Chairs Duties & Responsibilities

• You, the Chair, are the elected leader of your Community. You are more than a manager, as you have the opportunity to provide positive leadership, seeking to fulfil the ideas and plans which you put before the Community who collectively elected you.

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• You should endeavour to consider and advance:

  • what your Community might achieve Jewishly as individuals, households and a collective, not just the needs of its constituents;

  • the long-term requirements of your Community, as well as the immediate future;

  • all your members, not just frequent attendees; and

  • what might work, as well as what has worked.

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• To do this effectively, you will need the assistance of your Rabbinic colleagues and those who have been elected to leadership roles in your Community: the Executive, who are responsible for the day-to-day administration of the Community; and members of the Synagogue Council, who advise and assist the Executive generally as well as having specific roles, for instance determining the size of the Executive and reviewing the Community’s budget. Whatever their duties under the Byelaws, all elected colleagues have a general mandate to represent the membership. You will also work with those unelected volunteers who keep Communities going at many levels.

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• This Handbook provides some of the framework which will enable you to work with and alongside the HOs and Synagogue Council. But while reading the regulations, please consider that the most successful Chairs don’t just observe the ‘letter of the law’ in this or any other area. Successful Chairs use all their judgment and experience to build consensus and achieve the best results, not just collaborating with the leadership team, but leading the whole Community in a spirit of collegiality and engagement.

 

The Chair's Office

• The process for electing Chairs is contained in the Byelaws. Candidates for Chair must have been a member of the Community for twelve months prior to nomination.

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• A Chair is elected for terms of one or two years, and can be repeatedly re-elected, but cannot ordinarily serve uninterruptedly for more than six consecutive years.

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• The fulfilment of the Chair's duties contained in this Handbook - though not the duties themselves - may be delegated to members or employees, unless the Handbook or Byelaws say otherwise.

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• It is possible to have Honorary Officers who act as ‘Co-Chairs’ of a Community; this can be a way to share duties and reduce the workload. Both Chairs are considered to have liability for the other’s decisions, so Co-Chairs should always act in agreement

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• The US is a ‘public-facing’ body. It is therefore appropriate that Chairs adhere to the Standards in Public Life: see below, Appendix 2: Standards in Public Life.

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• The US is in the process of composing a Code of Conduct for volunteers outlining their duties of behaviour including verbal and written communication. This Handbook does not cover all the Chair's potential legal liabilities. For more information on your liabilities and the insurance which the US has taken to protect you, please contact your Community Partner or David Frei, External Services Director. Please familiarise yourself with the US Complaints Policy.