Northwest Meets Midwest:

The OU Small Communities Conference in Indianapolis

This year the Halachic Minyan had quite good representation at the OU Small Communities Conference. Rabbi Davidson was unable to attend at the last moment because of the sudden and timely acquisition of a new building (be'ezrat Hashem). But I went on to Indianapolis without him to be the Davidson representative at the conference (along with Rina Leah who no one will soon forget!). Karen Hemmingsen and Gary and Jill Katz also attended, giving the Minyan a respectable showing at the conference.

The conferences theme was " How to Create Passion in the Synagogue." There were numerous lectures and discussions on how to increase spirituality and enthusiasm in the community. Some of the topics discussed were:

• How to increase spirituality of life cycle events such as birthdays, anniversaries, weddings etc.
• Women's role in the synagogue - with the Mechitza a given, how can women fully express themselves in the context of a synagogue?
• Men's role in the synagogue - how can men increase their connection with the community aside from helping to form a minyan?
• Tefilla - how to make the service mean- ingful for everyone and prevent it from becoming a rote recitation of prayers.

Many innovative ideas were suggested on how to create or increase enthusiasm in these areas. For example:

• 1. In order to make the birth experience more spiritual, offer prenatal classes on how to raise a Jewish child.
• 2. Offer a Women's tefilla class in order to enable women to feel more involved in the services.
• 3. It was suggested that the Bas Mitzvah students learn with the Rebbetzin in order for them to learn first hand how to be Jewish women in today's society.
• 4. Make a tape of new and existing tunes (niggunim) sung during davening and circulate it among the members of the community so that they can learn the niggunim and feel more comfortable singing in shul. (Needed: Someone with a good voice to make the tape. Any volunteers?)

I'd love to hear more ideas from the community. Rabbi Davidson and I look forward to implementing some of the ideas that were gleaned during the conference.