Beth+Am+Israel-+Handout

ספר תהילים פרק צו (א) שִׁירוּ לַהֹ שִׁיר חָדָשׁ שִׁירוּ לַהֹ כָּל הָאָרֶץ : (ב) שִׁירוּ לַהֹ בָּרְכוּ שְׁמוֹ בַּשְֹּרוּ מִיּוֹם לְיוֹם יְשׁוּעָתוֹ : (ג) סַפְּרוּ בַגּוֹיִם כְּבוֹדוֹ בְּכָל הָעַמִּים נִפְלְאוֹתָיו :

//Sing to YHVH a new song, sing to YHVH all the earth (//**Ps. 96:1**//)//

//Music is a world within itself With a language we all understand With an equal opportunity For all to sing, dance and clap their hands// -Stevie Wonder

Music is a common and vital thread. It connects us through the generations. It touches our souls. It links us to our deepest memories. It builds community and common experience through a vocabulary of melodies. Music connects us at the synagogue and at home.

Music is a medium in which we can all participate, regardless of Hebrew knowledge, years of schooling, or knowledge of prayer. Even those who struggle to stay on key can connect through drumming and other approaches. Creating Jewish memories through music will establish a foundation for life-long Jewish connection.


 * Musical Engagement will DEEPEN AND INTENSIFY PARENTS' AND CHILDREN'S ENGAGEMENT IN JEWISH LIVING AND LEARNING ON SHABBAT, HOLIDAYS, AND THROUGHOUT THE YEAR by using music to increase the accessibility and enjoyment of Jewish experiences.


 * Musical Engagement will INTEGRATE JEWISH LEARNING WITH JEWISH PRACTICE by supporting members’ comfort with and excitement about services, and by connecting the music learned with acts of Gemilut Hasadim as elements of Jewish practice.


 * Musical Engagement will FOSTER CONNECTION AMONG DIVERSE CONSTITUENCIES AND ACROSS DIFFERENT ASPECTS OF JEWISH LIFE by building special bridges to link adults without children and empty-nesters to families with children, and by connecting musical learning for services to Gemilut Hasadim activities.


 * Musical Engagement will PROMOTE COLLABORATION AMONG CONGREGATIONAL STAFF AND LAY LEADERSHIP by working together to restate and apply our vision in a new context (music). In addition, initiatives like the use of Musical Guides will help members and professionals work closely together to plan and facilitate the flow of music in services and generate ruach.

Musical Engagement ALIGNS WITH THE CONGREGATION'S CORE VISION because it focuses on Torah, Avodah, and Gemilut Hasadim in support of lifelong Jewish learning and experiences that are both meaningful and accessible, and which are built on a foundation of intergenerational programming focused on Shabbat and holiday experience

Torah – Integrating Music into Education
Goal: Use music as a medium to offer multiple points of entry to engage, inspire, and connect students, parents, and other members.

Avodah – TRANSFORMING Services
Goal: Inspire the musical participation of members in services so they will want to come and will feel comfortable, engaged, and connected to others.

Gemilut Hasadim – Extending our Reach
Goal: Inspire each other – children to adults and adults to children – to use music to reach communities that are less fortunate.

Beth Am Israel was one of the first Shabbat-centered family education programs. Our congregation has been transformed by the organic integration of family and community in learning, prayer, and social action. We therefore have a deep appreciation for the power of this approach. However, there is room for us to further intensify family engagement on Shabbat and holidays, by developing and nurturing a comprehensive, intergenerational infusion of music into services, classrooms and programs. We will:
 * Amplify the unique components of what has made our Shabbat-centered family education program successful;
 * Model how to reenergize a program after it has faced challenges, which will inevitably be critical for the survival of similar programs; and
 * Develop additional sophisticated program components that can be templates and tools for other synagogues.

Shabbat-centered activities are already part of the BAI culture and language. In this grant, we focus on using music to generate new paths to connection, to build on our strengths and to spark renewed interest in our programs and values.

