Kerry M. Olitzky > Quotes

“Humility is a key to recovery and renewal. When humanity entered the modern era, we thought that we were in control of the world. No need for a Higher Power of any sort. We were our own “masters of the universe.” Eventually we discovered how very wrong we were. Some came to this recognition on their own. For others, it was the voyage from active addiction to recovery”
― Kerry M. Olitzky, 100 Blessings Every Day: Daily Twelve Step Recovery Affirmations, Exercises for Personal Growth & Renewal Reflecting Seasons of the Jewish Year

“Synagogue leaders have yet to realize that the synagogue has once again become essentially a house of prayer. Many of the alternative synagogue structures that are emerging—primarily led by young people—are built solely around prayer services. Instead of accepting this”
― Kerry M. Olitzky, Playlist Judaism: Making Choices for a Vital Future

“Public Space Judaism is designed to address these barriers. The notion emerges from the foundational idea of outreach, as I understand it. Outreach is not about a specific target population. Rather, it is a methodology. Outreach methodology brings Jewish life to a variety of traditionally underserved populations by going where people areinstead of waiting for them to come to us. Where most Jews are not is inside the four walls of synagogues. We know that free or low-cost Jewish programs held in secular venues attract less-affiliated participants than the same programs held in synagogues or JCCs. Why not program where people spend the majority of time—outside in public spaces—rather than inside the synagogue, where most programs currently take place? The location barrier is arguably the most important, because even if all other barriers have been lowered, those folks who have felt”
― Kerry M. Olitzky, Playlist Judaism: Making Choices for a Vital Future

“pushed away in the past are too hesitant to enter synagogues to see what’s changed. While the Public Space Judaism model is based on location, it also addresses several additional barriers to participation and takes into consideration the necessary best practices of outreach, which include the unobtrusive collection of contact information and a specific follow-up plan. The goal is not to water down Judaism but to remove the cultural obstacles that have developed around Judaism—obstacles that may have had a purpose at one time but now push more people away than they keep in. Public Space Judaism is a portal of entry. It is not an immersive Jewish experience. The Public Space Judaism model can be described as a series of concentric circles. The circle in the center reflects deeper institutional involvement, while the nonparticipating majority of Jewish households are in the outermost circle. The outermost ring gives this”
― Kerry M. Olitzky, Playlist Judaism: Making Choices for a Vital Future

“default position, synagogues need to take what they do best—if they can indeed do them better than any other institution in the Jewish landscape—and locate their “brand” in the broader community. Synagogues need to be open to those issues that are engaging people in contexts outside the synagogues. For example, there is a growing interest in food justice issues, particularly among millennials, yet few synagogues have built their programs around this issue.”
― Kerry M. Olitzky, Playlist Judaism: Making Choices for a Vital Future

“Ten Working Principles of Big Tent Judaism 1. All people are welcome in an inclusive Jewish community, including those with a diversity of opinions, beliefs, affiliations, levels of observance, and so forth. An inclusive Jewish community is built on a culture of welcoming newcomers. 2. All are welcome in an inclusive Jewish community, regardless of background or status, particularly those who have traditionally been marginalized, such as Jews of color, members of the LGBT”
― Kerry M. Olitzky, Playlist Judaism: Making Choices for a Vital Future

“5. It is just as important to establish groups of followers who are seeking change as it is to foster leaders who will be instrumental in making change. Reflection and Discussion Questions for Synagogue Leaders 1. How do you help large numbers of people navigate their journey from one institution to another and still keep that journey intimate and personal? 2. In what ways can a synagogue strive to serve distinct target populations even if those populations are transitory? 3. To what extent is the spiritual environment of an institution shaped by the individual personalities or interests of its spiritual leaders? What are the advantages and disadvantages of building a spiritual environment according to the inclination of”
― Kerry M. Olitzky, Playlist Judaism: Making Choices for a Vital Future

“inclusive Jewish”
― Kerry M. Olitzky, Playlist Judaism: Making Choices for a Vital Future

“The challenge facing the synagogue is not an increase in the cost of membership. The challenge facing the synagogue is a decreasing cost benefit felt by its members.”
― Kerry M. Olitzky, Playlist Judaism: Making Choices for a Vital Future

“Some synagogues are simply calling themselves community institutions rather than membership institutions that require payment of dues to become a member. These synagogues suggest that all locals are members of the synagogue and therefore welcome to use its services or the services of its professional staff. Like online services that are free, these congregations would charge only for upgrades or premium services, such as personal or family counseling by the rabbi or the education of children.”
― Kerry M. Olitzky, Playlist Judaism: Making Choices for a Vital Future

