Sweeping Changes Start Shaking Up Conservative Movement

Stewart Ain
New York Jewish Week

NEW YORK

Rabbi Steven Wernick

Faced with declining numbers of affiliates and a $1.3 million budget deficit, the synagogue arm of the Conservative movement recently adopted a sweeping reorganization plan.

But it remains unclear whether the plan, approved Sept. 13 by the board of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, will be enough to satisfy congregational leaders, who long have complained that the organization doesn't provide enough bang for the buck.

As part of the changes, the movement's 15 regional offices will be consolidated into six district offices -- a move that echoes the Reform movement's recent efforts to downsize.

For the Jenkintown-based Mid-Atlantic region -- which covers much of Pennsylvania, Delaware and southern New Jersey -- that means a merger with the New Jersey regional office.

Richard Fishbane, Mid-Atlantic regional president and member of USCJ's executive committee, said that it probably won't be decided for three to six months whether the Jenkintown office will close or if any layoffs will ensue.

"A decade ago, we had 800 congregations, we had 700 congregations in the fiscal year that ended June 30, and today, we have 667 congregations," explained Rabbi Steven Wernick, the United Synagogue's new executive vice president and CEO. "The drop-off of 33 congregations is the most significant single-year decline the United Synagogue has ever experienced."

Wernick said that 19 of the 33 congregations "decided not to affiliate because they were not satisfied with what they were getting for their dollars."

None of those congregations were affiliated with the Mid-Atlantic region, which has a total of 50 synagogues.

The United Synagogue board adopted what Wernick called a "transformation plan that will assure a more equitable distribution of resources, no matter where the congregations are geographically."

Wernick said that he hopes to convince the 19 to renew their membership.

'Too Little, Too Late'
But Bonim ("builders" in Hebrew), a group of Conservative lay leaders from across the country, issued a statement Sept. 15 saying that the actions by United Synagogue are "too little, too late."

Bonim announced the creation of a committee to consider forming an entity that would assist congregations with membership, fundraising, leadership development and programming.

The group said it has raised more than $50,000 to explore the idea and, if there is sufficient interest, the entity would be launched by the first of the year.

"At a time when other national organizations are undertaking wholesale restructuring in order to meet the needs of their constituency today, the USCJ is tinkering around the edges -- focused on preservation, rather than delivering value to their members," said the statement.

One of the group's founders, David Sacks of Silver Spring, Md., said he believes that at least 20 congregations in the Washington, D.C., area alone would join the new entity.

"There are synagogues that are in trouble, and nothing they [USCJ] are saying is about synagogues -- it's only about themselves," said Sacks. "They just don't get it. We want to provide synagogues with what we think USCJ should be providing, and it clearly is not their focus."

Another Bonim leader, Diana Lerner of Poway, Calif., said in a statement that "the group seeks to offer congregations a choice between the ineffective policies of an expensive institution and a new, more agile synagogue association that begins with a mantra of client services."

But Rabbi Michael Siegel of Chicago, a leader of the Hayom ("Today") Coalition that represents 25 of the largest United Synagogue institutions that had lobbied United Synagogue for change, said that he was impressed by Wernick's actions.

"It shows he is a good listener," said Siegel. "He took it upon himself to go around the country and speak to congregations, synagogue presidents and rabbis, and he took careful note of what have been long-term issues. It's refreshing to see him respond to these concerns as quickly as he has. Obviously, it is going to take some time to create mechanisms to properly respond to the needs of synagogues, but he deserves to be commended for the good work he has done in such a short amount of time."

Siegel added that the actions taken by the United Synagogue board may have been historic in the way that it addressed "an array of issues and came up with concrete changes. United Synagogue is responding in ways I have not seen in my 27 years in the rabbinate. But one should not get confused with what is taking place at the board level and the long-range strategic plan Hayom is working on."

He noted that a professional would be hired soon to manage the plan, which should be completed by next September.

Wrestling With the Challenges
Wernick recently found himself at the center of controversy following comments he made in a Sept. 10 interview in the Forward ruffled a few feathers. He spoke about how Orthodox Judaism has had more success than other denominations attracting new adherents.

"We don't have that missionary zeal. They're missionaries! We want to get paid. We don't believe. What do we believe in? That is the problem of progressive Judaism."

Wernick followed suit with a Sept. 17 letter of apology addressed to Conservative rabbis across the country, as reported in the Forward.

"What I said came out as flippant and hurtful to our many colleagues and partners who strive each day to create the dynamic communities to which we all aspire. I am sorry. They were my words, and I own them, and I apologize for them."

Fishbane said that Wernick was right to apologize, but that the comments demonstrate that the rabbi is wrestling with many of the challenges confronting the movement, including its loss of the "market share" of American Jews to both Orthodoxy and the Reform movement.

"He is really saying that I want to look at everything -- both the spiritual component and how the movement presents itself," said Fishbane. "We have a marketing issue; we have a branding issue.

In an interview, Wernick insisted that his organization has made a "strategic decision to change the way we do business, and to move in a more directed way, and to understand that more adaptation will be needed in the future.

"We took steps to start restoring our value-added tools," he said.

"Synagogues want strengthening. They want meaningful relationships with our staff and a reinvestment in our youth department," continued Wernick. "We want a sharing of best practices and models of success, and we want United Synagogue to play a role with other groups in the movement -- coming together as a movement with a compelling message of who we are."

Wernick said that a proposal to change the dues structure for synagogues would also be debated as part of a long-range strategic plan.

Dues are now based on the number of members in each congregation. Under consideration is a new plan to base dues on the size of the congregation's budget, coupled with its financial position.

Shrinking Staff and Dollars
The board also approved its own shrinking -- from 180 members to 75 -- as well as creating a national assembly "that is designed to be more representative of congregations," explained Wernick.

The bylaws must be ratified at the United Synagogue's biennial convention in December in Cherry Hill, N.J.

With the United Synagogue's operating budget coming largely from congregational dues, Wernick noted that this year's fiscal plan has been cut by $1 million to $13 million.

He also noted that last year's $1.3 million shortfall was covered by unrestricted reserves, and that those reserves will be tapped again this fiscal year to cover transformation costs and another budget shortfall.

At the end of the fiscal year, some $3 million in unrestricted reserves will remain.

"I'm creating a clear vision of what United Synagogue should aspire to," stated Wernick, "and the reorganization is to create the means to get there."

(Jewish Exponent staff writer Bryan Schwartzman contributed to this report.)