know each other as well as showcasing Sharon itself.
The Contract Committee will be gathering information on compensation.
How the YI community can participate
We hope that as many members as possible fill out the survey -- the results will play a large role in drafting the job description and the criteria used to evaluate candidates.
Reminder: You need to login to the shul site to take the survey. Contact Roy Strunin at edits@yisharon.org if you can’t login.
Surprise bonus FAQ section!
“Why do we have so many committees?”
- So that no small set of people is saddled with a huge amount of work
- So that more YI members can have a part in the process and feel invested, and nobody feels that a small group of people chose the rabbi and excluded others’ voices
- Different committees have different tasks that are appropriate for different skill sets
- Different committees are working harder during different parts of the search process, so there aren’t really 7 committees all working at once
March 31, 2015 - Communications Committee Update
The YI Sharon Board has emphasized that the rabbi search should be as transparent as possible, and should allow all YI members to have input into the process. One of the Communications Committee's main purposes is to keep you informed and to keep open lines of communication throughout the search process. (The other purpose is telling the candidates about our community.)
The Communications Committee (or ComCom) will be sending out emails approximately monthly. These emails will summarize what has been happening in the rabbi search, what's coming up, and how YI Sharon members can participate in the upcoming weeks. We hope that when you see this address in your inbox, you'll take a few moments to stay up to date. We'll do our best to keep the emails short and relevant.
Feel free to email us at any time at rabbisearch@yisharon.org with questions or feedback about any part of the rabbi search process. We will either answer your email or forward it to the appropriate committee.
This page, http://www.yisharon.org/rabbi-
What Happened
- All committees have chairs and members
- The Survey and Community Assessment Committee ran 11 focus groups, including one for middle schoolers and one for high schoolers.
- The Process Committee has created "charters" for each committee, outlining the committees' responsibilities and timelines.
What Will Happen
- Committees that haven't started working yet will have their first meetings shortly after Pesach
- The Survey Committee is building a survey. The focus group results helped determine which factors YI members consider important. The survey questions will go into more detail on these factors.
- The survey will be opened at the end of April
- Various committees - using the results of the survey - will build a job description that will be advertised in August.
How You Can Participate
- Take the survey when it comes out
- Come to the YI membership meeting Sunday, May 31, at 7 PM
February 26, 2015 - Committees Announced
Thank you to the many volunteers who have come forward indicating their willingness to contribute their time and talents to the Rabbi Search. We are pleased to formally announce the following committees:
Communications Committee
Suellen Beiser, Co-chair
Amir Karger, Co-chair
Steve Greenwood
Lytal Kaufman
Barry Rosenstein
David Schacht
Contract Committee
Bill Edelman, Chair
David Blaszkowsky
Cary Krimsky
Erik Winton
Candidate Visit Committee
Jodi Hoffman, Chair
Marvin Berman
Dayna Delman
Ellyn Edelman
Ilyse Ehrenkranz
Simmie Hefetz
Chaim Stramer
Shlomit Taube
Search Committee
Michelle Avigan, Co-chair
Shlomo Lerner, Co-chair
David Saltzman, Co-chair
Carrie Bornstein
Michael Delman
Adam Goldman
Shira Lowenstein
Sharon Ramelson
Michoel Reiman
Avi Traum
These committees will join the Survey & Assessment and the Process Committees in working toward finding the best rabbi for our community. We wish to thank all committee members in advance for taking on this important task.
We appreciate the positive response from the Young Israel community and the clear desire that members of the kehilla have expressed to participate in the search process. There will be many more opportunities to do so in the weeks and months ahead. We hope to hear from everyone. We are always available at yisharonsearch@gmail.com and we welcome your input and feedback.
Best Regards,
Shlomo Lerner
David Saltzman
Michelle Avigan
February 8, 2015 - Sign up for focus groups!
Dear YI Sharon members,
As we embark on our search for a new rabbi, gathering input from the community is critical. The Survey & Assessment Committee is organizing focus groups where members can share what is important to them about our next rabbi – their ideas, desires and more. These focus groups will be hosted in community members' homes and moderated by community members who have been trained for this role.
The available dates and times are:
Thursday 2/12/2015 7:30 PM
Thursday 2/12/2015 8:30 PM
Sunday 2/15/2015 9:00 AM
Sunday 2/15/2015 7:30 PM
Sunday 2/15/2015 8:30 PM
Wednesday 2/18/2015 7:30 PM
Sunday 2/22/2015 9:00 AM
Sunday 2/22/2015 7:30 PM
Tuesday 2/24/2015 7:30 PM
Tuesday 2/24/2015 8:30 PM
Motzei Shabbat 2/28/2015 7:30 PM (middle schoolers only)
Motzei Shabbat 2/28/2015 7:30 PM (high schoolers only)
If you would like to participate in a focus group, please CLICK HERE** and sign up. If you are the parent of a middle schooler(s) or high schooler(s) who would like to participate in the special focus group for his/her age group, please sign up for your child, as well. Notes that groups are limited to 12 participants each, in order to ensure that every participant gets a chance to express his or her views.
Please remember to click the link a the day before your group meets to verify where your group is meeting. It's possible that a host might change, and one date is still waiting for a host.
If you cannot attend any of the focus groups, don't worry! After we review the input from the focus groups, we’ll be putting together a survey that will be sent to all members, and you'll be able to give feedback that way. The Transition Committee is also always open to member feedback and can be reached at yisharonsearch@gmail.com.
