The Adath Board of Trustees, together with Rabbi Offner, took an entire August Sunday to gather together for a board retreat, facilitated by Gillian Kaye, the Director of Strategic Planning and Governance for the Union for Reform Judaism. ("URJ").
The planning actually began months ago, under the direction of Retreat Chair, Eva Klein. Every board member was asked to give their anonymous response to some key questions: what should the goals for the day be? What are the challenges for the board today? What are the rewards of board work?
The day began with time to reflect upon what each individual member of the board is passionate about. What makes us passionate about being Jewish, about being Reform Jews? What is our commitment to Adath Emanu-El? Where are we on our individual journeys?
The individual stories were powerful - but perhaps most powerful of all was the recognition that no individual is more powerful than the group as a whole.
The next part of the day was spent identifying the challenges and rewards of board work, the "naches," and the "tsuris," or - as Gillian put it: the "joys" and the "oys." After making our lists, themes emerged, and small teams worked together to figure out concrete ways to assure that the 'joys' are nurtured and that the 'oys' are broken down and changed.
The board ended the day feeling sobered by the long list of challenges identified, but also energized, focused and optimistic about the work ahead.