“have to stand on their own merit. 10. There is no ownership of ideas in the marketplace.”
― Kerry M. Olitzky, Playlist Judaism: Making Choices for a Vital Future

“If we turn the synagogue inside out, the synagogue would serve a far broader audience, one that is not restricted by the traditional notion of synagogue membership. Synagogues can reach out and serve a population larger than their current membership if they are willing to emphasize those things that the synagogue does well and that are within its purview, while refraining from those things that are irrelevant to the synagogue and its work. In too many situations,”
― Kerry M. Olitzky, Playlist Judaism: Making Choices for a Vital Future

“The contemporary needs of North American Jews are directly tied to the trajectory of the immigrant experience in North America. The generation now coming of age is the first generation we may call fully American, American Jews.”
― Kerry M. Olitzky, Playlist Judaism: Making Choices for a Vital Future

“of”
― Kerry M. Olitzky, Playlist Judaism: Making Choices for a Vital Future

“Ten Things about Judaism and the Marketplace of Ideas 1. Jewish thought can enrich the lives of people, whether or not the people are Jewish. 2. There are many access points to Jewish”
― Kerry M. Olitzky, Playlist Judaism: Making Choices for a Vital Future

“Lessons Learned about Public Space Judaism Events 1. Some affiliated people—who may not be part of the target audience—will undoubtedly attend Public Space Judaism events. But the focus of recruitment efforts should be on those previously unaffiliated—that’s the target population. 2. Only about a third of the people encountered from the target audience”
― Kerry M. Olitzky, Playlist Judaism: Making Choices for a Vital Future

“His central principle, and that of Judaism, is to confront the world and its challenges boldly, never to be afraid. The ultimate dissolution of fear comes from the realization that this life is only a passage into the next life: a messianic time when all those things that we fear, everything that causes us spiritual pain, will be removed from our midst, forever. Once we come to this realization, we might be able to see each day on this earth as indeed a blessing, for each day takes us further on the road.”
― Kerry M. Olitzky, Life's Daily Blessings: Inspiring Reflections on Gratitude and Joy for Every Day, Based on Jewish Wisdom

“While the American synagogue was built with the financial support of what are commonly called three-day-a-year Jews, referring to those who may attend the synagogue for worship only on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, that generation of occasional synagogue attendees is losing interest in the synagogue. Thus, either people are fully embracing the synagogue—and willing to support and participate in it—or they are unwilling to support an institution in which they do not participate. Without support from these two groups, the synagogue may no longer”
― Kerry M. Olitzky, Playlist Judaism: Making Choices for a Vital Future

“hegemony of the modern synagogue. These are the events that surround birth, coming of age, marriage (including divorce), and death. Many synagogues will name babies for parents who are not members, presuming that one day they might become members. And more often than not, those who marry are not synagogue members, since they no longer live in their hometowns and, as young singles, have not been motivated to join a synagogue in their new city of residence. Following the common trajectory of synagogue membership, by the time people die (in old age), they have already discontinued their synagogue membership, although perhaps their children are still members. Thus, some synagogues do funerals for people who are technically not members. In practice, the synagogue generally limits its services only to members in the area of bat or bar mitzvah. Most life-cycle events (outside of these four core events) that individuals mark,”
― Kerry M. Olitzky, Playlist Judaism: Making Choices for a Vital Future

“community, and those who have intermarried. 3. Participants in an inclusive Jewish community lead with meaning rather than obligation. An inclusive Jewish community provides a benefit to all its participants; that is, they all feel they belong and are at home. 4. An inclusive Jewish community acknowledges that many paths lead a person into the community and that people take different paths once they enter it. 5. An inclusive Jewish community recognizes that Judaism competes with all other options for people’s time and therefore must provide high-quality, meaningful experiences that also answer the big questions they may have about their own life journeys. 6. An inclusive Jewish community identifies and then addresses the obstacles keeping more individuals from”
― Kerry M. Olitzky, Playlist Judaism: Making Choices for a Vital Future

“Lessons Learned by Sixth and I 1. Establishing a partnership with local synagogues is important if these institutions are going to be prepared to welcome those who have been reached by an alternative institution. 2. Narrowing the focus to a particular target population may mean that the community is unstable, because participants will age in and out. 3. Quality control of programs is important to the branding of an institution. 4. To succeed in a climate of change in the Jewish community, institutions have to be nimble.”
― Kerry M. Olitzky, Playlist Judaism: Making Choices for a Vital Future