We look forward to hearing from you!
Michelle Shain and Nina Weinstock
Co-Chairs, Survey & Assessment Committee
** You can also type or copy & paste the following link into your browser: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1fzMheOhk4nEwwPL7C9FQp0MbprB-v4FBRC0qosbXlds/edit?usp=sharing.
February 2, 2015 - Survey and Assessment Committee
Dear YI of Sharon,
We would like to update you on recent developments regarding the Rabbi search.
The Survey and Assessment committee has been working over the last few weeks preparing for community focus groups to be held later this month. A protocol was carefully crafted and moderators are being trained to facilitate these meetings.
In the next week or so, a sign up form will be available electronically for shul members to choose a date and time in order to join a focus group. There will be a number of focus groups scheduled over a period of three weeks and we hope it will provide a forum for the community to express their thoughts regarding the Rabbi candidates. Information gathered in the focus groups will be used to design a comprehensive survey to be distributed by email to all members.
Please watch your email and the shul announcements for more details and information very soon.
Looking forward to working together.
Michelle Avigan
Shlomo Lerner
David Saltzman
January 14, 2014 - Two Committees Announced
Dear Young Israel of Sharon Members,
Many volunteers have come forward indicating their willingness to contribute their time and talents to the Rabbi Search. While we are still working on putting the other committee groups together, there are two that need to get started immediately. We are pleased to formally announce the following committees:
Survey & Assessment Committee
Michelle Shain, co-chair
Nina Weinstock, co-chair
David Avigan
David Gebler
Naomi Korn-Gold
Dovid Reisman
Daniel Rosen
Deena Traum
Shani Winton
Process Committee
Marcia Spellman, co-chair
Sharon Ravid, co-chair
David Berg
Randy Bergel
Sheldon Hanau
Jon Marcus
Dan Shimshak
We are currently working on populating the remaining committees. Please keep in mind that a large number of people have submitted their names for consideration and in our effort to keep the committees both small and diverse, we will be unable to offer every volunteer a committee position. There will be other opportunities to have a voice in the process and we look forward to hearing from everyone.
We would like to say thank you in advance to this group of volunteers. We will share more about the next steps soon.
Best regards,
David Saltzman
Shlomo Lerner
Michelle Avigan
December 7, 2014 - Kick-Off Meeting
We would like to thank everyone who was able to attend and participate in the meeting tonight as we formally commenced the Rabbi search. The large crowd and the healthy participation attests to the fact that our community values each other and that we all are looking forward to working together to find the right candidate. Much thanks also to those who assisted with set up, food and the audio-visuals.
To download a PDF of the slides from the Sunday December 7th meeting, click here
View the recording of the December 7th Kick Off meeting click here
If you wish to nominate yourself to any committee other than the search committee or to volunteer your home for one of the parlor meetings, please fill out the form at: http://goo.gl/forms/qdTzrijsph
If you wish to nominate yourself for the search committee, please fill out the form at http://goo.gl/forms/rIhqbhlP3L
June 17, 2014 - Information Gathering
A few weeks ago it was announced that Rabbi Sendor will be retiring from the position as Rabbi and that we have been asked to put together a search process and supportive committees. This is the first of several emails in which we will communicate the process and structure and keep you up to date on our progress.
The next task is to get the whole membership involved by planning an evening for information gathering and an online survey. This will help the community define itself and shape the job description for candidates. Plans are for these beginning meetings and surveys to be scheduled for December. We are happy to announce that two members of the shul who have special expertise in these areas have agreed to help develop these data gathering instruments. David Gebler has extensive experience in facilitating groups and consulting with organizations to develop strategic planning tools, and Michelle Shain, who works at the Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies at Brandeis, has a professional focus in survey research and quantitative analysis.
We greatly appreciate that people have already started reaching out to us. We have received emails from several of you regarding other shuls that have recently concluded a Rabbinical search and we plan to follow up with these contacts to learn what we can to help shape our future plans.
If you have any further questions or comments, please reach out and speak to us in person or contact us through our email address yisharonsearch@gmail.com
We look forward to hearing from you.
Michelle Avigan
Shlomo Lerner
David Saltzman
June 2, 2014 - In the Beginning
Dear YI Sharon Community,
As many of you heard at last week's General Membership Meeting, we are the Strategic Planning Committee for the YI Rabbi Search.
We are at the very beginning stages of developing a plan for the search. We have already met and continue to reach out to the YI Brookline folks who were instrumental in running that shul's search for a new Rabbi. Our hope is to have a plan and timeline approved by the YI Sharon Board in the next few months. Once the Board give us the go ahead, we will share all the details with the community.
Rabbi Sendor has shown us that despite the fact that the community is composed of people who are in different life-stages, who have different needs, and who hold onto different hashkafot, we can all work together as a shul that is committed to halacha while also engaged with our society. One of our primary goals is to keep this coalition together. We have learned much from the Brookline process and believe that with its emphasis on open communication, transparency, and collaboration, we can achieve this goal. Our plan is to involve many people in committee work and to encourage copious feedback throughout this process. As part of this, we envision a survey of the membership as well as community meetings and forums. In short, we believe that it is essential that everyone in the community has a voice.
We see this as an opportunity to strengthen our sense of unity and reaffirm the special nature of this remarkable community. If anyone has thoughts or concerns, please do not hesitate to approach one of us or send an email to yisharonsearch@gmail.com.
Sincerely,
Michelle Avigan
Shlomo Lerner
David Saltzman