I want to apologize to my cantorial colleagues for my imprecision in my blog post on May 6, 2012. In that post, I implied that cantors are less than full-fledged clergy. That is not what I meant to say and I feel very badly for that mistake and the upset that it caused my cantorial colleagues. For the record, I’ve always considered cantors full partners in synagogue work and had the pleasure of having a cantorial partner for a decade when I was in congregational life. Given my views and experience, you can imagine how mortified I was when Cantor Steve Stein, Executive Vice-President of the Cantors Assembly, rightfully called me to account, for which I’m grateful.

My inaccuracy was a reminder about the exponential risks of causing hurt in our wired world. The purpose in my post was to highlight the recent change that Hebrew Union College made from “investing” to “ordaining” cantors, and a similar change under discussion at The Jewish Theological Seminary. Regardless of title, cantors have been and will continue to be full-fledged clergy and in synagogues where cantors and rabbis work as partners, it is incredibly positive for them and the congregation.

I’ve invited Cantor Stein to share the long-standing efforts that the Cantors Assembly has made to re-imagine the American Cantorate. And I thank him for taking the time to educate me and the broader public on these efforts. Rabbis, educators and all synagogue professionals can learn from the vision of the Cantors Assembly.

Rabbi Hayim Herring

I am grateful to Rabbi Herring for affording me the opportunity to share these thoughts on behalf of the Cantors Assembly. Our organization and profession has been keenly aware for some time that what synagogues are seeking relative to the role their Hazzan plays in the daily lives of congregants, along with the style of music worshipers want to hear during services, has changed dramatically.  We further recognize the vulnerability of our sacred profession as a result of the genuine economic challenges facing our congregations.

Moving forward, we believe that synagogues will somehow find the money, as they have always done, to engage what is known in sports as an “impact player.” This is an individual capable of genuinely enriching and uplifting the lives of congregants through her/his talent, creativity, knowledge, charisma and dedication.

We have approached the current challenges in a number of ways.  Some of those steps are as follow:

1) A growing number of colleagues are leading “Friday Night Live” type services in their congregations.  Methodology and repertoire for doing so are covered in sessions at our annual conventions as well as through our extensive and growing continuing education program.

2) Students enrolled in the H.L. Miller Cantorial School at the Jewish Theological Seminary are encouraged to simultaneously earn a Masters degree in Jewish education.

3) Cantors in the field and those currently enrolled as students are increasingly focusing on pastoral studies to enable them to be of greater assistance to their rabbinic colleagues in caring for congregants.

4) We are beginning to envision the Hazzan as the synagogue’s artistic director with further training in areas such as Drama and Storahtelling.

5) We have engaged an outside consulting firm to interview Rabbis and synagogue lay leaders to elicit their input relative to how the Hazzan can be most effective and helpful.

These are but a few examples of the ways in which we have begun to fashion a new vision and direction for the Cantorate.  To be sure, the challenges are significant.  But, rather than fear change, we embrace it as an opportunity to expand the ways in which we touch the lives of the countless adults and youngsters it is our good fortune and privilege to serve.

Hazzan Stephen J. Stein

Executive Vice President, Cantors Assembly

From searunner.sv-timemachine.net

You’re probably waiting for a punchline, but this is not a joke. Rather, it was a panel discussion topic of a continuing education program for rabbis in which I was involved last week. (You can read more about the program in Jewish Theological Seminary Chancellor Arnie Eisen’s most recent blog post.) The issue underlying the program was the challenge of engaging younger generations, weaned on social media, in Jewish learning that is spiritually relevant and authentic. Other professions, like broadcast and print media, have had to migrate to multiple channels to reach out to and cultivate younger audiences. And that’s also true of the museum world.

For religious communities, which are conservative by nature, the challenge of engagement is even greater. No matter what the religion or denomination, religions are in the business of preservation, transmission, adaptation and trying to remain faithful to an inherited tradition.  Yet, America is the land of hyper-innovation. So, Ali Velshi,  CNN anchor and chief business correspondent, and Michael Rosenzweig, President and CEO of the National Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia, gave us their respective perspectives on this challenge.

What’s the common thread that unites these three different professions?

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A few days ago, the JTA carried an article about Hebrew Union College’s decision to change the title of cantors from “invested” to “ordained.” Based on some interviews that it conducted with rabbis and cantors, HUC explained that one of the reasons for the change was to reflect the reality that cantors and rabbis studied for the same length of time and that cantors had multi-faceted roles and were not just “singers.”