“regardless of background, and is geared specifically for adult beginner learners. Also, the program is advertised in secular media.”
― Kerry M. Olitzky, Playlist Judaism: Making Choices for a Vital Future

“practice, the synagogue generally limits its services only to members in the area of bat or bar mitzvah. Most life-cycle events (outside of these four core events) that individuals mark, such as getting a drivers license or graduating from college, are outside the purview of the synagogue. And for life-cycle events that used to be a benefit of synagogue membership, such as bar or bat mitzvahs and weddings, families are looking outside of the synagogue for assistance. This new model allows the synagogue to reach a larger target population and expand its ability to bring Judaism together with important milestones, beyond the traditional four, in a person’s life.”
― Kerry M. Olitzky, Playlist Judaism: Making Choices for a Vital Future

“participation, such as insider language or the high cost of Jewish life. 7. An inclusive Jewish community takes Jewish life out to where people are, rather than waiting for them to enter Jewish communal institutions, and helps them answer for themselves, why be Jewish? 8. An inclusive Jewish community includes a coalition of organizations that offer the entire gamut of Jewish life and lets the users decide the priorities of the community, rather than each institution trying to be all things to all people. 9. Participants in an inclusive Jewish community are passionately committed to sharing it with newcomers and are willing to work to improve it and nurture its growth for the future. 10. Programs and ideas that work to grow an inclusive Jewish community are open source and shared among all individuals and organizations interested in a more vibrant Judaism and Jewish community.”
― Kerry M. Olitzky, Playlist Judaism: Making Choices for a Vital Future

“local area become members of the synagogue simply by virtue of their living in the synagogue’s newly defined service area. They are then entitled to the membership benefits of the institution. (Premium membership could perhaps be available at an extra charge.) Moreover, the synagogue has to be willing to program beyond its walls, in public spaces. This is what I call Public Space Judaism. We talk about the Jewish community—the synagogue community—as if we are talking about its majority, or even the whole. However, when we use the term Jewish community, we are generally speaking about only a minority of Jews in a region—those who are members of synagogues or Jewish Community Centers or those who support the local Jewish Federation financially with a campaign gift. In reality, the majority are not affiliated with these three institutions and do not financially support them. Turning the synagogue inside out is a method”
― Kerry M. Olitzky, Playlist Judaism: Making Choices for a Vital Future

“will be interested in moving forward on the path of engagement during the first year of follow-up activities and events. The other two-thirds will take an additional year or two. 3. Families with young children tend to access Judaism through their children at holiday time. 4. For Public Space Judaism events to be most effective, they have to take place on numerous occasions throughout the year and be dispersed throughout the wider community. 5. Public Space Judaism events raise the profile of the sponsoring institution. As a result, soliciting funds (but not at the events themselves) from community members outside the sponsoring institution becomes easier. Reflection and Discussion Questions for Synagogue Leaders”
― Kerry M. Olitzky, Playlist Judaism: Making Choices for a Vital Future

“1. How can synagogue leaders transform those events already planned into Public Space Judaism events? 2. How can we reallocate our human and fiscal resources to make Public Space Judaism events a priority? 3. Who among our active participants and members would be most effective planning and implementing such events? Public Space Judaism events are only one way of turning your institution inside out. But they are proven, effective entry vehicles for finding people and engaging them. They are not meant to replace more intensive programs or activities for those who already part of your community. But they are a good way to begin the process of turning your institution completely inside out.”
― Kerry M. Olitzky, Playlist Judaism: Making Choices for a Vital Future

“To emphasize what is required for this proposed change—which is quite substantial—I like to say that I believe the synagogue needs to turn itself inside out. In other words, it has to become an institution that serves the entire local Jewish community—and, in some cases, secularists too—rather than functioning solely as an institution that serves only its members. When synagogues turn themselves inside out, all Jews and all those in Jewish families in the”
― Kerry M. Olitzky, Playlist Judaism: Making Choices for a Vital Future

“their feet. And that vote may help them march away from the synagogue if the synagogue doesn’t find effective ways to engage them.”
― Kerry M. Olitzky, Playlist Judaism: Making Choices for a Vital Future

“its current form. Yet, all is not lost. The experience of being fully American has also motivated large segments of millennials to embrace religious practices that their recent ancestors rejected out of fear, thinking that such practices would prevent them from becoming fully American.”
― Kerry M. Olitzky, Playlist Judaism: Making Choices for a Vital Future