BAI instituted a Shabbat-centered family education program beginning in 1996. Our efforts in synagogue transformation became nationally recognized. Today, however, we face some of the same challenges in membership apathy that are characteristic of many synagogues. There are several issues that must be addressed to promote the continued success of our Shabbat-centered experiment. Some of the challenges have been present from its inception, and others have arisen over time. The challenges are:

__Motivating families and others to participate on Shabbat and holidays:__ · Recapturing ruach in services in a new, larger sanctuary. · Reenergizing the community and integrating new professional leadership · Energizing Friday night and holidays in addition to the current focus on Shabbat morning. (Our Shabbat-centered programs have focused almost exclusively on Shabbat morning.) · Engaging empty-nesters in new ways and responding to the needs of this demographic, new in significance to our community __Integrating students and families in the community who are not part of the Shabbat educational program:__ · Engagement on Shabbat and holidays of students and families whose primary day for education is Sunday. · Engaging day school students and families on Shabbat since most attention is focused on the Shabbat supplementary education students. · Smoothing the flow of parents on Shabbat into the main sanctuary from the children’s services and adult education programs in which they participate. This proposal was developed with broad input from a wide range of stakeholders representing key constituents of BAI. Our //ad hoc// committee included the following representatives: Education chairs, religious life committee chair, choir participants, school parents from all three options (Shabbat, Sunday, and day school), school students, members who helped design the original Shabbat-centered family education program, a teacher, a musician, a participant in a Jewish gospel choir and Jewish educators. Staff members included the Rabbi, Prayer Leader, and Education Director.

Specific committees that helped shape this proposal include: the Education Committee (including the NESS program – Nurturing Excellence in Synagogue Schools – with which the committee is pursuing a review and improvement process), the Executive Committee, and the Board which includes representation across the community.

This proposal received wide lay and professional support. We are confident we will be able to implement it successfully.

__Measuring Results__ In Musical Engagement in Judaism, we are not only seeking good musical experiences, we are seeking improvement in members’ overall experience of synagogue life. Therefore, we will assess results both specifically and generally. For the general perspective, we will survey our members asking them to compare their synagogue experience with their experience the prior year. Though the reported information will be based on their subjective perception and memory of their involvement, it will give an accurate picture of members’ perceptions, which is itself a critical measure. Our goal is to see self-reported noticeable improvement in: We will ask whether the Musical Engagement in Judaism programs contributed to their changed experience. We will also seek to compare the results for key groups (Families in the Shabbat program, the Sunday program, the day school, empty nesters, and others).
 * Engagement and inspiration in services
 * Accessibility and comfort of services
 * Families feel welcome and engaged, regardless of which approach they have chosen for educating their children
 * Sense of connection to other members
 * Students’ enjoyment of education program
 * Ability to articulate the vision underlying our congregation and this initiative

We also measure the improvement in our educational program performance based on the detailed and thorough Jewish School Assessment and School Improvement Process (JSASIP) assessment tool. As part of the NESS initiative, a JSASIP assessment was completed this winter, providing baseline results. The assessment will be completed again in each of the next two years, allowing us to measure improvement.

From a quantitative perspective, we will:
 * Compare the number of families attending Shabbat services with the prior year. Our goal is for a 25% increase in attendance, ideally equally accomplished in each group – Families from the Shabbat education program, the Sunday education program, and day school.
 * Enroll 12 empty nesters who commit to pairing with families as mentors in the education program.
 * Train 12 members committed to serving as Musical Guides on Shabbat.
 * Increase BAI membership by 20 member units (we believe a successful program will generate excitement, draw new members, and retain current ones).

In addition to increasing participation and involvement of BAI members across a broad spectrum of constituencies and activities, we will provide a model for using music to engage members in Shabbat-centered family education in other communities. We will make available the curriculum that we will develop for use by other synagogues pursuing Shabbat-centered family education.

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