Having just spent some time learning with a group of Conservative cantors, the article peaked my interest because of what it didn’t say. What I heard from the group of cantors I was with was a desire to re-conceptualize their roles so that congregations would understand the true value that they added. Their concern seemed to stem as much from a need to appropriately acknowledge a lengthy course of study as it did from anxiety over a profession that is contracting.

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From Jean Spector on Fotopedia

As happened with many rabbinical students of my era, I dreamed about the possibility of making aliyah after rabbinical school. And, like most of my peers with similar dreams, I opted not to. I have some regrets about that decision and I also have tremendous admiration for my colleagues who decided to re-root themselves in Israel.

A few years ago, my wife and I had an opportunity to purchase a small apartment in Yerushalayim. At this stage in our lives, we are only able to use it several times a year, although we hope, God willing, to increase that time as the years pass. I have no illusions – we are not by any stretch of the imagination living a full dream of aliyah. But we are, at least, frequent visitors, possibly beginning the journey that we deferred, and perhaps making it possible for other family members to more easily pursue their dreams of aliyah.

Being physically separated from Israel and trying to celebrate Israel’s Independence Day is a bit of a challenge for me. One way that I can make it more real is to think about it as a call to action for renewing our own ties to our land, language and country. That call to action can take many forms. For some, it means spending serious amounts of time on a regular basis in Israel. For others, it means connecting with family and friends in Israel more regularly. And still for others, it may mean becoming (more) proficient in Hebrew or really immersing in the rich and diverse contemporary culture of Israel.

One of my motivations for working so hard at this stage of life is very personal-it’s so that I can accelerate my timetable for longer stays in Israel. As we look back on Yom ha-Atzmaut, Israel’s 64th Independence Day, how does Israel call upon you to renew your connection?

B’shalom,

Rabbi Hayim Herring

From www.soil-net.com

I just returned from Yerushalayim, where I celebrated Pesach with a part of my family. Ayzeh niflah! It was a wondrous experience that I’ve now had three years in a row. In fact, even though my wife and I have been spending some serious time there more recently since we bought an apartment, I still get a spiritual adrenalin rush with each visit and feel my heart overflowing with love. But increasingly, I’ve also been getting an intellectual headache. Israel evokes religious and emotional resonance but is starting to provoke cognitive dissonance. I really felt this conflict during Pesach.

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from "tastytouring" on flickr

In my last blog post (“Don’t Imprison Your Hope for Change“), I raised the issue of how leaders in organizations sometimes impose restraints upon themselves that they later come to believe to be beyond their control. In other words, they actually participate in making themselves prisoners of their own inability to change their organizations.

If that’s correct, this observation also has a bearing upon one of the critical tasks of leaders. And that is to awaken the belief in the possibility of fundamental change in those who follow them. According to one rabbinic tradition, the Israelites are not ready to be redeemed by God  until they first demonstrate some initiative of their own. They have to perform some action that awakens their belief in the power to help shape their own destiny.

Great leaders do not impose their personal views on their constituents. Rather, they awaken the belief in the power of change in other individuals, and guide them toward a new future with love, support, challenge and patience.

Chag Kasher v’Sameach,

Rabbi Hayim Herring

from Peter van den Hamer on Fotopedia

What is the psychological process by which people who are free allow themselves to become subjugated by another? Sometimes the answer is clear: you wake up one morning and see a military patrol rolling down your street. But that’s not the case that interests me for the moment. What I would like to understand better is how people who are free gradually surrender some of their freedoms so that after a period of time, they can no longer recall what it means to be free.

That is one of the questions I’m thinking about as Passover approaches.

Classical rabbinic sources are replete with hypotheses on this question.  After all, the Israelites did not become slaves overnight.  Their enslavement was a process that took place over a long period of time until the erosion of freedom was complete.  There were clearly external forces that limited the Israelites’ freedom. But there were also inner forces that enabled their acceptance of these limitations.

Often, organizations and individuals confuse external restraints – those that are beyond their control – with inner restraints that they impose upon themselves.  They attribute their powerlessness, their inability to change their situation, to forces outside of themselves even though they still have more ability to act then they choose to admit.  They internalize these external restraints and over time may even make themselves prisoners of their own fears of using the power that they have to change their situation.

Whether you are a volunteer or professional leader, here’s a question to think about as you prepare for Passover: what situation in your organization do you actually have the ability to change, because you now recognize that what you thought were external constraints are actually self-imposed?

