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Rebecca Spence is a writer and creative writing coach living in Berkeley. She is at workon her first novel. Her website is www.rebeccaspence.com.

the

It might indeed take a villageAmerican Jewry has been moaningabout declining synagogue member-ship for as long as I can remember. In fact, however, shul

membership has not reallydropped much in the past50 years. In the late 1950s,an estimated 60 percent ofAmerican Jews belonged toa synagogue; according tothe most recent stats — the2000-2001 National JewishPopulation Study — thatnumber is now 47 percent.Not a huge difference, certainly whencompared to the first half of the 20thcentury, when the number of syna-gogues exploded and membership ratestripled.Nevertheless, Jews are worried. And

lots of smart folks have come up with allkinds of notions about how to get moreJews in those pews — on a paying basis. Few have suggested anything as radi-

cal as communications specialist NoamNeusner, who penned an op-ed in theJuly 13 issue of the Forward. He pointedout that while he’s a loyal member of hisConservative synagogue, he regularlyattends two other shuls, yet only thesynagogue he belongs to gets his dues.“Doesn’t seem fair, does it?” he writes.What if, he posits, he were able to

divvy up his dues according to howoften he uses the services of each syna-gogue? And what if this were a commu-nal affair, managed by a central Jewishinstitution — a federation, for example— where one could deposit a yearly sumequivalent to a year’s worth of syna-gogue dues, and receive a certain num-ber of chits one would hand over to asynagogue when walking in the door? Neusner suggests calling the chits

“zuzim,” like the “Chad Gadya” song inthe Passover Hagaddah. Periodically,synagogues could redeem their zuzimfor cash at federation offices.“If my loyalties and attendance were

divided, so, too, would be my synagoguemembership dollars,” he writes. “Thiswould end the problem of people likeme freeloading.”At first blush, it sounds pretty socialist

— from each, to each, etc. But asNeusner teases out his argument, thecapitalist roots of the system quicklybecome apparent. In the quest for morezuzim, synagogues would have to com-pete with each other not once a year,when dues are pledged, but constantly.This would encourage entrepreneur-

ship and creativity, he argues. Shuls

could offer loyalty pro-grams, like free trips to Israelif you pre-pledge all yourzuzim. Perks could bethrown in — discounts forsummer camp, the bestb’nai mitzvah slots.I thought it was a pretty

cool idea. I was so heppedup that I emailed Neusner’sessay to Rabbi Marv

Goodman, executive director of theNorthern California Board of Rabbisand rabbi-in-residence at the S.F.-basedJewish Community Federation.He quashed my enthusiasm right

away.“I don’t think it will work,” he said,

raising one eyebrow (he was on thephone, but I could feel his foreheadwrinkling). First, he said, Neusner’s plandoesn’t provide incentive to join a syna-gogue, so how could shuls budget forthe future? (Neusner also admitted thisis a flaw in his system.) Second, itassumes that what people want fromshuls are just religious services and pro-grams — how do you quantify a handon a shoulder at a time of need?Worst of all, Goodman said, is the

negative atmosphere this kind of com-petitiveness would create in the com-munity. “I don’t think it would even getoff the starting block,” he concluded.That said, it’s clear that Neusner is

tackling a real problem, one we addressin this week’s cover story — how to sus-tain the infrastructure that permits us toengage in Jewish life. At least Neusnerproffered an idea. “Maybe he put it outthere to get people thinking,” Goodmansuggested.That’s what Jennifer Gorovitz thinks,

too. Pointing out that the S.F.-based fed-eration she heads “stands ready to help”with its Reducing Barriers andIncreasing Access to Jewish Life initia-tive and its Innovation Fund, she wrote:“I applaud the notion of opening a dia-logue about how to better ensure bothsynagogue sustainability and engage-ment in them. I applaud the notion ofincentivizing innovation. While thismay not be the ultimate answer to syna-gogues’ dwindling numbers and finan-cial woes, we need bold solutions pro-posed and openly discussed.”Working together, so none will fail

— a great concept, with or withoutzuzim. �

Sue Fishkoff is the editor of j., and can be reached at sue@jweekly.com.

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