Sh'liach K'hilah continuation?

[cellio]

Last summer (2005, I mean) I completed the Reform movement's para-rabbinic program, called Sh'liach K'hilah. The main part of the program is two summer sessions (not in the same year). At the end of last year's session, a bunch of us asked for a third year of the program because we felt there was still a lot to learn that would work well in that format. The organizer said something to the effect of "every clss asks for that; we're not going to run it".

I went home and said "I can do that (with help)", and sent off mail to the organizer a week later. She said "please wait until after the [fall] holidays", which I did, and then she left HUC, pretty much putting an end to that at the time. Further, the program was not held in 2006 (and the first year was not offered in 2005), so they could rethink the program. It's coming back in revised form next summer, though not in Cincinnati.

There is a mailing list for all participants in the program (in any year). In the last week or so, the list has gotten several posts saying "what about a third year?" and "hey, I'd go!". So last night I posted to the list:

Last year I sent the following message to [name]. Unfortunately for us, she left HUC before we could really discuss it. Before pursuing it again with the current organizers of the program, let me share what I was thinking here. If we can get a group together who'd be willing to do a lot of the work, we might have an easier time selling them on the idea.

Date: Sat, 30 Jul 2005 23:16:28 -0400 (EDT)
From: [me]
To: [then-organizer]
Subject: SK 3

Dear [name],

I hope you had a good time at camp.

I have an idea I want to bounce off of you. You heard last week that a number of people would like to have "SK level 3" with a focus on text study. And we all heard you say you don't want to run it. Would it be feasible for one of us to run it but hold it at HUC?

Here's what I'm thinking (and yes, I'm volunteering if we can work out the logistics). We would hold the program at HUC because (1) it's a neutral location that we know works and (2) it has an amazing library and that would be really helpful for text study. We would use student rabbis as we did for the first two levels, and probably not as many faculty members (or maybe none at all if that's easier to manage, though it would be nice to have some of them too). I'm thinking of a curriculum that is a mix of rabbi-led text study, student-led text study (with people preparing material in advance and bringing it to HUC), and rabbi-led sessions on practical skills (Hebrew, library skills, understanding talmud, reviews of modern sources, how to look at midrash, practical teaching tips, and so on). Students would continue to lead services. We'd make sure there are some "non-heady" classes to break up what would otherwise be pretty rigorous, though I don't have specific ideas right now.

Could this work? Were the costs of the first two years covered by the tuition we paid, or is somebody subsidizing the program? How many students would we need to make it viable? We could, of course, open it up to previous classes too, so it doesn't sound like we'd have too much trouble getting 15-20 students. Would that be enough?

Obviously there would be some things that it would be hard for a non-local person to do, but if a motivated SK student were to get the instructors (you'd have to provide contacts), work out a curriculum, make assignments for services and text study, and handle the registration paperwork, would that be enough that someone (you, [name], someone else) would be willing to do the stuff that must be locally arranged, like making arrangements for security cards, dorm access, and food? (And handling the money, if you're willing, just so it doesn't go through a personal bank account.) What parts of the job have I failed to identify here? (There must be some; I'm not a professional like you are.)

Could something like this work without imposing a burden on you?

This morning I already had half a dozen messages saying variants on "you go, girl", and even a couple offers of unspecified help. It seems quite likely that there's sufficient interest. (I wouldn't want to go over about 20 people, but a key question is whether that's enough for financial viability. It was for the SK classes, but was that subsidized?)

I strongly suspect that the organizers lurk on the mailing list. If so, I think having them see this discussion before we go to them formally will help; it'll show that we aren't just whining and asking them to do something for us, but that we're ready to do the parts that we can ourselves.

I don't know if this will actually go anywhere; I think having access to the HUC campus in Cincinnati is key. But who knows -- I might be running a follow-on program next summer.

Comments

[filkerdave.livejournal.com]

Good luck! It sounds all and very exciting!

[dr-zrfq.livejournal.com]

Good job on covering the various logistical issues in that email. It appears that there's quite a bit of interest; my best wishes for you and everyone else, that things work out for you all.

[530nm330hz.livejournal.com]

If HUC doesn't work out, you should get in touch with Chazzan Scott Sokol at Hebrew College. I bet he'd be interested in organizing something like that, perhaps within the context of Hebrew College's Summer Beit Midrash program. (I took his nusach hatefillah class a few years ago as a non-matriculating student and highly recommend him as a teacher; I've known him for about 15 years and he's a real mensch.)

[cellio]

Thanks for the tip!

[siderea]

Have you asked them why they aren't willing to run a third year? Just in case they know something you don't?

[cellio]

At the time they said something like "too much work for too little incremental benefit", but I'll want to drill into that. I can easily believe that there'd only be demand to do it every few years, and maybe they're solidly in the annual mindset.

[siderea]

Good, that definitely sounds workable.

It might be that their vision of their program (and their understanding of their mission) is so targetted at the "beginner" stage (or however they conceptualize whatever stage they see their participants in), that they can't really imagine what a useful third year would be like; it might be that they're applying something that they know works for first and second years to third year, and seeing that third-years would have moved past it. You might have to show what would be new, different, and useful to third-years.

Or it might be that the beneficiary for which that incremental benefit is too little is the organization, and from their stand point, the mission of the org is better fulfilled with a two year program; they may (wisely, even) realize a third year is mission creep from their perspective. If so, that will be useful to understand in negotiating with them. They may be willing to change/broaden their mission or to ally with a group with a different mission.

Thus a question you might want to investigate is, "Why are they running this program in the first place? What is their actual goal/mission/purpose?"

[cellio]

It might be that their vision of their program (and their understanding of their mission) is so targetted at the "beginner" stage (or however they conceptualize whatever stage they see their participants in), that they can't really imagine what a useful third year would be like

That seems to be part of it. The letter from the rabbis said the program is designed to build congregational skills and they think they've done that. The letter I sent last night seems to have opened at least one person's eyes about why the program as it stands isn't enough. We'll see; we're supposed to talk next week. (Hey, she wants to talk! Cool.)

A perception of mission creep is certainly a possibility. And if they decide it's mission creep for them, I hope they can still be talked into supporting a group of people on a similar path. I want their campus, their administrative support, and their blessing, not necessarily in that order.

[siderea]

A powerful question to ask is "Do you feel it's a bad thing to do, or do you feel it's a bad thing for you to do?" Good luck.

[cellio]

Insightful question. Thanks!