Chag Kasher v’Sameach,

Rabbi Hayim Herring

From "Not Quite a Photographr" on Flickr

If Greg Smith, a Goldman Sachs executive who resigned today in an Op-Ed in the New York Times, is correct, his former employer is corrupt to the core. Its leaders have violated the trust of their clients and traded professional integrity for profits. Smith voiced commonly held beliefs about big bankers. What made his critique so devastating is that it came from an insider.

One of Smith’s roles was to recruit students for Goldman Sachs’s coveted summer internships. One of his more telling comments was: “I knew it was time to leave when I realized I could no longer look students in the eye and tell them what a great place this was to work.” Clearly, he couldn’t look at himself in the mirror, either.

In this week’s Torah reading, Vayakhel-Pekudei (Exodus 35:1-40:38), Moses calls the Israelites to build the mishkan, the traveling tabernacle, and the people give generously to accomplish the goal. In last week’s reading, Ki Tissa (30:11-34:35), the people also contribute abundantly, but their donations go toward building the golden calf.

Why do they give for a noble cause in this week’s reading and a debased caused in last week’s reading? The answer can be reduced to one word: leadership. Aaron allowed himself to be corrupted by the people, but Moses had the strength to keep them focused on higher aspirations. That’s what genuine leaders do.

As Smith reminds us, the integrity of any organization or enterprise always depends upon those leading it. That is an inevitable truth.

Image courtesy of davidwesterfield.net

I recall the saying that truly righteous people are not those who don’t deceive others, but who don’t deceive themselves (and if anyone can help me with a citation, I would appreciate it!). If you’ve ever been in a position of leadership, you’ve probably encountered a situation where you haven’t been completely honest with yourself about a leadership decision. You had a tough choice to make and instead of making the hard choice, you rationalized an easier one. These are difficult situations, where we struggle with our integrity. But experience shows that despite the difficulty, it’s better to be honest with the people who have entrusted you with leadership than to rationalize making an easier decision and engage in self-deception in the process.

The classic example is in this week’s Torah reading, Ki Tissa (Exodus 30:11-34:35). Moses is up on Mount Sinai preparing to bring the Ten Commandments to the people. But the people believe that he will not return and worry that they will be bereft of a leader. In a state of panic, they turn to Aaron, the brother Moses temporarily placed in charge, and persuade him to fashion a god. (According to some Biblical scholars, a possible reason for a calf or young bull is that it was used as a pedestal on which a god stood.) Aaron capitulates with the justification that they will be used as part of a festival offering to God, while the people, who as slaves to Egyptians witnessed a cult of idolatry, worship them as gods.

You can almost reconstruct Aaron’s rationalization. “Moses is delayed, so I’m going to buy time. I’ll collect gold from the people and create these divine symbols.” But the people interpreted the symbols as actual gods, which Aaron should have anticipated. Aaron did have another option. He could have refused the people, despite the potential danger of facing an angry mob if he did so. And if he had, he would have saved himself and the people a heavy punishment.

If you are in a leadership position, you know that it’s simply not possible to make the right choice every single time. But whenever you feel that you’re risking your integrity by rationalizing a decision, it’s best to pause and think again.

From Rennett Stowe On flickr

If you’re a staff member of an organization or synagogue, three dreaded words are “weekly staff meeting.” If you’re a board member, you may not have the same feeling about attending scheduled board meetings, but being at one is probably not on your Top 10 favorite things to do. Why do we allow ourselves to suffer often from board boredom and meeting malaise?

Board and staff meetings are unfulfilling because they are unproductive. Updates that could happen electronically take up too much meeting time. Information that only a couple of people need monopolize staff discussions. Even when meetings are run efficiently, they are not necessarily productive. That’s because essential, strategic issues that require multiple perspectives are not discussed. Instead, meetings become focused on the here and now–here’s how we did it the last time, and now we’re going to do it this way (which is often only incrementally different). The result—people at meeting develop inventive surreptitious ways to check email on their smart phones.

So here’s a challenge for you: cut your meetings by 30% on a trial basis of 6 months. That decrease can take different forms. It can mean shortening existing meetings by 30% or decreasing the number of meetings on your calendar by that number.  I can’t guarantee it, but it’s highly probable that you will be much more happy and productive.

For more ideas on how to make the most of meetings, you can read my new book, Tomorrow’s Synagogue Today. Creating Vibrant Centers of Jewish Life.

B’shalom,

Rabbi Hayim Herring