Synagogue Transformation Revisited and some thoughts on "k'dushah"

Richard A. Marker

December 2002

Three years ago, I penned an article for Sh'ma calling for the transformation of the synagogue as we have known it in post-War [WWII, that is] America. The article posited the impossibility of any one synagogue effectively delivering service in all of the areas it arrogates to itself. By attempting to do so, I argued, mediocrity is virtually guaranteed.

I also challenged the idea of the "destination" synagogue edifice to which people went on special occasions, but which is physically, and thus psychologically and spiritually, removed from the daily life of most members.

At the time the article was published, the proposal which inspired the greatest animus and confusion was the suggestion that synagogues should be located in malls. This and other "out of the box" proposals received a brief flurry of public attention from synagogues and federations - some affirmed the ideas, others challenged them. But my 15 minutes of fame passed as others added their own proposals on synagogue transformation and renewal.

However, at the recent General Assembly of the United Jewish Communities in Philadelphia, several people told me how that article had influenced their own thinking. I discovered that the ideas in the article "have legs." So, I have decided to articulate how my thinking about the synagogue and rabbis has further evolved.

This is an opportune moment to clarify my bona fides. While my own rabbinic career has never included a pulpit [except for High Holiday and scholar-in-residence assignments], I have been extensively involved with synagogues. I served for a decade as the [lay] vice president of one, have visited and spoken at synagogues throughout the USA and in many countries throughout the world, and today regularly daven at several. And, while I have my theological and stylistic preferences, I am eclectic enough to attend those representing all of the streams.

It is also an opportune moment to acknowledge that over the last few years a growing number of synagogues have begun to address some of their own shortcomings - particularly in the area of liturgy. The hard work of groups such as Synagogue 2000, the selective prodding of the STAR consortium, the productive work of ECE and several local initiatives has begun to take hold. Experiments in family education have begun to be more widespread, changing the nature of how families experience the synagogue. Openness to more "spiritually sensitive" music and prayer experience is visible across the denominational spectrum. More synagogues have "welcome brochures" or "greeters." It is more common to find multiple prayer options. More synagogues are asking how their own can be better.

Three years after the previous article appeared, a yasher koach and kol hakavod is due for for the many innovations and greater openness which have happened since.

However, the basic premises of my article still apply. The ideas I presented address an underlying set of questions that these initiatives have only skirted.

Moreover, resistance to change remains very real. My experience in speaking about this topic has been instructive. Not uncommonly, the response of synagogue audiences has been: "you are so correct, but not here!" I learned that every place, those which are objectively thriving and those which are not, has devotees for whom the status quo is satisfying. It is only fair to find ways to legitimate those who are satisfied even as one pushes for radical changes. And there are many rabbis who look at their own full schedules as ask "what more can I do?" So if one is an advocate for a restructured synagogue, it is only fair to address these underlying issues.