‘Fedovation’ highlights innovation

Rabbi Barry Dolinger, Erin Moseley, Rabbi Elan Babchuck and Rabbi Sarah Mack.

(401)j is going to the General Assembly.

Jewish Rhode Island’s flagship NextGen program is one of a number of nationwide initiatives chosen to be showcased at the Jewish Federations of North America’s General Assembly Nov. 9-11, in National Harbor, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C. The General Assembly is the most significant gathering of thousands of Jewish communal and Federation leaders and volunteers from the U.S. and around the world. Speakers this year include Vice President Joe Biden.

The (401)j team – Erin Moseley of the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island, Rabbi Sarah Mack of Temple Beth-El, Rabbi Elan Babchuck of Temple Emanu-El, and Rabbi Barry Dolinger of Congregation Beth Sholom – will talk about the innovative NextGen transdenominational program during “Fedovation,” back-to-back TED-style breakout sessions examining how federations are pioneering change. They present on Nov. 11 along with about 50 other innovators from federations large and small. Each group has five minutes to make the presentation. Then, there is a 25-minute question-and-answer session. Mack and Dolinger will present during the first session; Moseley and Babchuck will take over during the second session.

The opportunity to present at the conference began with a proposal submitted months ago, according to Moseley, director of Arts & Culture and NextGen Engagement at the Alliance. JFNA was putting together a program featuring best practices on everyday topics. It’s meant as an information-sharing opportunity. The (401)j presentation is included in the group, “Show-Stopping Programs: New Ways to Engage New Audiences,” billed as bold approaches to building community. Fellow presenters in this group come from Chicago, New York, Southern Arizona and Washington, D.C.

Moseley says the group is looking forward to talking about (401)j. The team has put together a program that illustrates how much cooperation it takes to build a community and engage Rhode Island’s NextGen Jews no matter how religious they are. “This is a chance for us to celebrate our success on a big stage,” she said. “(401)j turns one in a month; most people think it’s older.”

(401)j is the result of a community programming challenge: How to engage young Jewish adults and keep them in Rhode Island. It is a collaboration between the Alliance, Congregation Beth Sholom, Temple Emanu-El and Temple Beth-El.

The community grew from a desire to “work together and be more successful,” Moseley said. A focus group of 30 people from across the community helped decide how to proceed. The result is (401)j, aimed at people in their early 20s to mid-40s offering programming, an active, diverse blog and a number of special-interest groups called “clusters.” The goal to engage this age group in the community seems to be working, according to Moseley. Young adult synagogue membership is up in the three congregations affiliated with (401)j.

“It’s a learning process,” she says. “You have to grow and change with the times.”

So Moseley and the rabbis will take their presentation to Fedovation and introduce Rhode Island and talk about engaging Rhode Island’s NextGen.

“We are going to talk about the new metrics of bringing in young adult members,” said Moseley. “We look at this not as a challenge but as a new opportunity to engage.”

It’s about partnership and working together. Today’s NextGen community are not necessarily affiliated in the old sense of the word, Moseley said, but they are engaged, and they do identify as being Jewish.

FRAN OSTENDORF is editor of The Jewish Voice.