CSI Program Planning

At Shearith Israel, everyone can be a part of the process of accomplishing our mission and vision! We aim to bring our lay partners into the process of calendar formation, with clear expectations of the resources that we will require to effectively execute our mission.

OUR MISSION:

Congregation Shearith Israel connects people to meaningful living through Judaism.

OUR VISION:

Our congregation is both rooted in Conservative Judaism and committed to egalitarianism. At Shearith Israel, relationships are at the center of everything we do: we educate children and adults in Jewish values, Hebrew language and the continuing story of our people. We strive to feel God's presence through prayer experiences. We embrace our covenantal responsibility to comfort all who are suffering, and celebrate each other's joy.

OUR PROCESS:

1. Someone has an idea for how we can accomplish our mission or vision.

That someone could be you! It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been a member, if you’ve been elected to our board, appointed to a position of leadership, or hired as a rabbi of the congregation. Every idea is welcome to further our mission and vision.

The idea gets a little more specific in the filling out of a program submission form.

All ideas require resources for executing them well. Those resources are generally time, money, and space. Unfortunately, all of these resources are limited, and we have to make choices for how to use them. At Shearith Israel, one of our greatest resources is the time and talent that our congregants contribute to bring ideas to reality. If you have an idea, but it feels overwhelming to try and imagine the budget, the time resources required, or where it’s supposed to happen, don’t let that stop you from sharing the idea. All ideas go through iterations before they succeed. The first deadline to submit a program (via the button below) to take place between August - December 2024 is Friday, May 24th!

Program Submission Form

The staff of Shearith Israel will regularly review program submission forms.

When forms are submitted we will connect the person with the idea with the partners to discuss on an ongoing basis. For example, if a person has an idea for a special shabbat like our successful “Sephardic Shabbat”, that should be directed through our Religious Life Committee and Rabbi. All programs will have a staff member primarily responsible, and most programs will have a volunteer partner. These reviews will help to understand where the program or initiative fits into the life of the congregation, and how it furthers our overall mission and vision.

Twice a year, the staff of Shearith Israel will consider all ideas and publish the program year calendar.

This year (2024), we are launching this more formal process for the first time. The staff’s intention is to review all program submissions between May 27th - 30th, publish a draft calendar for comment and review by board members and program creators between May 30th - June 7th. Our target date for publishing a final calendar for August - December of 2024 is June 11th. 

The staff will convene again to review program submissions between August 5th - 9th.  Between August 12th - 16th, we will conduct conversations and review with stakeholders and congregants with ideas. Our target date to publish a draft calendar for comment and review is August 18th. Our target date to publish the January - May 2025 calendar is August 26th.

In May of 2025, we will iterate this process for the following season of programming.

Questions?

An FAQ section will be added here shortly. In the meantime, please email rabbikaiman@shearithisrael.com or genea.moore@shearithisrael.com with any questions.